THE YOGA VASISTHA
IN
POEM
CHAPTER Four
By Swami Suryadevananda
Vasistha's Insight
Time took Bhrigu to see his son
Who was in another body but most tranquil
He greeted them as divinities
Bhrigu asked him to recollect himself
The young man instantly recalled all
He recounted his procession of many births
Then they all travelled to the location
Where lay his first decaying body as Sukra
Whether one is wise or ignorant
The body lasts and functions—as is its nature
Functioning appropriately in the world
Either attached or unattached
As long as one is embodied
Pleasure and pain do come along
The wise are unattached to either
Living an enlightened life in harmony
Time asked him to enter that body
As though going into a different room
The entry of self would be enlivening
Reversing the decay that appeared
Time vanished—Sukra entered his first body
The one abandoned fell to the ground
He rose and greeted his father lovingly
Both shone as the radiance of sun and moon
Sukra's wishes to ascend to heaven
Materialized because his mind was pure
Free of cravings since it was his first birth
What the pure mind wishes—materializes
When the mind regains its utter purity
That pure mind is itself liberation
Diversity is seen as an appearance
The totality is the absolute Brahman
Each see what is rooted in their mind
Succession of births follow changes in mind
To suit the new psychological changes
Till self-realization ends embodiment
The tree grows after destroying the seed
Brahman creates the world—staying unchanged
In the nameless and formless these do appear
Though Brahman remains eternal and changeless
When the self is seen as an object
The seer is not realized or seen
Till the universe is perceived objectively
Self-realization remains unattainable
When the water in a mirage is seen
One does not see the rising hot air
When hot air is seen the water is not
When one is truth—other is not
Give up the division between seer and sight
The two must be seen as one substance
There’s no division between subject and object
Only then is realization of truth possible
Every potential exists in every atom
Therefore abandon notions of diversity
All are aspects of infinite consciousness
Rare indeed are those who have realized this
The illusion occurs in infinite consciousness
Experience this directly and be free
Absence of all craving—of every kind
Is the only proof that wisdom has dawned
A painting of a pot is not the pot
A painting of fire is not fire at all
A painting of a woman is not a woman
Wise words too are words—not wisdom
As you contemplate deeply so you become
Hence contemplate on the unconditioned
Contemplating desires Sukra was bound
Contemplating the infinite he attained freedom
The state which endures is the waking state
That which is transient is the dream state
Dream state builds from the waking state
Both share characteristics—they are the same
The consciousness awake in deep sleep
Is the same that enlivens the waking state
The very same that enlivens dreams as well
Is transcendental consciousness called turiya
When ignorance and delusion do expand
The 'I am' thought generates various notions
Senses and the body come to be
For experiences in the different states
All who strive for liberation
Experience the impurity of the mind
Created by notions entertained
And its resulting moods and experiences
Mind's conviction determines action
Action in turn strengthens conviction
This is why all see the same thing differently
Each convinced their view is the truth
Notions of object are called bondage
Notions are called maya or ignorance too
Perversion is in the perceiver's mind
Leading to perverted perception
When the mind is free of all attachments
When it not swayed by any opposites
When attractions and supports are abandoned
Doubt comes to rest—mind is enlightened
When the mind's impurities cease to be
Auspiciousness arises within the heart
Equal vision enters daily living
Ignorance vanishes due to inner expansion
Confusion vanishes from the mind
It functions naturally as it should
Just as waves rise and fall in the ocean
Rise and fall in the mind will not delude it
He who sees all strung in the self
As beads are strung in a necklace
Who knows clearly he is not the mind
He sees without division—firm in the truth
Salutations to that abode of auspiciousness
Filled with the supreme realization
That Brahman alone exists—ever unchanged
During creation, existence and dissolution
He who treads the superior path
Dwells in the body without confusion
Knowing the river of past momentum continues
Events come and go with its flow only
The body is a source of suffering to the ignorant
But a source of delight to the enlightened man
Who sees it as a means to roam about
With no loss at all when it is abandoned
The body does not subject the wise man
To lust, greed, ignorance or fear
Light is his contact with the body
Unaffected is he when it is gone
The wise reign supreme in the body
Without self-image, free of all craving
A disciplined mind is itself happiness
Hence strive to conquer senses and mind
In the great empire known as dreadful hell
Evil actions roam like elephants in rut
Insatiable cravings fuel the senses
Which destroy the body—their own support
A self-controlled one is a wise one
The bliss he experiences is incomparable
Much more than the wealthiest can know
He lives without confusion or any sorrow
Only after the supreme truth has been seen
Does craving disappear completely
The mind is most useful to the wise
It impels in them the very best actions
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to H H Sri Swami
Suryadevananda ji and H H Sri Swami Venkatesananda ji for the
collection)
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