From Transmigration to Awakening: The Nature of Mind and the Pure Spirit

Falling from the Skies

The son of Bhrigu, roved about the ideal lake of heaven (Mānas Sarovara), filled with golden lotuses, and frequented by the giddy swans and gabbling geese or hansas of heaven; and roamed beside the bank of the celestial river (Mandākinī), in company with the choristers (chāranas, and Kinnaras of paradise). He drank the sweet nectarious juice beaming as moonbeams in company with the gods; and reposed under the arbours of the groves, formed by the shaking branches of pārijāta plants. The parterres of Nandana gardens were trodden down under the feet of the fellow followers of Siva, as when the ocean was churned by the Mandara mountain.

He thought he remained in a celestial abode beside the marshy lands of Mandara, for a period of full sixty years; and passed his time in the company of the fawns of the place. He next thought to live in a garden at the city of the Gandharvas, where he believed to have lived for an immeasurable period like the genius of Time himself, who is the producer of an infinity of worlds. He was again translated to the celestial seat of Indra, where he believed to have resided for many cycles of the quadruple yuga ages with his mistress.

It was at the end of the merit of their acts that they were doomed to return on earth, shorn of their heavenly beauty and the fine features of their persons. His great grief at his fall from heaven to earth, broke his frame as it were into a hundred fragments; like a waterfall falling on the stony ground, and breaking into a hundred rills below.

Afterwards their disembodied minds entered into the network of lunar beams, and then in the form of molten frost or rain water, they grew the vegetables on earth. He constantly prayed for the long life, wealth and learning of his darling, and thus forsook the constancy of his faith and reliance in Providence.

Series of Transmigrations

His worldly thoughts having vitiated his understanding, caused him to be reborn as the son of the Madra king, and succeed to him in the kingdom of the Madras. The king of Madras, was released of his kingly person by his desire of asceticism; whereby he became the son of an anchorite in next-birth, in order to perform his austerities. He retired to the bank of the meandering river of the Ganges, and there betook himself to his devotion; being devoid of all his worldly anxieties and cares.

Thus the son of Bhrigu, having passed in various forms in his successive births, according to the desires of his heart; remained at last as a fixed arbour on the bank of a running stream.

Decay of the Body

At last his arboraceous body withered away with age, under the inclement sun and winds and rain; and it fell down on the ground as a tree torn from its roots. Now the disembodied spirit of Sukra, remained to reflect on his past transmigrations, in all the real and ideal forms of his imagination.

It thought of its former body on the Mandara mountain, and how it was reduced to a skeleton of mere bones and skin by the heat of the sun and his austerities (i.e. of the five fires pancha-tapas of his penance).

It remembered how the wind instrument of its lungs, breathed out the joyous music of its exemption from the pain of action (to which all other men were subjected). It refers to the breathing of so-ham hamsah in yoga, which is the sweet music of salvation.

The cavity of the mouth, the sockets of the eyes, the nostrils and ear-holes in the open face, are all expressive of the hollowness of human and heavenly bodies (i.e. they are all hollow within, though they seem to be solid without). The body was refreshed by the breeze and moon-beams, as the woodlands are renovated by cooling showers in the rainy season. The faded face, the withered lungs and arteries, and the skinny belly, resembled those of the goddess of famine, that cried aloud in the forest, in the howlings of the wild beasts. Yet the holy person of the hermit was unhurt by envious animals, owing to its freedom from passions and feelings, and its fervent devotion; and was not devoured by rapacious beasts and birds.

The Grief

He did not find his son lowly bending down his head before him, the son who was the leader of the army of virtues, and who was the personified figure of all merits. He only beheld his body, lying as a skeleton before him, as it was wretchedness or poverty personified in that shape.

The crown of the head had become as white and smooth (by its baldness or grey hairs), as the phallus of Siva anointed with camphor, at the Indu-varcha ceremony in honor of the moon. The nose was shriveled to a dry stalk, for want of its flesh; and the nose-bone stood as a post, dividing the two halves of the face. He then began to dubitate in his mind, at the sight of the dead body, as to whether it could be the lifeless carcass of his son or any other.

At this Yama—the regent of death, and devourer of living beings, assumed his figurative form of a material body, and appeared in an instant before the enraged father.

Having appeared before the great sage, who was enraged as the raging sea, he soothed him to calmness as after a storm, by the gentle breath of his speech:

“You sages are observers of the multifarious rules of religions austerities, and we are observant of the endless and immutable laws of destiny; we honour you therefore for your holiness, and not from any other desire (of being blessed by you or exempted from your curse).”

Universal Laws & Agency

“We have destroyed the spheres of the universe and devoured legions of Rudras, millions of Brahmās and myriads of Vishnus; what is it therefore that we cannot do? We are appointed as devourers of all beings; and you are destined to be devoured by us. This is ordained by destiny herself, and not by any act of our own will.

Know this form of mine to be that of the Supreme Being, whose universal spirit acts in various forms, all over the universe. As flowers grow upon trees, so are animals born on earth; their growth and birth, as also their fall and death, are of their own spontaneity, and miscalled as their causality. The mind is falsely said to be the agent of all its enjoyments in life; though it is no agent of itself.

It is a misbelief like the false conception of a serpent in the rope, where there is no serpent at all.

Knowing that the course of our conduct, is subject to the destiny appointed by the Divine will, the wise never allow themselves to be subjected under the darkness of pride or passion, at our doings. Where is that enlightened sight, that gravity and that patience of yours, that you grovel in this manner in the dark like the blind, and slide from the broad and beaten path laid open for every body? 

As the skilful charioteer guides his chariot with care, so is this body conducted by the intelligent mind, with equal attention and fondness. That is called the mind which thinks in itself, ‘this is my body which is so situated here, and these are the members of my body and this my head.’ It has the name of the heart from the affections of the body, and so it takes many other names at will (according to its divers operations). But the earthly bodies are all perishable.”

Projections of the Soul

“Thus the mind of your son, wandered from your presence, as you sat absorbed in meditation, to regions far and wide in the ways of its various desires. (i.e. His body was before thee, but his mind was led afar by its inward desires).

There he thought he passed a revolution of eight cycles of the four yugas in company with Viswāchī, a beauteous Apsara damsel.

Faded and fell like ripened fruit. He became a ruler in Madras, then the son of a devotee named Vāsudeva living on the bank of Samangā. Your son has also passed many other births, which he was led to by his desire; and he had likewise to undergo some itara-janma heterogeneous births in lower animals. He became a favourite of females, as the sun is dear to lotus-flowers; and being as handsome as Kāma (Cupid) in his person, he become a favourite amongst Vidyādhara damsels in the land of Gandharvas.

Finding no other world nor body where he could enter (upon the extinction of the universe), his spirit roved about in the empty air, as a bird soars on high without its nest. The roving spirit of your son was led by its desire, as if it was propelled by a gust of wind, to become a Brāhman again, and to be reborn as such on this earth. It is in this kalpa age that he has become a Vidyādhara again, and betaken himself to the performance of his devotion on the bank of Samangā, where he is sitting still in his yoga meditation. 

Thus his desire for the varieties of worldly appearances, has led him to various births, amidst the woods and forests in the womb of this earth, covered with jungles of the thorny khadira, karanja and other bushes and brambles.”

Power of the Mind

Your son has been sitting still in his firm devotion, with matted braids of hair on his head; and beads of rudrāksha seeds in his hand; and controlling the members of his body from their going astray. If you wish, O venerable sage! to know the reveries in his mind, you shall have to open your intellectual eye, in order to pry into the thoughts of others.

The sage immediately saw by his percipience, all the excogitations of his son’s mind; as if they were reflected in the mirror of his own mind. Having seen the mind of his son in his own mind, the muni returned from the bank of Samangā to his own body on mount Mandara, where it was left in its sitting posture, in the presence of Yama (during the wandering of his mind).

The knowledge of the existence of the world, whether it is a real entity or not, is the source of all errors of the wisest of men, by its varying forms and fluctuations. When we fret at death, without understanding its intention (that it is intended only for our good); we are of course blamable for it.

Of the two bodies of men, the mind alone is ubiquitous, and leader of the outer body of animated beings. The mind therefore is the true body, which reflects and makes us conscious of the existence of ourselves, as also of the exterior world. It frames a form and gives a feature to the person, that it had not before; and destroys one in existence in a moment.

It is the imagination that gives an image to airy nothing, as children see ghosts before them in the dark. (The mind changes the features of the face and body, and views things according to its own fancy).

Its power to create apparent realities out of absolute unreality, is well known to every body, in his dream and delirium, in his misconceptions and fallacies and all kinds of error; as the sight of magic cities and talismans.

It is from reliance in visual sight, that men consider it as the principal body, and conceive the mind as a secondary or supplementary part. It was the (Divine) mind, that formed the world from its thought; wherefore the phenomenal is neither a substance by itself (as it subsists in the mind); nor is it nothing (being in existence in us). It is therefore undefinable—anirvachanīya.

Mind, Worldly Attachments, and Reincarnation

The mind is part of the body, and spreads itself in its thoughts and desires into many forms; as the branch of a tree shoots forth in its blossoms and leaves. And as we see two moons by optical deception, so does one mind appear as many in many individuals (and as different in different persons). It is from the variety of its desires, that the mind perceives and produces varieties of things, as pots and pictures and the like—ghatapatādi. (Hence the mind is the maker of all things).

All things springing from Brahma, sink at last in him; as the huge waves of the wide and billowy ocean, rise but to subside in its calm and undisturbed waters below. But one believing himself as a large wave, enlarges his spirit to greatness. (Nobleness of mind, ennobles a man).

Self-Perception → Mindset Outcome
├── Thinker of Low Estate   → Reborn upon earth in the form taken as pattern
├── Thinker of Greatness    → Grows as big as a hill, shining with gemstone lustre
└── Thinker of Cool Peace   → Rests in peace (situated in the cooling orb of the moon)

He who thinks himself as a little being, and fallen from above to suffer in the nether world; is born upon earth in the form he took for his pattern. But he who thinks himself to be born to greatness, and rises betimes by his energy; becomes as big as a hill, and shines with the lustre of rich gems growing upon it. He rests in peace, who thinks himself to be situated in the cooling orb of the moon; otherwise the body is consumed with cares; as a tree on the bank is burnt down by a conflagration. Those who think themselves to be surrounded by worldly affairs; are as wide-stretching trees, awaiting their fall by impending blasts of wind.

But the waves are not of one kind, nor are they altogether entities or nullities in nature; they are neither small or large nor high or low, nor do these qualities abide in them. The dead are undying (because they die to be born again), and the living are not living (because they live but to die at last). Thus is the law of their mutual succession which nothing can forefend or alter.

Illusory Forms

It is this one and self-same spirit which is the body of God, that is called the transparent Brahma. It is omnipotent and everlasting, and constitutes the whole world appearing as distinct from it. The many wonderful powers that it contains, are all active in their various ways. The several powers productive of several ends, are all contained in that same body. All the natural and material forces, have the Divine spirit for their focus.

It is Brahmā therefore, O sinless Rāma! that manifests itself in the visible world; and is full with various forms, as the sea with all its billows and surges. As the various waves are no other than the sea water, so all these phenomena are not different from the essence of the lord of the world. As the strong sun light, displays itself in variegated colours in different bodies; so does Omnipotence, display itself in various vivid colours, all of which are unreal shades. As the colourless cloud receives in its bosom, the variety of transient hues displayed in the rainbow; so the inscrutable spirit of the Almighty, reflects and refracts the various colours displayed in creation.

The mind forgets its spiritual nature of its own will; and makes for itself a strong prison house (of its earthly possessions), as the silkworm weaves its own coating.

The mind gradually moulds itself into the form, which it constantly thinks upon in itself; and it derives from within itself, the power to be what it wishes to become. The long sought power when acquired, becomes as familiar to the soul, as the dark clouds are attendant upon the sky in the rainy-season. The newly obtained power is assimilated with its recipient, as the virtue of every season is manifested in its effect upon the trees (i.e. in the season fruits and flowers).

There is no liberation nor bondage of the soul, which is the same with the Divine. It is this delusive world which shows the immortal soul under the veil of mortality, or as eclipsed by and under the shadow of temporary affairs.

Mind and Intellect

All human affections and attachments to the visible world, are born in and remain in the mind; although they are as distinct from it, as the waves of the sea or as the beams of the moon; are produced from and contained in their receptacles.

All those that appear as Brahmā, Vishnu and Rudras, as also they that have become as gods, and those that are called men and male creatures:— Are all as the waves of the sea, raised spontaneously by the underlying spirit; and so are Yama, Indra, the sun, fire, Cuvera and the other deities. They rise and fall as waves on every side, though some continue for a longer duration, as the lotus-born Brahmā and others.

Worms and insects, gnats and flies and serpents and huge snakes, rise in the great ocean of the Divine Spirit, like drops of water scattered about by waves of the sea.

Some think of their stability in this world of dreams, and others are betrayed by their false hope of the stability of worldly affairs, which are quite unstable.

Some are born as trees, and others have become as gods and demigods; and while some are furnished with moving bodies, others are dissolved as water in the sea. Some are no less durable than many kalpas; and others return to the Supreme Spirit, by the moonlike purity of their souls. All things have risen from the oceanlike Spirit of Brahma, like its moving undulations. It is the intellectual consciousness of every body that is termed his mind.

Error and Individual Consciousness

Our consciousness of ourselves as Brahmā, being vitiated by the various thoughts in our minds, becomes the root of our activities; while the pure consciousness of ego sum—I am, is free from all actions and energies. Those living bodies, that lie scattered as pebbles on earth; are seen to roll about or lie down with their temporary joy and grief in continued succession, owing to their ignorance of themselves.

There are some of pure and enlightened souls, as the gods Hari, Hara and others; and some of somewhat darkened understandings, as men and the inferior demigods. Some are placed in greater darkness, as the worms and insects; and others are situated in utter darkness, as the trees and vegetables. Some grow afar from the great ocean of the Divine Spirit; as the grass and weeds of the earth, which are ever degraded, owing to their being the emblems of sin; and others are barred from elevation as dull stones and heinous snakes.

Some have come to being only with their bodies (without any share of understanding); and they know not that death has been undermining the fabric of their bodies, as a mouse burrows a house. Some having a little understanding, have gone down the depth of holy knowledge, without ever reaching the bottom, or finding its either shore. Some are tossed up and down, like fruits flung from the hand: those flying upward have gone higher still; and those going down have fallen still lower and lower. (None can know the highest pitch or lowest depth of existence?).

Others there are among the moving and unmoving, that are as unconscious of themselves as wood and stone; and many that are worn out with error, and are incapable of judging for themselves. (Worn out with error, means hardened in their ignorance). Those who are awakened to sense, and whose sins are washed off; have their understandings purified by the light of the sāstras. (Lit., by investigation into the sāstras).

Those who have not succeeded to dispel the errors of their minds, have darkened their understandings by a mist of ignorance; like the frosty sky of winter, and they find the phantoms of their error, dancing as demons before their eyes. The body that is seen to be composed of flesh and bones and the five elemental parts, is a creation of the imagination of the mind, and has no substantiality in it.

The suffering of hell torments and enjoyment of heavenly bliss, and the thoughts of birth and death; are all fabrications of the mind; which labours under these thoughts.

What need I to tell more in the manner of verbose writers (on this subject), than go together at once, to the place where your son is situated. He (Sukra) having tasted the pleasure and pain of all these states at a moment’s thought of his mind, is now seated as a devotee on the bank of Samangā, under the spreading beams of the moon. 

Saying so, the lord of death smiled to think of the course of nature, and taking hold of Bhrigu’s hand in his own, they both departed as the sun and moon together. With their luminous bodies, they arrived at the spot of Samangā, and shone on high above the tamāla trees below. Their simultaneous rising in the clear firmament, made them appear as the sun rising with the full-moon over the cloudy horizon.

Descending from the Skies

They beheld upon their descending from the mountain, a great light below; proceeding from the bodies of the celestials, sleeping in the arbours of aureate creepers. They beheld the Siddhas, sitting on their stony seats upon the elevated rocks; with their bodies full of vigour, and their eyes looking on the spheres with defiance. There were the brisk and beautiful chowry deer serving as flappers of the mountain king, and dousing in the pools filled with falling flowers. They saw the Kinnara lads sitting on the tops of straight and stately date trees, and sporting with pelting the date fruits upon one another, which stuck to the reeds below as their fruits. They beheld big monkeys, jumping about with their hideous reddish cheeks, and hiding themselves in the coverts of widespreading creepers. They saw the Siddhas, to be hit by the celestial damsels with blossoms of mandara flowers, and clad with vests of the tawny clouds by which they were shrouded. The uninhabited skirts of the mountain, were as the solitary walks of Buddhist vagrants; and the rivulets at its foot, were gliding with their currents covered under the kunda and mandara flowers, as if they were running to meet the sea, mantled in their yellow vests of the spring season. They walked about here and there, and looked at and admired the grandeur of the mountain, till at last they alighted on the nether earth, decorated with its cities and human habitations.

Enlightenment

His limbs were stiff, and his sense at a stand still, as he sat with his mind fixed on steady meditation. He seemed to be long at rest, in order to get his rest from the turmoils of the world. He became motionless as a wheel, after its long-winded motion; and found his rest after his prolonged whirling, in the whirlpool of the ocean of the world. He sat in a state of uniform meditation, without a shadow of duplicity in it; and was smiling with a cold apathy at all the pursuits of mankind. His soul was at rest, in the everlasting rest of God; as the pure crystal catches the colour of the gem, which is contiguous to it.

Upon opening and lifting up his eyes, he beheld the god standing with his father on one side, who being pleased at his sight, glowed in their countenances like the disks of the sun and moon. The Brāhman boy, having ended the muttering of his mantras on the bank of Samangā, accosted them with a voice distilling as the sweet nectarine juice of ambrosia amrita or water of life:

“The darkness, which reigned in my mind, and which no light of the sāstras or spiritual or temporal knowledge, nor even my austerities could remove, is dispelled today by the light of your presence. Tell me who are you, whose feet have sanctified this place; as the glorious orbs of the day and night, enlighten the firmament. Blessed is the law of the Supreme Being, which is without its beginning or end, and is known as destiny here below; and by whose power the world is revolving as a curricle.”

“I see my countless and unknown births, and the innumerable accidents to which they were subject, for the period of a whole kalpa or duration of the world from first to last. I wandered about the Mandara groves, filled with flowering creepers like gold, and under the shade of the kalpa arbors of Meru, and in the flowery plains above and about it.”

“Now rise, O father! and let us go to see that body, lying on the Mandara mount, and which is now dried as a withered plant. I will follow you, with my firm belief in the one adored Deity of the learned. Let that be the desirable object of my mind, and I will act exactly in conformity with my belief.”

The Dried Skeleton

There is that body of mine, which was so fondly anointed with camphor, agallochum and sandal paste, by my wet-nurse before. This is that body of mine, which was used to repose on the cooling beds, made with heaps of mandara flowers, in the airy spots of Meru.

Ah my pitiable body! how dost thou rest here in peace, forgetful of thy former delights in the different stages of life; and insensible of the thoughts of thy past enjoyments and amusements of yore. I take fright to look upon this body, in which I had taken so much pleasure before, and which is now reduced to a skeleton.

Behold the stags of the forest flying with fear, at the sight of the wide open jaws, and withered skin of my carcass; which with its horrid mouth, frightens the timid fawns in the woods.

This dried body of mine, lying flat on the mountain stone, resembles the mind of the wise, abased at the sense of its own unworthiness.

It is freed from the demon of the mind (mental activity), and is resting in its felicity without any apprehension of the vicissitudes of fate and fortune, or fear of fall.

See how happily this body is sleeping in this forest, by being freed from all its doubts and desires in the world; and by its being liberated from the network of its fancies. This body being set free from the impulses of the mischievous mind, is sleeping in its highest and perfect felicity, and is quite released from the jarring broils of the world, clashing like the mingled roarings of lions and elephants in their mutual conflict.

The Nature of Attachment to the Flesh

They have gone over the bounds of worldly enjoyments, who have had the high-mindedness, to lay hold on the tranquillity of their minds. It is by my good fortune, that I came to find this body of mine, resting in these woods without its troublesome mind; and freed from all its tribulations and feverish anxieties.

Venerable Sir, that art versed in all knowledge, you have already related of Sukra’s passing through many births in different shapes; and feeling all their casualties of good and evil. How was it then that he regretted so much for his body begotten by Bhrigu; in disregard of all his other bodies; and the pains and pleasures which attended upon them? 

Rāma! the other bodies of Sukra were merely the creations of his imagination; but that of Bhārgava or as the son of Bhrigu, was the actual one, as produced by the merit of his pristine acts. The person of Sukra, received the Brāhmanical sacraments, and became an associate of the father; till at last it was reduced to the form of a skeleton in course of a long time. Because this was the first body which Sukra had obtained from Brahmā the creator, it was on this account that he lamented so much for it.

Though impassionate and devoid of desire as Sukra was, yet he sorrowed for his body, according to the nature of all being born of flesh (dehaja). They who are acquainted with the course of nature, as also those that are ignorant of it as brutes and beasts; are all subject to the course of the world, as if they are bound in the net of fate and liable to grief and sorrow. (It is not the greatness of a great mind, to be insensible of the tender feelings of his nature, but to keep his joys and sorrows under proper bounds). 

Even great souls are seen to feel happy in pleasure and become sorrowful in matters of pain; and show themselves as the wise in their outward circumstances. As the unmoved and fixed sun, seems to move in his shadow on the wave, so the wise man who has got rid of his worldly concerns, still behaves himself like the unwise in it. The causes of happiness and misery as also those of liberty and bondage, are the feelings of the mind; as the sun-beams and flame of fire, are the causes of light.

Remain true to thyself, by giving up thy concerns in the world; but continue to discharge all thy duties in this world by the acts of thy body. If you can rescue yourself from the great gloom of egotism, and arrive at the state of pure indifference to all objects; you will certainly become great in your mind and soul, and be the object of universal veneration.

Re-entered the withered corpse

“Thou shalt perform austere devotion with this thy first born body, and obtain by virtue of that, the preceptorship of the Daitya tribe. Having attained the state of living liberation, by merit of thy prior acts; thou shalt continue in the preceptorship of the leader of the great Asuras for ever.”

Revivification Sequence:
1. Spirit Re-entry → Śukra enters the withered corpse (like spring entering a faded plant).
2. Purification  → Sage Bhrigu sanctifies the body with mantras & kamandalu water.
3. Bloom         → Blood fills the limbs; lotuses bloom in lakes and buds burst.
4. Reunion       → Father and son embrace with tears of joy.

Sukra entered into his withered corpse, as the season of spring enters into a faded plant, in order to adorn it again with its vernal bloom, and its re-springing blossoms. The old sage Bhrigu finding the revivification of the dead body of his son, sanctified it with propitiatory mantras and sprinkling of water, from his sacerdotal water pot (kamandalu).

The body being filled with blood, gave the limbs to bloom; like the growth of lotuses in rainy lakes, and the bursting of new shoots and buds in vernal plants. The father then embraced the revived body of his son, and shed a flood of his affectionate tears upon him; as the high risen cloud washes the mountain top with showers. They rejoiced at their reunion, like the loving pair of swans at the end of the night of their separation; and as the joyous couple of peacocks, at the approach of the rainy clouds.

The worthy sire and son, sat awhile on the spot, to halt after all their toils and troubles were at an end, and then they rose up to discharge the duties that were then at hand. They both continued as the living liberated guides of men, by their knowledge of all that was to be known; and preserving the equanimity of their minds, and the steadiness of their dispositions, amidst all the vicissitudes of time and place (and the changes of their fortune and circumstances). Thus the son of Bhrigu, who was born as Sukra at first, was gradually led away from his holy state by his thought of the heavenly nymph, and subjected to various states of life to which he was prone (by the bent of his mind and inward proclivities)

Imaginary World & Reflected Mind

As the errors of various wanderings, occurred to the mind of Sukra; so it is with every body (from his observation of the world), as it is instanced in the case of Bhrigu’s son. So also are the ghosts and goblins, demons and devils, but imaginary figures of the mind; born in the shallow brain of men, to terrify them with their hideous shapes. So the creation of the world, and all created things, are situated (pictured) in the mind of Brahmā; and make their repeated appearance, as the phantoms of a phantasmagoria before him.

All things appearing unto us, are as false as these phantoms; and they proceed from the mind of Brahmā, as the varieties of trees and shrubs, are produced from the same sap of the vernal season. (The one is the source of many). 

It is in its ideality, that anything appears as existent, which in reality is inexistent, though it is apparent to sight. The existence of the world, is as that of a lengthened dream; and the visible world is a wide spread snare of the mind, like fetters at the feet of an elephant.

The pure mind has the true notions of things, as the gem polished from its dross, receives the right reflection of every thing (or) reflects the true image of every thing. As the gilding of gold or any brilliant colour, cannot stand on base metal or on a piece of dirty cloth, so it is impossible for the vitiated mind, to apply itself intensely to any one particular object.

Purity and Union

Rāma asked:— Will you tell me sir, in what manner the mind of Sukra, received the reflexion of the shadowy world, and its temporaneous movement in itself, and how these fluctuations rose and remained in his mind?

It is also naturally situated in the embryo of the mind, of every species of living being, and is gradually evolved from it, in the manner of the shoots and sprouts, and leaves and flowers of trees, growing out of the seed. But the sullied mind cannot easily unite with the object of its thought, as a dirty and cold piece of iron, cannot join with a pure red-hot one, unless it is heated and purified from its dross. Want of desire constitutes the purity of the mind, which is readily united with immaterial things of the same nature like itself. The purity of the mind conduces to its enlightenment, and these being united in one, leads it to the Supreme.

The Unchanging Spirit vs. Worldly Forms

Some of them are situated apart from one another, and are dissolved also separately; and some are joined together, and are born as two gunja fruits growing together. The souls of all living beings are subject to the three states of waking, dreaming, and sound sleep, which are caused by the mind and not by the body. Thus the soul passing under the triple condition in its living state, does not give rise to the body, as the sea-water gives rise to the waves. (The body is caused by the mind, and not by the soul which has no connection with it).

The ubiquity of the intellect, makes it pass into the mind in its next birth; and exhibit itself in different forms in all its succeeding and subordinate regenerations (stages of life). The influence of the Divine spirit, is as cool as the cooling shade of a plantain arbour. It is of its own nature; and is as unchangeable as the pith of the plantain tree, notwithstanding the changes in all its outer coats and coverings. So the productive seed proceeding from Brahmā, displays itself in the form of the world. But as no body can say what is the cause of the sap in the seed, so no one can tell why the spirit of God, teems with productive seed (of Brahmā) in it.

The seed casts off its seedy form, and assumes the shape of the fruit; but Brahmā (the seed of all) contains the fruit (of the universe) in his bosom, without laying aside the seed. The seed of the fruit bears a material form, but Brahmā—the universal seed, has no form at all; therefore it is improper to compare the visible seed, with the invisible Brahmā; who is beyond all comparison.

The viewer viewing the view, is unable to see himself (his inward soul) because his consciousness being engrossed by external objects, is disabled from looking into itself. As the looker on the clear sky, does not see what is above the skies; so we see ourselves and others as material beings; but cannot see the inward part of the immaterial soul, as the wise men do. We see the outward sight because we cannot see the beholder of the sight (i.e. God himself who beholds his works). The beholder (God) is only the existent being, and the visibles are all nothing.

Inward Inquiry vs. External Error

As the moisture of the ground and of the vernal season, becomes incorporated in vegetable life, bringing forth the fruits and flowers; so the energy of the Divine Intellect, turns itself into the living spirit; which shortly appears in a corporeal form (of the body and its limbs). The ideas of self and others, are as granules in the mind, and are like the grains of salt, which are produced in the briny grounds from moisture of the earth. So the multitudes of thoughts in the mind, are exactly as the globules of salt or sand on the seashore (almost infinite in their number).

You must observe with your keensightedness and well discerning mind, in order to look into the different states and thoughts of others. When the mind becomes perfect, it comes to be the living being; and the intellect being purified, becomes all pervasive. Hence is the union of the intellect with the living spirit.

Some beings pass into successive states of existence, as a man passes from one dream to another; and they think themselves to be firmly established in them, as one supposes to be settled in some house, appearing to him in his dream. The atom of the intellect, contains the particles of all our notions; as the seed-vessel contains the farinaceous atoms of the future fruits and flowers, and branches and leaves (of very large trees). So the intellect conceives within itself and of its own particles, many other atomic germs, under the influence of particular times and places and actions and circumstances; which cannot be extraneous from itself.

• Physical Dependence: Some persons rely on the union of the body and soul.

• Pure Spiritual Focus: Others relying in the soul alone, are placed beyond the reach of error.

• Consciousness: Many rely on consciousness alone, shining thereby as rational beings.

One living being is born in another, and that again within another, like the coatings of plantain trees, which grow one under the other over the inmost pith. (So God is the inmost marrow of all external lives and souls, which are as crusts of the same).

He who does not inquire into the question “who he is” and “what is the world” beside himself; is not liberated in his inward soul, and suffers under the continuous fever of an erroneous life. As proper regimen is the best medicine to secure the health of the body; so is the habit of keeping the organs of sense under control, the only means of edifying the understanding. He who is discoursive in his words, and not discerning in his mind, is like a blazing fire in a picture (which lightens no body). No one can be wise until he gets rid of his false wit.

The Waking, Dreaming, and Sleepless States

The Quadruple Conditions

The worms and insects, that grow out of the dirt and scum of earth and water in the hot season, and appear filthy to our sight; are nevertheless full of the particles of intellect, becoming to them as living beings. (Even the dirty worms, are full with the holy spirit of god). The worshippers of gods, get to the region of gods, and those of Yakshas meet at the place of Yakshas, and the adorers of Brahmā ascend to Brahmaloka. Resort therefore to what is best and the greatest refuge.

So the son of Bhrigu, obtained his liberation at last by the purity of his conscience; though he was enslaved of his own nature to the visibles, at his first sight of them (as of the Apsara and others). The child that is born on earth with the purity of its soul at first, becomes afterwards of the same nature, as the education he gets herein, and not otherwise.

Rāma said:—Please sir, tell me the difference of the states of waking and dreaming, and what are the states of waking watchfulness, waking dream and waking delusion.

When the body has its activity with the powers of the mind, speech and the other members of action, it is to be understood, that its vital element is put to motion by the vital breath which it breathes. This breath circulating through out the whole body, gives it the powers of sensibility and consciousness, which have their seats in the heart and mind, wherein the erroneous conception of the world is hidden. The mind circulates about the outer world, through the passages of sight and other organs; and sees within itself the forms of many mutable shapes and figures.

When the body is weary with action of its limbs, mind or speech, the living element then becomes still, and remains in its composure, with the calm and quiet soul residing within the body. The particle of intellect taking the form of life, after being purified from its earthly impurity; mixes with the internal soul, and attains the state of sound sleep, as if lulled to insensibility by the cooling breeze.

When the vital principle comes again to action, after the enjoyment of its sound sleep, either in this or the other world, (i.e. when it is restored to or reborn in life); it takes the name of the living element or the mind or self-consciousness (in the living body). When it is immerged in the water (phlegm) of the body: it gets the feeling of humidity in itself, as a flower perceives its own fragrance. When it is full of blood, it perceives a fiery redness in itself, like that of a rubicund rock, or as the crimson red of the setting sun in the sky. When the organs are not besieged by external objects, which disturb the inward senses of the mind; it indulges itself in the reflexion of many things, which is called its dreaming state.

Now O great-minded Rāma! you have learnt the inward process of your mind; but there is no reality in them nor in this existent world, which is subject to the evils of death, desire and destruction.

Delusion of the World & Structural Philosophical Views

Whatever the mind often thinks upon with a strong conviction of its reality, it immediately assumes that form, as the iron-ball becomes ignited by its contact with fire. The mind is the cause of error, and it is the mind which is the framer of the world. The mind also stretches itself in the form of the universe (Viswarūpa) in its gross state. (The first is the human mind, second the mind of Brahmā, and the third is the mind of Virāj). If the body were the purusha, how could the highminded Sukra, pass into various forms in his very many transmigrations (as mentioned before)? So inquire into what is great, devoid of attributes and error, and which is easily attainable by every body. Be diligent in your inquiry, and you will surely succeed to obtain the same.

Again as there is nothing, nor was there ever, nor anything ever to be at any time, or place, beside the entity of the Holy one, how and whence could this foulness come in Him? I see your understanding is capable of judging both a priori and a posteriori, and is likely to attain that acme which was gained by the gods, Sankara and others. This question should be asked by you when I come to the conclusion, and it will be demonstrated to you as clearly as the situation of a place in a map or globe, placed in the palm of your hand (hastāmalaka). The blueness of the sky, is pleasant to look upon at the end of the rainy weather; but it is odd to speak of it during the rains. (So the question must have its proper place and occasion).

Whatever nature the mind assumes by the fickleness of its thoughts, it receives the same name and nature for itself, as the same fleeting air receives from its exhaling of different odours. It receives the same form in which it delights, and which it assumes to itself in its imagination. The inward senses being excited, actuate the outward organs of sense in their own ways, as the exciting motion of the winds, drives the dust of the earth before their course. The mind exerts its powers in the action of the external organs in the performance of their several functions; just as the flying winds drive the dust in different directions. Whatever nature the mind adopts to itself by its wonted habit, the same shoots forth in the form of its two kinds of motion. It understands that as its right course, which agrees well with its temperament; and knows for certain that there is no other way to its real good.

The mind is ascertained by the Kāpila (Sānkhya) philosophers, as a pure substance, like the immaterial intellect (under the title of pradhāna); and this view of it is adopted in their system or sāstra (in opposition to the doctrine of Vedānta). But that there is no other way to the salvation of the supposed mind (than by these means), is an ipse dixit of the Vedānta, and an assumed dogma (kalpitāniyama) as those of other schools. Thus all sects give out their own views, in the false rules they have adopted for the salvation of their supposed minds; and assert that there is no other way to it, beside what is laid down by them.

There is no innate sweetness in the sugarcane nor bitterness in the nimba, both of which are sucked by insects; nor is there any heat or cold inherent in the sun or moon (as both of them are peopled by gods and spirits). It is the intrinsic habit of the mind that makes the difference.

The wise have styled our consciousness of the world as a magic scene (māyā), an appearance of ignorance—avidyā, a mere thought (bhāvanā), and the cause and effect of our acts. Men being deluded by it, are at a loss to know their real good, as the blinded eye is incapable to perceive the brightness of the day. It is the contemplation of objects (sankalpa), that presents the phenomena to our view, like arbors in the empty sky; and it is their incogitancy (asankalpana), which effaces their images from the inward and outward sights.

The mind being inclined to the right view of things, by its abstraction from the unreal sights, produces the clearness of the understanding, and an insouciant tranquillity of the soul. Application of the mind to unworthy thoughts, and to the internal or external sights of things, debars the soul from tasting the sweets of its solity (apart from other considerations).

He takes the true, incorruptible and supreme Brahmā in a different light (of base and corruptible things), as one mistakes one thing for another in the dark or in his error. So on looking deeply, you will find no bondage in the world; the notions that this is the world and this is myself, are only errors of the mind. Our fancies alight on us at one time, and depart at another, and assume different forms at will; just as our consorts act the part of wives in our youth, and of nurses in our old age.

The ignorant do not perceive the selfsame unity, in all things he beholds in the world; but they view every thing in the light, as they have its idea imprinted in their minds. They meet also with the results of the forms, which they have in view for the time; though they are not in reality what they seem to be, nor are they entirely false (being the idealities of their mind). He believes these elephants pursuing their mates, in his thought; so it is the thought, that gives the outward forms of things.

It is impossible, O Rāma, that one so enlightened as thyself, will receive the reflexion of the world, as dull matter like others (rather than a reflexion of the Spirit). Being certain of its immateriality, never taint thy mind with its outward colouring, or the knowledge of its reality; but know it as no way distinct from the Supreme Spirit.

The Perspective of the Enlightened

They swerve from the sight of the visibles as unworthy of their notice, and seek after the knowledge of their chief good; they behold the all-seeing God in their mental and external sights, and have no perception of the unintelligent perceptibles. (I.e. they perceive the noumenon only in the phenomenon). They are dormant amidst the thick gloom of error, overspreading the mazy paths of life, and are awake under the transcendent light (of divine knowledge), requiring the vigilance of the living.

They are mixed (like salt) with the water of spiritual (divine) unity, and in the boundless ocean of omnipresence; and they melt away as the ice in a river, by their rigorous austerities, resembling the vigorous heat of the sun. As the seeds of kata fruits, serve to purify the foul water; so doth philosophy tend to expurgate human nature, from all its errors.

When the disturbances of doubts are settled, and the wandering of curiosity is over, it is then that the full moon of internal fulness, sheds its lustre over the mind. As long as the shadow of solicitude, hangs over the mind, it is darkened and stupified and broken in the heart, until the sun of inappetency rises to dispel its gloom.

It is the heart’s desire of all beings, that subjects them to repeated births and deaths, which cause the ignorant only and not the wise, to appear and disappear like waves of the sea. But the spiritual body (the spirit or one knowing the spirit), is neither born nor dies in this world; nor is it affected by the decoration or perdition of the material body; but remains unchanged as the vacuity of a pot, both when it is in existence or broken to pieces. (The vacuous soul is aloof from the body). So long does the pageant of the world, present its dusky appearance to our view, as we do not deign to consider the questions “what am I, and what are all these about me”. (That is: “whether I or these or all other things are true or false?”)

He understands rightly, who understands by his wisdom, that he is not his body, which is subject to diseases and dangers, to fears and anxieties, and to the pain and pangs of old age and death.
He knows, full well who kens his soul as a string (Sūtrātmā), to which all things are strung as gems in a jewel; and that it is not the mind or heart, which is seated in the brain or bosom.
That great soul looks brightly upon the earth, who has withdrawn his mind from it, by retrenching his reliance on his egoism or tuism (i.e. both on his subjectivity and objectivity). He that looks on the states of misery and happiness, which attend on worldly life, to be but the fluctuating conditions of the ego, has no cause to repine or rejoice at them.

I bow down to that great soul, which has passed beyond the states of light, darkness and fancy (i.e. the state of waking or life, sleep or death, and dreaming or transmigration, and which is situated in a state of brightness and tranquillity in supreme felicity or heavenly bliss).

I bow down to that Siva, of transcendental understanding; whose faculties are wholly engrossed in the meditation of that eternal Being, who presides over the creation, destruction and preservation of the universe, and who is manifest in all the various wondrous and beauteous grandeurs of nature.

Allegory of the Body-City

The body of the wise man is as a princedom to him, and calculated for his benefit and no disadvantage. It is comparable with the bower of a holy hermit, for the consummation of his fruition and liberation.

[City Gates / Arms] <---> [City Windows / Eyes]
        |                        |
        +-------> [BODY CITY] <---+
        |                        |
[Royal Garden / Face]    [Prisoner / Understanding]

The eyes are the windows of this city, letting out the light for the sight of distant worlds; the two arms are as the two valves of this city-gate, with the hands like latches reaching to the knees.
The lines marked under the soles of the feet are as inscriptions on foundation stones; the skin covering flesh, marrow, veins, and joints is as the beautiful plaster hiding inner mortar and bricks.
The face is as the royal garden beautified by eyebrows, forehead, and lips; the glancing of eyes are blooming lotuses; cheeks are flat planes; the bosom is the depository of jewels; nine orifices are breathing windows; private passages serve as sewers/drains.
The heart is the garden-ground where passions parade about as ladies; the understanding is fast bound in chains as a prisoner; and the organs of sense are let loose as monkeys to play about.

The Wise vs. The Ignorant Sovereign

This body is also the source of infinite troubles to the ignorant; but it is the fountain of infinite happiness to the wise man. He is not addicted to licentiousness like a high mettled steed; nor parts with the auspicious daughter of his prudence, from his avarice after some poisonous plant. Beware of diving in the perilous river, which flows fast by the dreary forest of this world, with the current of desire, whirl-pools of avarice, and the sharks of temporal enjoyment.

All sensual people are averse to the unseen happiness of the next world; and dwell on the pleasure of their own imagination in the inward recesses of their minds. All things depend on the existence of the city of the body, yet nothing is lost by its loss since the mind is the seat of everything.

The sportive mind rides on the swifting car of the body, as one mounts on a locomotive carriage for the place of its destination, and passes in its unimpeded course to distant journeys. (So the body leads one to his journey from this world to the next). The worldly enjoyments of the wise, do not tend to vitiate their nature; as the poisonous draught of Siva, was not capable of doing him any injury. (The baneful effects of worldliness, do not affect the wise).

The wise man is selfsufficient in all conditions of life; he neither rejects the earthly blessings that are presented to him; nor longs or strives hard for what is denied to him. The wise man reigns as a monarch, free from all fears and doubts, and devoid of all cares and curiosity; and with a mind freed from false fancies (of subtile and gross bodies).

Internal Self-Mastery

He who indulges himself in sensual pleasures which are pleasant at first, will have to be cloyed in them in process of time. (Pleasure is followed by pain. Or: Rills of pleasure not sincere.) The kings of earth are not so happy in their earthly citadels, as the lords of the cities of their own bodies, and the masters of their own minds. (Mastery over one’s self, is better than over a realm).

He who has brought the senses under his slavery, and reduced the enemy of his mind to subjection; has the blossoms of his understanding ever blooming within him as in the vernal meadow. So long do the demons of our desires, infest the region of our hearts, as we are unable to bring the mind under the subjection of our knowledge of the True one.

Faculties of the Well-Governed Self:
├── Faithful Servant  → Acts according to the master's will
├── True Minister     → Provides good counsel and service
├── Best General      → Commands the forces of its own body
└── Best Understanding → Fully guided by reason

The mind is called our father, for its enlightening our understanding with the light of the sāstras derived by itself, and for its leading us to perfection by losing itself in the Supreme spirit. (The mind like the father, is the instructor and bequeather of its all to man, ere it is extinct in the universal soul). The mind as a counsellor of our good, teaches us how to fell down the tree of our transmigration, and produce the arbour of our future bliss.

Navigation of the World-Ocean

Be not dormant to cultivate reason as long as you abide in the darksome abode of this world; nor thrust yourself to every accident, which awaits upon the ignorant and unreasonable men. Do not overlook the mist of error which overspreads this world of illusion, abounding with multitudes of mishaps and mischiefs. (Harm watch, harm catch. Hold arms, against harms).

Try to cross over the wide ocean of the world, by riding on the strong barque of your reason, espying the right course by your discretion, against the currents of your sensual desires. Know your body to be a frail flower, and all its pleasure and pain to be unreal; so never take them for realities, as in the instance of the snare, snake and the matting; but remain above sorrowing for any thing as in the instance of Bhīma and Bhāsa.