Admonition of Sikhidhwaja.
Argument:—As the prince was going to immolate himself after this, he is recalled from his rashness by the wisdom of his young monitor, who admonishes him to the relinquishment of his mind and not of the body.
VASISHTHA said:—He then rose up and set fire to his hut of dry leaves and grass, as it is the case with foolish men very often to demolish the structure of their own fancy and caprice. (i.e. To undo the doings of their own hobbies and wild imagination).
2. Whatever else there was left beside aught of the chattels and goods of the hermit Sikhidhwaja took them all one after another, and set fire to them with his composed and unconcerned mind, and observing a strict taciturnity all the while.
3. He burnt and broke down every thing, and then flung away from him his eatables and preserved condiments; his clothings and all, with a quite content state of his mind. (This unconcerned state of the mind is called avahittha or insouciance; which cares for no mortal thing).
4. The hermitage was now turned to a desolation, for its having been a human habitation awhile before; and resembled the relics of the sacrificial pavilion of Daksha, after its devastation by the all-devouring fire of Vírabhadra. (The legend of Daxa-yajna-bhanga, forms the subject of many Puránas, poems and dramas, but the mystery and allegory of the fable remains as dark and inexplicable as the Runic characters).
5. The timorous fawns being affrighted at the lighted fire, left their lairs where they lay chewing the cud at their ease; and fled afar to distant deserts, as the townsmen free from a burning quarter to distant abodes.
6. Seeing the vessels and utensils to be all in a blaze, with the fuel of the dry woods on all sides; the prince seemed to remain quite content and careless amidst the scene, with the possession of his body only.
7. Sikhidhwaja said:—I am now become an all abandoning saint, by my abandonment of all desire and every object; and wonder that I should after so long a period of my life, be awakened to my right knowledge, by the holy lectures of my heavenly child.
8. I have now become a pure and perfect unit, and quite conscious of the ineffable joy in myself; of what use and to what good, are all these appendages of my ever varying desires to me. (No temporal object, leads to our permanent good; save our own bodies, which feel the inward bliss of the soul).
9. As the knots of the chain that bind the soul to this world, are cut asunder and fall off one after another; so the mind comes to feel its quiet composure, until it attains to its ultimate rest and inaction.
10. I am quite composed, and in perfect ease with the extinction of my desires; I am joyous and rejoice in myself, that my ties are all broken and fallen off from me; and that I have at last, fully accomplished the abandonment of all things (sarva tyaga).
11. I am become as nude as the open sky, and as roofless as the vault of vacuity; I view the wide world as an expanse of vacuum, and myself as a nullity within the whole inanity; say, O divine boy! is there anything still wanting to my complete renouncement of all.
12. Kumbha replied:—Yet you must be aware! O prince Sikhidhwaja! that you are never released from all the bonds of this life, by your renunciation of every mortal thing; appertaining to this your mortal and transitory state of your being.
13. I see the gravity and purity of the nature of your soul, which is placed far above the reach and track of the commonality; by its abandonment of the innumerable seeds and sprouts of fond desires, which incessantly rise as thistles and thorns on the human breast. (If virtue we plant not, vice will fill the place; and the rankest weeds, the richest soils deface).
14. Vasishtha said:—On hearing these words of Kumbha, the prince Sikhidhwaja reflected on its purport within himself for a short while; he spoke these words in reply as you shall, oh mighty armed Ráma, now hear from me. (i.e. The prince was not so very easily prevailed upon by his eloquent monitor).
15. Sikhidhwaja said:—Tell me, O heaven born child! what else dost thou see remaining in me; except the serpentine entrails within myself, and supporting the body composed of a heap of flesh, blood and bones.
16. And if this body reckoned an appendage to myself, I will then ascend to the top of this mountain, and let it fall to be dashed to pieces on the ground; and thus get rid of my mortal part for ever.
17. Saying so, as he was proceeding to immolate his body on the craggy hill before him; he was interrupted by his monitor Kumbha, who spoke to him as follows:—
18. Kumbha said:—What is it prince that you are going to do, why do you attempt to destroy this innocent body of yours from this hideous height, as the enraged bull hurls its calf below the hill?
19. What is this body, but a lump of dull and gross matter, a dumb and poor painstaking thing; it never does you any harm, nor can you ever find any fault in it; why then do you wish in vain to destroy so harmless and faultless a thing?
20. It is of itself a dull and dumb thing (as your beast of burden); it ever remains in its torpid meditative mood, and is moved to and fro by other agencies; as a plank is tossed up and down, by the adverse current and waves in the sea.
21. He who hurts or annoys his inoffensive body, deserves to be put to torturous punishment; like the ruffian rogue who robs and annoys the holy saint, sitting in his solitary cell.
22. The body is quite guiltless of all the pain and pleasure, which betide the living soul by turns; as the tree is wholly unconcerned with the fall of its fruits and leaves, which are dropped down by the blowing winds.
23. You see the gusts of winds dropping down the fruits, flowers and leaves of trees; then tell me, O holy men! how you can charge your innocent tree, with the fault of letting fall its best produce.
24. Know it for certain, O lotus eyed prince! that the immolation of your body even, is not enough to make your total renouncement of all things, sarva tyága you must know is not an easy matter.
25. It is in vain that you intend, to destroy this inoffensive body of yours on this rock; your quitting or getting rid of your body, does not cause your renunciation and freedom from all. (Death releases us from the bondage of the body, but not from the stings of conscience).
26. There is an enemy of this body which agitates it, as an elephant shakes a huge tree; if you can but get rid of that mortal enemy of your body and soul, you are then said to be freed from all.
27. Now prince, it is by avoiding this inveterate enemy of yours, that you are freed from the bondage of your body, and everything besides in this world; or else however you may kill your body, you can never put a stop to its regrowth (in some form or other).
28. Sikhidhwaja rejoined:—What is it then that agitates the body and what is the root of our transmigrations and of the doings and sufferings of our future lives? And what is it by the avoidance of which, we avoid and forsake everything in the world?
29. Kumbha replied:—Know, holy prince, that it is neither the forsaking of your realm nor that of your body, nor the burning of your hut and chattels, nor all these things taken together, that can constitute your renouncement of all and everything.
30. That which is all and every where, is the one only cause of all; it is by resigning everything in that sole existent being, that one becomes the renouncer of all.
31. Sikhidhwaja said:—You say that there is an all—to-pan, which is situated in all to whom all things are to be resigned at all times. Now sir, you that know all, what this all or omnium can be.
32. Kumbha replied:—Know, O holy man, this all pervading being is known under the various appellations of the living soul jíva, the life Prána and many more also; it is neither an active or inactive principle, and is called the mind which is ever liable to error.
33. Know the mind to be the seat of illusion, and to make the man by itself; it is the essential constituent of every person, and the speculum of all these worlds in itself.
34. Know the mind, as the source of your body and estates; and know it also, as the root of your hermitage and everything else; just as one tree bears the seed of another. (The ingrained desire of the mind is the seed of all extraneous accidents).
35. It is therefore by your giving up this seed of all events, that you really resign everything in the world, which is contained in and depends on this primary seed and mainspring of the mind. All possible as well as impossible renunciations, depend on the resignation of the mind.
36. The man that is under the subjection of his mind, is ever subject to cares, both when he is attentive to his duties or negligent of them; as also when he rules his realm, or flies from it to a forest; but the man of a well governed mind, is quite content in every condition of life.
37. It is the mind which revolves incessantly in the manner of the rotatory world, and evolves itself in the form of the body and its limbs; as the minute seed displays itself in the shape of a tree and its branches and leaves.
38. As the trees are shaken by the blowing winds, and as the mountains are shook by the bursting earthquakes; and as the bellows are blown by the inflated air, so is the animated body moved about by the mobile force of the mind.
39. These miserable mortals that are born to death and decay, and those happy few that live to enjoy the pleasures of life; and the great sages of staunch hearts and souls, are all of them bound alike to the thraldom of their minds. (The mind governs all, and there are few to govern it).
40. The mind acts its several parts, in all the various forms and figures of the stage of the world; it shows its gestures in the motions of the body, it lives and breathes in the shape of the living spirit, and it thinks and cogitates in the form of the mind. (The mind and the heart, the living soul and the active body, are all the one and same thing).
41. It takes the different epithets of the understanding buddhi, consciousness mahat, egoism ahamkára, the life or prána and the intellect, agreeably to its sundry internal functions in the body, or else it is the silent soul, when it is without any action to be assigned to it.
42. The mind is said to be all in all, and by getting release of this, we are released of all diseases and dangers; and then we are said to have avoided and abandoned all and every thing.
43. O ye, that want to know what resignation is, must know that it is the resignation of the mind, which makes your renunciation of all things. If you succeed in the abnegation of your mind, you come to know the truth, and feel the true felicity of your soul.
44. With the riddance of your mind, you get rid of the unity and duality of creeds, and come to perceive all diversities and pluralities blend in one universal whole; which is transcendental tranquillity, transparent purity and undiminished felicity: (which is anámaya without alloy).
45. The mind is the field for the course of every body, in his career in this world; but if this field be over grown with thorns and brambles, how can you expect to grow rice in it?
46. The mind shows its manifold aspects, and plays its many parts at will; it turns and moves in the forms of things, as the waters roll in the shapes of waves.
47. Know young prince, that your abandonment of all things by the resignation of your mind, will redound to your joy, not unequal to that of your gaining a kingdom to your self.
48. In the matter of self-abnegation, you are on the same footing with other men; in that you resign whatever you dislike, and want to have some thing that you have a liking for.
49. He who connects all the worlds with himself, as the thread that connects the pearls in a necklace, is the man that possesses everything, by renouncing all things from himself. (This is the attribute of sutrátmá—the connecting thread of the supreme soul, which unites all units to it, by living all things as apart from it).
50. The soul that is unattached to all things, doth yet connect and pass alike through them all; as the thread of the divine soul, connects the world as a string of pearls. (It spreads unspent).
51. The soul that bears no attachment to the world, is like an oilless lamp that is soon extinguished to darkness; but the spirit that is warm with its affections, likens an oily lamp, that burns with universal love, and enlightens all objects about it.
52. The lord that lives aloof from all, resembles the oilless lamp in dark obscurity; but the same Lord manifesting himself in all things, resembles the oily lamp that lights every object. (The two hypostases of the supreme spirit—the unknowable and the Manifest, the aprakásátmá and the saprakásátmá).
53. As after the relinquishment of all your possessions (both in your estate as also in this forest), you still remain by yourself; so after your resignation of your body, mind and all, you have still your consciousness by you, which you can never get rid of.
54. As by the burning of your articles, you have burnt no part of your body; so by your resignation of all things, you can not resign yourself or your soul, which would then amount to nirvána or utter extinction (which is tantamount to moksha or ultimate absorption in the supreme spirit).
55. Sarvatyága or total abnegation, means the voidance of the soul of all its worldly attachment, when it becomes the seat of all knowledge; and likens to the etherial paradise of the hosts of celestial beings.
56. Sarvatyága or self-abnegation is like the water immortality, which drives away all fear of disease and death by a single draught of it; and it remains untouched by the cares of the world, as the clear firmament is untinged by the spots of clouds.
57. Sarvatyága again is the entire abandonment of all affections, gives a man his true greatness and glory; and as you get rid of your temporary affections, so you get the stability of your understanding, and the firmness of your determination.
58. Sarvatyága or abandonment of all, is fraught with perfect delight; as its contrary is attended with extreme misery. This is a certain truth, and knowing as such, choose what you think best for you.
59. He who gives away his all in this life, comes to be in possession of them in his future state; as the rivers which pour their waters into the sea, are again filled by its flood tide.
60. After resignation of all things from the mind, its hollowness is filled with full knowledge of them, which is highly gratifying to the soul; as an empty box, is stored with rich gems and jewels in it.
61. It was by virtue of his resignation of all things, that Sákyamuni became dauntless amidst the troubles of the Kali-age, and sat as firm as a rock. (Hence the yogis of prior ages, have remained as pure air).
62. Total resignation of all things, is tantamount to the acquisition of all prosperity; because the lord gives every thing to him, who dedicates and devotes his all unto Him.
63. You have now, O prince, become as quiet as the calm atmosphere, after your abandonment of all things; now try to be as graceful as the lightsome moon, by the complaisance of your manners.
64. Now, O high minded prince, forget at once your past abdication of your crown and kingdom, as also your subsequent of all things in this hermitage; drive away the pride of your total abandonment of all you had, and be of a clear and complacent countenance.
Enlightenment of Sikhidhwaja.
Argument:—On the abandonment of the affections of the mind.
VASISHTHA continued:—As the disguised boy was admonishing in this manner on the relinquishment of mind (i.e. the mental passions and affections); the prince ruminated inwardly on its sense, and then spoke as follows.
2. Sikhidhwaja said:—I find my mind fluttering always, as a bird in the open sky of my bosom; and lurking incessantly as an ape, in the wilderness of my heart.
3. I know how to restrain my mind, as they do the fishes in the net; but know not how to get rid of it, when it is so much engaged with the objects of sense.
4. Please sir acquaint me first with the nature of the mind, and then teach me the method of relinquishing it for ever from me.
5. Kumbha replied:—Know great prince, cupidity to be the intrinsic nature of the mind; and know the word desire to be used as a synonym for the mind. (The mind and will are synonymous terms).
6. The abandonment of the mind is very easy, and more facile than the stirring of it; it is attended with a greater delight, than the possession of a kingdom can afford, and is more pleasant than the scent of fragrant flowers.
7. But it is very difficult for the ignorant, to get rid of or forsake the desires of their minds; it is as hard to them as it is for a boor to wield the reins of a kingdom, and for a heap of grass to be as high as a mountain.
8. Sikhidhwaja said:—I understand the nature of the mind, to be replete with its desires; but I find my riddance from it, to be as impossible as the swallowing of an iron-bolt by anybody.
9. I find the mind as the fragrant flower in the great garden of the world, and the crater of the fire of all our woes; it is the stalk of the lotus of the world, and it is the bag that bears and blows the gusts of delusion all over the world. Now tell me how this thing may be easily removed from us.
10. The mind is the locomotive engine of the body, it is the bee that flutters about the lotus of the heart; now tell me how I may with ease get rid of this mind.
11. Kumbha answered:—The total extirpation of the mind, consists in the entire extinction of the world from it; the learned and the men of long foresight, call this to be the abandonment of the mind (i.e. when it is cast out with all its thoughts and cares).
12. Sikhidhwaja rejoined:—I think the extinction of the mind, is better than our abandonment of it, on account of securing the success of our purposes; but how can we know the gradual expurgation of the mind, from the hundreds of diseases to which it is subject.
13. Kumbha replied:—Egoism is the root (seed) of the arbour of the mind, with all its branches and leaves and fruits and flowers; therefore root out the mind with its very root of egoism, and have thy breast as clear as the empty and lurid sky.
14. Sikhidhwaja rejoined:—Tell me, O sage, what is the root of the mind, what are its sprouts and fruits; tell me also how many stems and branches it has, and how is it possible to root it out at once.
15. Kumbha replied:—Know prince that egoism and all the words expressive of the self as meity &c., and indicative of the mind, are the seeds of the tree of the mind.
16. The field of its growth is the supreme soul, which is the common source of all entities; but that field being filled with illusion, the mind is deluded to believe itself as the first born sprout springing out of this field. (The first born germ of the Divine spirit being the living soul, which originates in the mind).
17. The certain knowledge of the mind in its discrete state, is called its understanding (which in its concrete state is known as sensation); the buddhi or understanding is the state of maturity of the germ or sprout of the mind. (The infant mind is ripens into the understanding).
18. The understanding or buddhi, being subject to various desires, takes the name of chitta or wasteful mind; and this mind makes the living being, which is as hollow within it, as a carved image of stone (or moulded metal), and a mere false conception.
19. The body is the stem of this tree of the mind, and is composed of the skin and bones and juicy matters.
20. The branches of the tree of the mind, extend to a great distance all about it; and so the sensible organs of the body, protruding wide about it, perish at last in seeking for its enjoyment.
21. Now try to lop off the branches of the tree of thy mind, and try also to root out the noxious tree at once.
22. Sikhidhwaja said:—I can some how or other lop off the branches of the tree of mind, but tell me, O my sagely monitor, how I may be able to pull it out by its very root at once.
23. Kumbha replied:—All our desires are the several branches of this tree, which are hanging with loads of fruits; and are lopped off by the axe of our reason.
24. He alone is able to lop off the plant of his mind, who is unattached to the world, who hold his taciturnity and inward tranquillity, who is judicious in all discussions, and does whatever offers of itself to him at any time.
25. He who lops off the branches and brambles of the arbour of his mind, by his manliness of reason and discretion; is able also to root out this tree at once from his heart.
26. The first thing to be done with the mind, is to root it out at once from the heart and the next process is to lop off its branches; therefore employ thyself more to its eradication, than to the severing of its boughs and branches.
27. You may also burn it as the first step, instead of lopping the branches; and thus the great trunk of the tree of mind being reduced to ashes, there remains an entire mindlessness at last.
28. Sikhidhwaja said:—Tell me O my sagely guide, what is that fire which is able to burn away the seed of the tree of mind, which is covered all over with the cuticle of egoism.
29. Kumbha replied:—Prince, the fire which is able to consume the seed of the noxious plant of the mind, is the expostulation of the question, "what am I that bear this corporeal form upon me."
30. Sikhidhwaja said:—O sage! I have repeatedly considered the questions in my own understanding, and found that my egoism does not consist in aught of this world, or this earth, or the woods which form its garniture.
31. That my ego lay no where in the hills and forests where I resided, nor in the shaking of the leaves before me; nor did it lie in any part of my gross body, or in its flesh, bones or blood.
32. It does not lie in any of the organs of action, nor in the organs of sensation; it does not consist in the mind or in the understanding, or in any part of the gross body.
33. As we see the form of the bracelet in gold, so do I conceive my egoism to consist in the intelligent soul; because it is impossible for any material substance, to have anything as intelligence (as I perceive my egoism to be possest of).
34. All real existence depends on the supreme soul for its subsistence, so all real entities subsist in the supreme essence; or else it is impossible for any thing to exist in a nullity, as there is no possibility for a forest to subsist in a vacuity (without a firm ground).
35. Thus sir, knowing it full well, that my egoism is an aspect or shadow of my internal soul and worthy to be wiped off from it; yet I regret at my ignorance of the intrinsic spirit from which it is to be wiped off, and the internal soul be set in full light.
36. Kumbha replied:—If you are none of these material objects as you say, nor doth your egoism consist in materiality; then tell me prince, what you think yourself to be in reality.
37. Sikhidhwaja answered:—I feel myself O most learned sir, to be that intelligent and pure soul, which is of the form of intelligence, which acquaints me of all existence, and which discriminates their different natures.
38. I perceive thus my egoism to be attached to my body, but whether it is a caused or causeless principle, is what I am perfectly ignorant of.
39. I am unable O sage, to rub out this sense of my egoism as an unreality and unessentiality; and it is on that I greatly regret in myself (for my inability to get rid of my egoism as you led).
40. Kumbha said:—Tell me O prince, what is that great foulness, which thou feelest to be attached to thee, which makes thee act as a man of the world, and whether thou thinkest it as something or a mere delusion.
41. Sikhidhwaja replied:—The sense of my egoism, which is the root of the tree of my mind, is the great foulness that attaches to me; I know not how to get rid of it, for however I try to shun it, the more it clings about me.
42. Kumbha said:—Every effect is produced from some cause or other, and this is the general law of nature everywhere; anything otherwise is as false as the sight of a second moon in the sky, which is nothing but a reflexion of the true moon.
43. It is the cause which produces the effect, whether it be a big one or the small rudiment of it; therefore explore into the cause of your egoism, and tell me what it is.
44. Sikhidhwaja replied:—I know my sagely guide, that it is mere illusion—máyá, which is the cause of the fallacy of my egoism; but tell me sir, how this error of mine is to subside and vanish away from one.
45. It is from the proclivity of the mind towards the thinkables, that I am suffering all these pains and pangs within myself; now tell me O muni, about the means of suppressing my thoughts, in regard to external objects.
46. Kumbha said:—Tell me whether your thinking and knowing, are the causes of your thinkables and knowables, or these latter actuate your thinking and knowing powers. If you can tell me this, then shall I be able to explain to you the process of the cause and effect.
47. Now tell me which do you think to be the cause and not the cause, of knowing and knowable, and of thinking and the thinkable, which are the subjects of my question to you.
48. Sikhidhwaja answered:—I think, O sage, that the sensible objects of the body &c., are the causes of the thinking and thinkable (thoughts), and of knowing and the knowables or knowledge. (Because unless there be things in actual existence, we can neither think of or know anything, nor have any idea or knowledge of it at all).
49. Our knowledge of the entity of things, appears only in the sensible forms of bodies; or else the mere abstract thought of a thing, is as empty as an airy nothing.
50. As I can not conceive the non-entity of a positive entity, nor the abstract nature of a concrete body; so I know not how my egoism, which is the seed of my mind, can be at once ignored by me.
51. Kumbha said:—If thou rely on thy material body as a real existence, then tell me, on what does your knowledge depend, when your soul is separated from the body.
52. Sikhidhwaja replied:—The body which is evident to view, and a real entity, cannot be taken for an unreality by any body; as the palpable sun light, cannot be called darkness by any man of common sense.
53. Who can ignore the body, which is replete with its hands and feet and other members; which is full of activity and vivacity, and whose actions are so palpable to sight; and which is so evident to our perception and conception.
54. Kumbha said:—Know prince, that nothing can be said to exist, which is not produced by some cause; and the knowledge or consciousness that we have of it, cannot be but the product of mistake and error.
55. There can be no product without a similar cause, and no material form can come out from a formless and immaterial agent. How can any thing come to existence, without having its seed of the like nature?
56. Whatever product appears to present itself to anyone without its true cause, is as false an appearance as the mirage in the sand, before its deluded observer.
57. Know thyself to be no real existence, but a false shape of your error only; and with whatever earnestness you took to it, you will never get any water from this delusive mirage.
58. Sikhidhwaja said:—It is as useless to inquire the cause of a nonentity, as it is fruitless to look into the origin of the secondary moon which is but false reflex of the true one. Believing in a nullity, is as decorating the person of a barren woman's son.
59. Kumbha replied:—The body with its bones and ribs, are products of no assignable cause; therefore know it as no entity, because it is impossible for the frail body to be the work of an Everlasting Maker.
60. Sikhidhwaja said:—Now tell me sir, why we should not reckon our fathers the causes and producers of our bodies, with all their members and parts, since they are known as the immediate causes of these.
61. Kumbha replied:—The father can be nothing and no cause, without his having another cause for himself; because whatever is without a cause is nothing in itself.
62. The causes of all things and effects are called as their seeds, and when there is no seed in existence, it is impossible for a germ to be produced in the earth from nothing. (Ex nihilo nihil fit).
63. So when you cannot trace out the cause of an event, account the event as no event at all; because there can be no thing without its seed, and the knowledge of a causeless effect or eventuality, is an utter impossibility and fallacy of the understanding.
64. It is an egregious error to suppose the existence of a thing without its cause or seed, such as to suppose the existence of two moons in the sky, of water in the mirage and of the son of a barren woman.
65. Sikhidhwaja said:—Now tell me sir, why should not our parents be taken as the causes of our production, who had our grandfathers and grandmothers for the causes or seeds of their birth likewise; and why should we not reckon our first great grandfather (Brahmá), as the prime progenitor of the human race?
66. Kumbha replied:—The prime great grandfather, O prince, cannot be the original cause, since he also requires a cause for his birth, or else he could not come into existence.
67. The great grandfather of creation even Brahmá himself, is the cause of production by means of the seeds of the supreme spirit which produced him; or else the visible form in which he appeared, was no more than a mere delusion.
68. Know the form of the visible world, to be as great a fallacy as the appearance of water in the mirage; and so the creativeness of the great grandfather Brahmá, is no more than an erroneous misconception.
69. I will now wipe off the dark cloud of your error, that our great grandfather Brahmá was conceived in the womb of the supreme spirit (whereby he is styled the padma-yoni or born of the lotus like navel string of God); and this will be the salvation of your soul. (And Adam's ancestors without end. Young).
70. Now therefore know, O prince, that the lord God shines forever with his intelligent soul and mind in Himself; it is from him that the lotus born Brahmá and the whole universe, are manifest to our view, and that there is nothing which exhibits itself without Him.
The anaesthetic Platonism of Sikhidhwaja.
Argument:—Dispersion of the gloom of ignorance from the mind of Sikhidhwaja. His coming to the Light of Truth and the Tranquillity of his soul.
SIKHIDWAJA said:—If the view of the whole universe is but a phantom, and our knowledge of myself, thyself and of this and that, is but an error of our mind, then why is it that we should be concerned about or sorry for anything.
2. Kumbha replied:—The erroneous impression of the existence of the world, has so firmly laid hold of the minds of men; as the frozen water appearing as crystal, is believed as dry land by people.
3. It is said by the learned, that the knowledge of gross matter is lost with the dispersion of ignorance; and that there is no other way of getting rid of this long contracted prejudice, without our riddance from ignorance.
4. It is the acuteness of the understanding, which is the only means of our coming to the knowledge of truth; that the creation and dissolution of the world, are dependant on the will and causality of the supreme Being.
5. He whose understanding becomes, is sure to lose his rooted prejudice by degrees; and come to the knowledge of the nihility of the material world.
6. In this way of refining your mind from its prepossession of gross ideas, you will come to find the erroneous conception of a prime male (ádipurusha), as that of Brahmá (or Adam) as the first creative power, to be as false as the water in the mirage.
7. The great grandfather of the world being a nullity, the creation of all creatures by him (who is thence called Prajápatih or lord of creatures); is likewise as false and null, as it is absurd for an impossibility to come into being.
8. The perception of a thing in esse, is as false as the conception of water in the mirage; a little reflexion is enough to remove this error, like the mistake of silver in cockles and conch-shells.
9. Any work which appears to exist without its cause, is only a phantom of fallacy, and has no essential form whatever in reality.
10. Whatever is done by one's erroneous knowledge or mistake of a thing, comes to be of no use to him; as the attempt to fill a pot with the water of the mirage, proves to be utterly vain.
11. Sikhidhwaja said:—Why can't we call the supreme Brahma, to be the cause of Brahmá—the first creator of the world who is called the son of God, the one unborn and without end, and the inexpressible and everlasting.
12. Kumbha replied:—The God Brahma, being neither the cause nor the effect of any action, is but an invariable unity and transcendent spirit, and is never the cause or effect of anything.
13. How can the incomprehensible and unknowable Brahma, be designated as the creator, when he is not predicable by any of the predicates of the creator or created or as the instrument or cause of anything.
14. The world having no separate cause, is no separate product of any causality whatever; it is no duality but one with the unity, without its beginning or end, and co-eternal with the eternal one. (To pan—God is all in all).
15. He that is inconceivable and unknowable, is perfect felicity, tranquillity and ever undecaying, and can never be the active or passive agent of anything, on account of the immutability of his nature.
16. Hence there is nothing as a creation, and the visible world is but a nihility, and the Lord God is neither an active nor passive agent, but quite still and full of bliss.
17. There being no causal power, the world is not the production of any body; it is our error only that this world as a production without any assignable cause.
18. The uncaused world is the product of nothing, and therefore nothing in itself; for if it be the production of nobody, it is a nullity like its cause also.
19. The non-existence of anything or the not being of everything (except that of the supreme Being), being proved as a certain truth; we can have no conception of anything, and the absence of such conception, it is in vain to suppose the existence of an egoism or tuism.
20. Sikhidhwaja said:—Sir, I now perceive the truth, and find the reasonableness of all that you have said; I see now that I am the pure and free soul, and quite aloof of any bondage or its liberation from bonds.
21. I understand Brahma as no cause of anything, for his entire want of causality; and the world is a nullity for its want of a cause, and therefore there is no being whatever which we reckon as a category.
22. Thence there is no such category as the mind or its seed, nor its growth nor decay; I therefore bow down to myself of which alone I have a consciousness in me.
23. I am alone conscious of myself, existence in myself and have no real knowledge of any thing else beside me, and which appear as fleeting clouds in the womb of the sky.
24. The distinct knowledge of the different categories of time, place, action in the world, is now entirely blended in the knowledge of the unity of the tranquil spirit of Brahma (which composes all varieties in itself).
25. I am tranquil, calm and quiet and settled in the spirit of God; I do not rise nor fall from nor move about this prop. I remain as you do in immovable spirit of God, which is all quiet, holiness and felicity in itself.
Enlightenment of Sikhidhwaja.
Argument:—Kumbha's Lecture on Effacing the Impression of Phenomenals from the mind of Sikhidhwaja or vanity of the visible world.
VASISHTHA said:—Sikhidhwaja having thus found his rest in the spirit of Brahma, remained quiet for some moments, as the steady and unflagging flame of a lamp in a calm.
2. And as he was about to be absorbed in his unwavering meditation, he was suddenly roused from his trance by the diverting voice of Kumbha.
3. Kumbha said:—Prince, I see you are not to wake from the sleep of your entranced meditation, wherein you are situated in your perfect bliss; you must neither be absorbed in your contemplation, nor be a stranger to your abstract meditation altogether (but must observe your middle course between Platonism and perturbation).
4. The mind that is undivided in its attention, is cleansed from all duplicity; and being freed from its knowledge of parts and particulars, becomes emancipated in its living states.
5. Being thus enlightened by Kumbha, the prince became full of enlightenment; and being roused from his trance, he shone as brightly as a rich gem when taken out of its cover.
6. The prince who in his state of quietism, beheld the unreality of visible things; and now perceived them spread all about him, thus spoke about them to Kumbha.
7. Sikhidhwaja said:—Though I know full well about all these things, yet I want to propose some queries regarding them; to which I hope you will give your answers, for my correct and perfect knowledge of them.
8. Tell me, how can we intermingle the impure conception of the universal or mundane soul representing the mundees or universe, with the pure idea of the supreme soul, which is ever calm, quiet and transparent. (The universal soul, is called viswátmá, viswarúpa and viráta, and is opaque with its contents; while the supreme is quite pure and clear, and untinged with the shade of creation).
9. Kumbha replied:—You have asked well, O prince, and this shows the clearness of your understanding; and if this is all that you want to know, hear me then explain it fully to you.
10. Whatever is seen here and every where together, with all the moving and unmoving beings which it contains, are all of them perishable, and are extinct at the end of every kalpa age (in which the creator wishes to create a new world).
11. Then there remains the true and essential reality at the end of the kalpa age, amidst an obscure chaotic state, which is deprived both of light and darkness.
12. This essential reality is the divine intellect, which is pure and quiet and as clear as the transparent air; it is free from all attributes and imputations, and full of transcendental intelligence.
13. The one that remains at the end of a kalpa, is the supreme soul which extends over all space, and is purely bright, transparent and quiet; it is enveloped in light and is pure intelligence.
14. It is inscrutable and unknowable, it is even and quiet, and full of bliss; it is called Brahma—the great, the final extinction of all bodies and is full of all knowledge.
15. It is the minutest of the minute, and the largest of whatever is large in the universe; it is the greatest and greatest of aught that is great and heavy, and it is the best of whatever is good and excellent.
16. It is so very small, that if you place this sky beside it, the latter will appear as big as the great mount of Meru by the side of a small mite.
17. It is again so very big and bulky, that this stupendous world being placed side by side to it, the latter must appear as an atom before it or vanish into nothing.
18. This is attributed with the epithet of universal soul, for its pervading all over the universe and being its intrinsic soul; while its extrinsic appearance, is called by the title of Virát.
19. There is no difference between this attribute and its attributive, as there is none between the air and the wind or the air in motion; and as the sky and vacuum are synonymous words, so the very same intellect is the phenomenal world, and the same consciousness is manifested in the forms of egoism and tuism.
20. As the water becomes the wave at a certain time and place, by cause of the current wind; so the world rises and falls at times in the supreme soul, without any external cause (except the will of the supreme spirit).
21. As gold is transformed to bracelets at certain times and place, by means of some or other; so the spirit of God is transformed to the visible world at certain times, without any other assignable cause whatever (save by the supreme will).
22. The most glorious God, is the Lord of his Kingdom of the world; He is one with his creation, ever pure, quiet and undecaying, and pervades over all these worlds which are scattered as turfs of grass all around us.
23. This transcendentally good and great God is the only real existence, and comprises all temporary and finite existences within himself; and we know by our reason, that this glorious creation of the universe is all derived from him.
24. Know him, O prince, to be the essence of the extended universe, and to extend over all in his form of an entire intellect, and an unity that never admits of a duality (under all the varieties and diversities in nature).
25. There is no reason therefore, for our conceiving a duality beside his unity; since it is the sole principle of the supreme soul, that is fully manifest in all in its ever undiminished and unextinguished state.
26. The Lord always remains as the all in all, and as manifest in all the various forms; and being neither visible nor perceptible by us, he can neither be said to be the cause or effect of anything (but is the unknown all in himself).
27. The Lord being neither perceptible nor conceivable by us is something super-eminently good and superfine; He is all and the soul of all, too fine and transparent, and is known only by our conception of him; and no sensible perception whatever. (The knowledge of God, is innate and inborn in us. Locke).
28. Being inexpressible by words, and manifest in all without manifestation or appearance of himself; cannot be the cause of whatever is real or unreal. (Anything that is indefinite in itself, cannot cause another of a definite or indefinite form).
29. That which has no name of itself, cannot be the seed of another; no nameless nothing can grow anything, nor can a commensurable world spring out of an incommensurable spirit. (A material and measurable thing, must have a material mensurator for its origin. Hence it is wrong to say: God measured the seas without a measuring rod).
30. The exhaustless mass of divine intellect, is indeed no cause or casual instrument or effect of any thing; because the product of the divine soul, must be some thing of the form of the invisible soul, which is its everlasting consciousness or intelligence.
31. So, O sage, nothing is produced by the supreme Brahma nor does anything arise from Him, like the waves from water which have their winds for their causality. (But the spirit of Brahma, is as the still water and has no stir or perturbation in it).
32. All distinction of time and place, being absent in the uniform and unchanging spirit of Brahma, there can be no creation or destruction of the world from him, and hence the world is increate and without any cause.
33. Sikhidhwaja said:—I know that the waves of water, have their cause in the winds of the air, and so I understand this world and our egoism &c., have their causality in the supreme spirit (which produces the worlds by its will, and acquaints me of my egoism by its intelligence).
34. Kumbha replied:—Know now the positive truth, O prince as I tell you after all, that there is nothing as a separate world or our egoism &c. existent in supreme spirit; though the world and the Ego exist as one with the divine spirit, without bearing their distinct names and personalities at all. (i.e. The world and its gods as one and the same thing).
35. As the subtile ether, contains the subtle element of vacuum in its bosom; so the divine soul entertains in itself, the fine spun idea of the mundane system without its substance.
36. Whether you behold this world in its true form of divine intelligence, or in any other form of gross matter; it is to be understood rightly as no other than a representation of the divine intellect.
37. The full knowledge of a thing, makes it sweet to the understanding, though it be as bitter as gall to taste; but the imperfect knowledge of a thing, as that of the world makes it appear as full of woe, though it is no such thing in reality. (Hence the crying and laughing philosophers took two different views of the world).
38. Ambrosia the water of life being taken in the light of poison, will act as poison in the constitution of the patient; so the lord of the intellect appears in a favourable or unfavourable light, as knowledge and ignorance of him represents him to our understanding.
39. The blessed lord God appears to us in the propitious or unpropitious aspect, as our true and false knowledge paints him to our minds, just as the blinding eye sees many a false sight in the light of the sun.
40. The essence of Brahma, always remains the same in his essential form of the intellect; though the turpitude of our understanding, will now represent him in one form and then in another at a different time and under different circumstances.
41. In fact the body and the embodied soul, appear as any other sensible object in the world; but being viewed in reality in their abstract light, they blend in the spiritual form of God.
42. Therefore it is in vain to make any inquiry, concerning the nature of the world and our egoism &c.; because what is really existent is to be inquired into, and not that which is a nullity in itself.
43. It is vain to ask about an appearance, which being looked into vanishes into nothing; as it is in vain to speak of the essence of gold, when it presents us no figure of it.
44. Therefore there is no entity of the world and our egoism, without the existence of God, these things having no cause, are self-same with the one self-existent Deity.
45. The world does not appear to be prominent, and to rest by itself to view; it rests in relief in the spirit of God, and shows itself as separate to us by illusion only.
46. These existences being composed of the five elements, produce many other beings; as the copulations of the male and female, produce their offspring in infinity; so the divine intellect being joined with the illusory intelligence, presents endless form to our view.
47. It is by the inherent knowledge of the divine soul, that it represents itself the shapes of many things that are comprised in his omniscience. He is full in himself and manifests his fullness in himself, and is never wanting in his fullness which always subsist in Him. (So the sea is ever full with its waves and waters, which roll for ever in its bosom).
48. The fullness or plenum of the world is derived from the fullness of God; and yet the divine fullness remains entire, as when you deduct the infinite, that remains the infinite also as the remainder.
49. The divine intellect though forever the same and serene, appears to shine forth in the creation with our knowledge of the same, and set at its dissolution with our imperceptibility of it; so our egoism being the same with the divine ego, appears to be different from it, as our fluctuating minds depict it in various lights.
50. The ego never becomes many, nor forsake its undecaying state; it is of a luminous form and having no beginning nor end of its essence; but assumes as many forms, as the ever varying mind imposes upon it. (The unchanging soul assumes many forms with the changeful mind).
51. The self-same soul believes itself as Virát—the lord of the world at one time, and as contemptible being at another; it sometimes sees itself in its true form of a divinity, and its thought makes it think as some other thing at another time.
52. The world appears as a vast and extended space, perfectly quiet in its nature, inexpressible by words and their senses, (as its real nature). All its objects are of wonderful shape to view, and appear to us according to our conceptions or without showing their real nature's unto us. (The true nature of things is hidden from our knowledge).
Enlightenment of the Prince in Theosophy.
Argument:—Effacing the impression of visibles from the mind continued.
KUMBHA continued:—Know that nothing is produced from, nor destroyed by the ever tranquil spirit of God at any time; but everything appears as the panorama of the one all (topan) God; like the various kinds of ornaments made of the same metal of gold.
2. Brahma remains forever in his own essence, and never becomes the seed or cause of any other thing; he is ever of the form of our innate conception of him, and therefore never becomes any other than our simple idea of him.
3. Sikhidhwaja said:—I grant, Oh sagely monitor, that there subsists no separate world nor any other egoism in the one pure Siva (Zeus or Jove), except his own essence of omniscience; but please to tell me, what thing is this world and individual egoisms that seem to be infinite in number, and appear as distinct creations of God?
4. Kumbha replied:—The essence of God is without its beginning and end, and extends to infinite space and time.
5. The same also is this transparent cosmos, and the very same is the body of this world; which is simple and of the form of divine intelligence, and neither a void nor any extraneous thing.
6. The essential property of God being his intelligence, he is said to be of essence of intellect; and as fluidity is the property of water, so is intelligence the essential property of everything; and there is no reason to suppose an unintelligent principle as the prime cause of all.
7. The Lord is infinite in himself and is so situated in his infinitude for ever, without the grossness of the infinitesimals ever attaching to their pure intelligence in the subjective soul.
8. We cannot attribute the creation of the impure world, to the pure essence of the divine spirit; because the purity of the divine soul, cannot admit the impurity of creation, which would amount to a duality of purity and impurity in the supreme soul: (which is altogether absurd to believe).
9. The Lord can never be supposed as the seed or cause of the universe, since his nature is inscrutable and beyond our conception, and cannot be thought of as the root of anything whatever.
10. Therefore there is no creation or production of an effect, without its cause or seed; nor does reason point out to us, any other source of creation.
11. Therefore there is no gross creation whatsoever, except of the form of the intellect itself; and hence all that is visible to us, is no other than the solid intellect itself.
12. The feeling of egoism and the term world, are meaningless words and mere inventions of men; because nothing whatever can be called an effect or product, which has no cause assigned to it.
13. The duality of the world appears in the unity of God, in the same manner as a flower called the sky flower appears in the hollow vacuum of the sky (by mere delusion). And all things being perishable in their nature, exist only in the intellect in which they live and die. (If the world be of the solid intellect, then the very intellect becomes the cause of the same, by means of the solidification of its own substance; but it is not so, because it is impossible for the same thing to be both the cause and effect of something by itself).
14. Destruction is not the giver of life to destruction, nor is it a giver of life to perishable things; hence intellect is the giver of light to all: but you may call whatever you like the best.
15. What difficulty you have, provided all things are to be called one, when all have come from the intellect; the duality what you call, that is the mystery of intellect-chit only.
16. The intellect therefore is the only true entity, which admits no unity nor duality in it. And therefore, O prince, you must know the nullity of all other entities beside it.
17. The feeling of thy egoism, is as false as thy conception of any other thing; and thus the idea of egoism proving to be false, what else can there be except the only entity of the intellect.
18. Thus egoism (being) no other than a form of the intellect, there is no difference whatever between them; hence the words I, thou &c. are mere human inventions to distinguish one from another (when there is in reality no difference in the personality of any body).
19. Whether you remain in your embodied or disembodied state, continue to remain always as firm as a rock; by knowing yourself only as the pure intellect, and the nullity of all things besides.
20. By thinking yourself always as the intellect, you will lose the sense of your egoism and personality; and so will your reflexion on the contexts of the texts of the vedas, lead you to the same conclusion. (There are numerous texts to the effect that God is the only entity, and this all is naught but God).
21. From all these know thyself as the pure essence, which is uncaused and unmade, and the same with the first and original principle; that thou art same with the emancipate and everlasting Brahma, and multiform in thy unity; that thou art as void as vacuity, having neither thy beginning, middle or end; and that this world is the intellect and that intellect is the very Brahma himself.
Admonition of Sikhidhwaja Continued.
Argument:—The non-entity of the mind, proved from the non-existence of sensible objects, and the want of these proving only the entity of one Brahma only.
SIKHIDWAJA said:—I understand, that there is no such thing as the mind also; but as I have no clear and correct knowledge of this subject, I beg of you to tell me, whether it is so (as I believe) or not.
2. Kumbha replied:—You have truly said, O prince, that there is no such real entity as the mind at any time and in any space whatever; and that which appears as the mind, is no other than a faculty of the only one everlasting Brahma.
3. Anything besides which is fallible or unconscious of itself, as the mind or anything of this world, can never be a positive or self-existence substance; therefore the words I, thou and this or that are only coinings of our imagination, and have no existence in reality.
4. There is no reality of the cosmos or any of its contents; and all that seem to be in existence, are no more than the various representations of the one self-existent Brahma himself. (Because there is no duality beside the unity of Brahma).
5. It is said that there was no mind or its personification of Brahmá, and the final dissolution of the world, and this proves the unreality of both of them. Again it is said that the mind took the form of Brahmá and created the world in the beginning, which proves also the mind to be the divine mind, and represented by substitution of the metaphor of Brahmá.
6. As there can be no material object without the prior existence of a material cause, so it is impossible to believe the existence of the sensible mind and the myriads of the sensible objects in absence of their material cause, which never existed from before. (The spirit alone was the pre-existent thing, which could not create anything except in its own immaterial form).
7. Hence there is no such thing, as a dull and unconscious world; and all that appears to exist as such, is no other than a representation of the Divine spirit (which reflects itself in various ways) as the gold exhibits its ornaments to view.
8. It is entirely false to believe, that the nameless and formless Deity does this all; and because the world is visible, yet there is no proof of its reality in our subjective knowledge of it.
9. That the nameless and formless spirit of God, which has no shelter nor support for itself, should make this world for the abode of others, is a laughable assumption of the ignorant only (therefore this world is his own abode and the stage of his own action).
10. From these reasons it is plain that there is no world in existence, nor even the mind, which is but a part of it; the world being a non-entity, there can be no mind which is conversant alone with it.
11. The mind means no more than the wish, and then only there is said to be a wish in any one, when there is an object to be wished for; but this world which appears to be so very desirable, being a nullity itself, how can there be the mind to desire it. (The mind is a nullity for want of any of its objects to dwell upon or engage its attention).
12. That which is manifested unto us under the name of the Mind, is no other than a manifestation of the spirit of God in itself, and is designated by various appellations.
13. This visible which is so desirable to everybody, is no production of any one; it is an uncaused entity ever existent in the divine mind, from before its production by the mind of Brahmá the creator. (Being prior to the mind, it is no production of it).
14. Therefore the divine soul, is of the form of an intellectual vacuum, and is a void as the transcendent air; it is full with the light of its intelligence, and having no shadow of the gross world in it.
15. The slight light which shines in the divine soul, is like the twilight that fills the etherial sphere; is the reflexion of the mirror of the supreme intellect, and is neither the dim light of the mind, nor any reflexion of the phenomenal world. (The nature of spiritual light, as quite distinct from the mental and physical lights).
16. Our knowledge of I, thou and this world (i.e. of the subjective and objective), are never real nor reliable; it is like the appearance of our dreams, that serve only to delude us to mistake.
17. As the absence of the desirable world, removes our desire of it; so the privation of our desire, displaces the mind which is the seat of our wishes.
18. The ignorant believe that this visible world is the mind, (because it is the display of the divine mind and the mind dwells upon it); but the unreal and formless mind had not this visible form, before it developed itself in the form of creation. (The world is not the mind because it is posterior in the order of creation, being created by the mind of the great Brahmá).
19. But this world is said to be coeval with the eternal mind, which is altogether impossible; because we read nowhere in the sástras, nor find in the ordinary course of nature, that a visible object has ever come into existence without some cause or other, either in the beginning of creation or at any time afterwards. (Hence the visible world is not coeval with the mind its maker).
20. How can eternity, uncreatedness and everlastingness be predicated of this visible world, which is a gross material substance, and subject to decay and dissolution.
21. There is no testimony of the sástras, nor ocular evidence nor any reasonable inference, to show any material thing to be uncaused by some agent or other, and to survive the final dissolution of the world.
22. There is no written testimony of the vedas, and of other sástras and Siddhántas to show, that any material thing is ever exempt from its three conditions of birth, growth and decay, and is not perishable at the last dissolution.
23. He that is not guided by the evidence and dictates of the sástras and vedas, is the most foolish among fools, and is never to be relied upon by good and sensible men.
24. It is never possible for any one to prevent the accidents, that are incidentals to perishable things, nor can there be any cause to render a material object an immaterial one.
25. But the immaterial view of this world, identifies it with the unchangeable Brahma, and exempts it from the accidents of action and passion, and of growth and decay.
26. Therefore know this world to be contained, in the undivided and unutterable vacuity of the Divine Intellect; which is infinite and formless void, and is for ever more in its undivided and undivisible state.
27. Brahma who is omniform and ever tranquil in himself, manifests his own self in this manner in the forms of creation and dissolution all in himself.
28. The lord now shows himself to our understanding, as embodied in his body of the world, and now manifests himself unto us, as the one Brahma in his spiritual form.
29. Know after all, that this world is the essence of the one Brahma only, beside which there is no separate world or any thing else in existence; and it is our imagination only which represents it sometimes in one form and then in another.
30. All this is one, eternal and ever tranquil soul, which is unborn and without any support and situated as it is. It shows itself as various without any variation in its nature, and so learn to remain thyself with thyself as motionless as a block of wood, and with thy dumb silence in utter amazement at all this. (The principles of vedánta philosophy being abstraction and generalisation, it takes the world and all things in their abstract light, and generalises them all under the general spirit of God).