THE YOGA VASISTHA
IN
POEM
CHAPTER Six
By Swami Suryadevananda
Vasistha's Comments
Sikhidhvaja engaged in deep meditation
Free from all modifications in consciousness
Chudala abandoned her ascetic disguise
And returned to her palace to resume her duties
After some time she felt to visit him
To see if he was still inwardly awake
Sikhidhvaja was still in deep meditation
And did not hear her calling to him
Using her psychic powers she deduced
A trace of individuality still existed in him
She fanned that spark till it grew into a flame
Sikhidhvaja awakened from his meditation
The most latent desires are disguised as sattva
They are still seeds, no matter the guise
Like sparks, they can be fanned into flame
So one has to be alert and eternally vigilant
These latent desires in sattvic guise
Are so because of an inner imbalance
When sattva is in total equilibrium
Agitation in body or mind do not happen
Sikhidhvaja opened his eyes to find
The ascetic just there, looking at him
He prostrated, expressing his gratitude
For the instructions and guidance received
He expressed his experiences in detail
Most thankful for the showering of grace
He now understood total renunciation
As renunciation of all mental modification
After spending some time in the forest
Discussing many things of interest
Chudala felt that he was now ready
To know the truth of her identity
She also felt that he should return
To the palace and resume his duties
There was no point in continuing to dwell
In the forest now that clarity was achieved
As long as there is oil in the lamp
It continues to burn ever bright
So also when there is conditioning
Ignorance's darkness keeps one bound
The lamp of Sikhidhvaja was now dry
The oil of ignorance had been purged
His whole being was in utter equanimity
She felt he should do his natural functions
She explained the truth of her identity
Why she had to assume the disguise
We cannot learn from those closest to us
As the mind insists on how it relates
Learning takes a disciple's heart
One who is awake and stays alert
One who has the requisite discipline
To find out the truth for himself now
Till an awakening has happened within
Anything said will not be of much use
As the cup of one's inner receptivity
Is turned upside down and will not hold
It is pointless to instruct the unawakened
They are sleeping—best to let them lie
Awakening—they will themselves seek
Ways to end the tyranny of the mind
This story has many subtle teachings
Contemplate them carefully—gain wisdom
Know what it is that really binds
And what must be done to overcome it
12. THE STORY OF KACA
Background
Kaca's story has a similar import
What is renunciation and liberation
Kaca was the son of Brihaspati
Who was preceptor to the gods
When still young Kaca inquired
Of Brihaspati, his father the wise sage
"How does one obtain freedom
From this cage called samsara"
Brihaspati's reply was quite curt
"Liberation from this prison house
Is possible by total renunciation
There is no other way out of this"
Kaca's First Attempt
Kaca renounced everything he had
And retired to the forest that moment
His father the sage was unaffected
The wise are unaffected by such changes
After eight years of seclusion and austerity
Kaca happened to meet his father again
"I've performed austerities for long years
But have still to attain supreme peace"
The Sage's Reply
His father the sage repeated again
His earlier commandment to Kaca
"Renounce everything" and went away
Leaving his son to do the needful
Kaca's Second Attempt
Considering what was left to renounce
Kaca discarded the clothes on his body
Continuing austerity for three more years
He again sought his father's counsel
"I've renounced all my personal things
Practiced austerity for three more years
But I've still to attain supreme peace
I've yet to gain self-knowledge"
The Sage's Reply
"By 'total' I mean only the mind
For it is the mind that is the all
Renunciation of the mind is requisite"
Saying this the sage instantly vanished
Kaca's Third Attempt
Kaca looked within to find the mind
In order that it too could be renounced
But he could not find the elusive mind
All his efforts were fruitless and in vain
He realized that punishing the body
Was the height of folly—it was innocent
And decided to return to the sage again
This time to learn what the mind is
Kaca to the Sage
"Please instruct me on the mind
I do not understand what the mind is
How does one renounce something
Of which he has no real knowledge"
The Sage and Kaca's Dialogue
The sage replied to the seeker his son
They who know, say 'I' is the mind
The ego-sense that arises within you
That is the mind—it is naught else
Kaca said it was difficult to impossible
The sage responded that it was possible
Easier than crushing a flower in the hand
Far easier than closing one's own eyes
That which appears to be is ignorance
It perishes on the dawn of knowledge
Know there is no ego-sense in truth
It appears due to ignorance and delusion
Just where is this thing called ego-sense
How did it arise and what is it really
Consciousness alone is all things
There is naught else but consciousness
Ego- sense is just a word that's inflated
Give it up and give up all self-limitation
It is also giving up all mental conditioning
In order to realize you're unconditionally free
Vasistha's Comments
Thus instructed in the highest wisdom
Kaca became enlightened and free
You too can attain the very same state
Of supreme peace and inner quiescence
The ego-sense is unreal—do not trust it
Do not abandon it either—as it is unreal
The unreal cannot be grasped in hand
It cannot be abandoned as something either
You must feel in every cell of your being
The utter unreality of the ego-sense
All conditioning must be abandoned
Mental conditioning is self-limitation
Then what is birth and what is death
You realize you're subtle consciousness
Indivisible and free from ideation
Encompassing all beings and everything
It is only in the state of ignorance
The world around appears so very real
The enlightened see all as Brahman
Having abandoned all concepts and notions
Do not behave like the foolish and suffer
What one has attained—you can too
There is no loss in forsaking the unreal
It is natural if real wisdom has dawned within
13. THE STORY OF THE DELUDED MAN
Background
There is a man fashioned by delusion
Born and brought up in a desert
In him arose a deluded notion
"I'm born of space, this space is mine"
What Followed the Deluded Notion
Instantly he felt a need to protect space
And built a house for this very purpose
Seeing space safely enclosed within
He felt happy and most contended
In course of time, the house tumbled
And weeping aloud, feeling all was lost
He then dug a well for the same purpose—
Of protecting space which he thought
was his
The well too was lost in course of time
Again he was consumed by sorrow
He kept fashioning different containers
But each perished after a short time
Vasistha's Insight
The man who was fashioned by delusion
Is the ego-sense—a notion in the mind
Brahman in reality, but not knowing this
It foolishly wanders trying to possess things
Identification with the body starts delusion
Other bodies are then seen as distinct
The urge to possess surges within
The mind works furiously to protect it
All things change and perish in time
Nothing is yours to be possessed
What will you protect and just how
When you yourself are journeying here
But even though bodies perish in time
The self that animates them doesn't
You are that imperishable consciousness
Indestructible and even finer than space
Brahman alone is all this you see
Be happy knowing this deeply within
The whole universe is pure consciousness
Objects are appearances within itself
Everything, everyone including you and I
Though seeming alive is not really alive
Abandon faith in appearance as reality
Do what needs to be done appropriately
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
( My
humble salutations to H H Sri Swami
Suryadevananda ji and H H Sri Swami Venkatesananda ji for the
collection)
0 comments:
Post a Comment