The Yoga Vasishta in Poem (Chapter Three) -2

THE YOGA VASISTHA

IN POEM

CHAPTER Three

By Swami Suryadevananda

5. REALITY AND APPEARANCE

Reality

Absolute itself is liberation

Absolute is the only existence

Perception only seems to exist

Being never becomes anything

Gold is the substance of ornaments

Water, the substance of waves

The substance of all of creation

Is Brahman, the changeless Absolute

Beginningless ignorance is mere perception

End this with inquiry into truth

What has come to be must end as well

What has always been will always be

Creation disappears during dissolution

The changeless infinite alone remains

Uncaused, uncreated, cause of all

The Eternal is indeed the heart of all

Creation appears in the infinite

It submerges in the infinite as well

The infinite always remains the same

With or without creation's appearance

Not realizing this is delusion

All anxieties vanish realizing this

The act of seeing—seer, sight, seen

Realize the Absolute as your Self

As all images exist in an uncarved block

So does creation exist in the infinite

Difficult to express how this is so

As illustrations have their limitations

Nothing emerges, nothing submerges

The Absolute alone exists unchanged

Our feelings of the void get in the way

Of understanding fullness in emptiness

Pure spirit, self-luminous, is the Absolute

Illuminator of all and every thing

'Tis not possible for one to realize

The Absolute can only realize itself

From the infinite, the infinite emerges

The infinite exists in it as infinity

Nothing has come to be or will cease

The changeless infinite is the reality  

Eliminate objectivity from the mind

Erase the notion of the self as well

These are fuel for ideas in the mind

Which bring confusion and delusion

Neither asleep nor inert is the infinite

In it knowledge, knower and the known

Exist as one—pure intelligence

In the absence of the intellect

Appearance

A barren woman's son does not exist

Braceletness is an idea seen in gold

The world you see is inseparable

From Brahman—existence-absolute

No cause has this creation you see

No beginning has creation either

It does not exist now as reality

How can there be its destruction?

Creation is an appearance in Brahman

Thus reality as Brahman is real

But it has not existence of its own

For Brahman is the only reality

'Tis like a dream in ignorance

One appears in itself as many

Staying unchanged as one only

One alone exists, 'tis the reality

6. CREATION

Parable Illustrating Creation

Infinite consciousness is the universe

It generates the knowable within itself

As an idea concerning its form or space

And an inquiry concerning itself as well

The idea of space starts to be real

The cosmic being arises within it

The infinite abandons, as it were

The supreme state for individuals

This appearance, however real it seems  

Does not in any way alter Brahman

As Brahman is the only reality

Changes appear in the unchanged

In space, sound comes to be

Then egotism and the time factor

All this by the creative-thought

Inherent in the cosmic being

By similar thought does air come to be

And all other elements as well

All planes of existence in creation

All by thought in pure consciousness

Elements act and react on each other

The entire creation comes to be

Interwoven, mixed-up, indistinguishable

Ever changing but still the same reality

Since all of creation is vitally linked

To reality they appear to be real

Consciousness appears as the universe

Without undergoing any change at all

As is the seed, so is the fruit

The seed is Brahman the Absolute

So must be the fruit of creation

Pure Brahman the Absolute alone

Individual Souls

Thinking small, the soul became small

Wishing to experience, organs emerged

Thus the body gradually took shape

But all this in its imagination only

Since all this happens in reality

It appears so real and confusing

Brahman, the only eternal truth

Reality and illusion of world-appearance

Neither one nor many souls

Nor exists there a conglomeration

Jivas—souls, are but names

Brahman is the only reality  

One reality appearing manifold

Appearing real due to ignorance

Which light of inquiry does dispel

All this is Brahman, the sole reality

All this is imagination or thought

Nothing has really been created

When true wisdom arises within

Unreality vanishes and truth is beheld

Becoming Creation

Apprehending the perceived in itself

Consciousness itself becomes the perceived

All this appears so when false notions remain

For there is none other, save Brahman

This mysterious power of consciousness

Producing diversity while within itself

Is what is known as egotism

In it does infinite diversity arise

Give up false notions of 'I' and 'you'

Renounce notions of the self and its cause

Realize the truth when all these fall

Of that which is between real and unreal

Knowing Consciousness

When consciousness wishes to be known

It is known as the universe

Mind, intellect, egotism and elements

Are all pure consciousness only

One cannot distinguish between

A person, his life and his work

So also with Brahman and creation

Infinite diversity in unchanging unity

Removing the notion of externality

Gives rise to knowledge of the Self

Know the supreme truth directly

In your heart and be ever free

As is heat to fire, coolness to ice

As liquidity to water, flow to river

As sweetness to honey, fragrance to flowers  

The universe is to pure consciousness

The world is because consciousness is

It can be said to be real and unreal

As consciousness is world's reality

It has no independent reality

Do not get caught in these words

Expressions have their limitations

See what the teachings point to

Realize this within your heart

Objects appearing in a dream

Are not found in the waking state

Though they appeared real in dream

So too with the world when truth is known

Our knowledge is based on ignorance

Notions, definitions expressed in word

Truth is beyond the grasp of all these

It has to be experienced directly by one

This world is like a dream city

All within pure consciousness

World and cosmic consciousness are one

Now hear a story to illustrate this

7. THE STORY OF LILA

Background

Once lived a perfect king and queen

Both had deep spiritual aspirations too

They lived a most ideal life

Dutiful and happy in every way

One day a thought overcame queen Lila

"What if the king passes away before me?"

Life would be dull and quite dreary

I should pray to goddess Sarasvati for this

Lila propitiated goddess Sarasvati

Who appeared to her and offered boons

Lila asked the goddess for two boons

And they were granted instantly

First was that her husband should remain  

In the palace even after death

Second was that goddess Sarasvati

May appear to her when remembered

After some time the king passed away

Sad with grief, she heard a voice

Cover the king's body with flowers

It will not decay or leave the palace

'Twas the voice of goddess Sarasvati

Lila beseeched her: please appear

And asked where her husband was

Now that he had died and passed away

Goddess Sarasvati Replies

O Lila hear me very attentively

There are three types of space

Psychological space, physical space

And infinite space of consciousness

To see your husband right here

Meditate intensely on the infinite space

When the finite mind travels between places

This is what exists in the middle unseen

Give up all thoughts for this realm

Realize the universe's utter non-existence

As oneness with all must be realized

To experience the realm of infinity

You will not be able to do so at present

But you can enter this realm by my grace

Meditate O Lila with all of your being

Enter the state free of all distractions

Lila's First Experience

Lila meditated deeply with all of her heart

Only by the grace of goddess Sarasvati

Entered the infinite space of consciousness

Where she beheld her husband once again

She saw him seated on the throne as king

Surrounded by ministers and other kings

She was not seen but beheld all this

Wondering as the king had passed away  

Lila awoke right back in her palace

And summoned a meeting of the court

Finding the same ministers present there

Whom she had seen in her husband's court

The ministers cannot be in two places

At the same time as just experienced

Which is real and which is a reflection

As a mountain is reflected in a mirror

She sought help from goddess Sarasvati

"This world exists within the undivided

And outside here as solid matter too

Which is real and which a reflection?"

Sarasvati asked a question in return

"What do you consider real and unreal?"

Lila replied, "You are here, this to me is real

Where my husband is now seems unreal"

Sarasvati then said to Lila

"How can the unreal be an effect of the real

The effect is the cause, there’s no difference

Just as a pot that holds water is clay only."

Material effects are by material causes

Your husband's birth is without

An immediate material cause

Besides the past which is memory

Memory like space is but emptiness

All creation is an effect of that too

Your husband's birth is of memory

An illusion and effect of imagination

The story I am about to narrate

Illustrates creation’s dream-like nature

Listen carefully with rapt attention

And see what the story points out to

Om Tat Sat

                                                        

(Continued...) 

( My humble salutations to H H Sri Swami  Suryadevananda ji and H H Sri Swami Venkatesananda ji for the collection)