THE YOGA VASISTHA
IN
POEM
CHAPTER Three
By Swami Suryadevananda
Vasistha's Comments
The second Lila rose into the sky
Met her daughter and proceeded
Across the oceans into consciousness
To where her husband the king was
Countless universes in consciousness
Unknowing of each other's existence
The second Lila felt most fortunate
Blessed to reunite with her husband
Inner Journey 2 (continues)
Sarasvati spoke to the first Lila
"The king, courtiers and all the rest
Are in infinite consciousness only
Reflected as this fanciful creation
When wisdom about ethereal bodies
Arises within one does not recognize
The physical body as true body
And one can enter subtler realms
The second Lila does not possess
Such wisdom of direct experience
Her experience of reaching her husband
Takes place all within her own fancy"
The enlightened Lila asked Sarasvati
"How do objects acquire characteristics
Like heat in fire, coolness in ice
And like the solidity of the earth?"
Sarasvati told the enlightened Lila
"After dissolution creation disappears
Only the infinite Brahman remains
And fancies the existence of creation
What the Infinite fancied earlier
During the first creation still remains
Along with all their characteristics
Into what else could they dissolve?
Something cannot become nothing
Just as gold appearing as a bracelet
Cannot become entirely formless
Such is the universe's order eternally
According to the first creation's order
Characteristics fell into place for all
Changes in subsequent creations
Result from existing purity or impurity
One who adheres to the injunctions
Of scriptures and the teachings of sages
Enjoys a long healthy lifespan
Reaching the end quite normally"
The enlightened Lila asked Sarasvati
"Kindly do thou enlighten me further
Is death pleasant or unpleasant
What happens after death finally?"
Sarasvati replied concerning death
"Human beings are of three types
Fools, the wise who meditate
And also the yogi or intelligent one
The fool lives carelessly and suffers
The wise and yogi practice meditation
Abandoning living for the body
They may depart at their own will
When there is cessation of life-breath
One ceases to live, death comes to him
But all this is however imaginary
Infinite consciousness can never cease to be
Eternal and infinite is pure consciousness
Never rising, it can never cease to be
In it does all life appears to rise and to fall
Consciousness remains pure and unchanged
What is called jiva or the individual
Is the atomic particle that’s stored
With memories and latent tendencies
It stays in the space of the dead on death
This they call the departed soul
This jiva abandons the earlier seen
And perceives other things once again
Just as in dreaming or day-dreaming
After a lapse of consciousness
This jiva begins to fancy another body
Another world and life-span too
What the jiva sees, it experiences
In the infinite space of consciousness
Time and action do not exist at all
The jiva fancies death, heaven and hell
And experiences whatever it fancies
This cycle of experience does repeat
The jiva decides and thus experiences
This cycle ends when the jiva
Is enlightened by self-knowledge
Consciousness masquerades as all
Sentient and seemingly insentient
There is no distinction between the two
Due to the substratum of consciousness
'Tis the same infinite consciousness
Known by all these different names
Appearing in all these different forms
Appearing individual and independent
The king who died here now wishes
To enter the body of king Padma
Fancying entry into another world
Let us proceed there on our own paths"
Vasistha Commented
When the first Lila became enlightened
She abandoned the link with the physical form
As it was ignorance making it appear
As if she was that physical body
The unreal manifests in the deluded mind
Creating havoc till it is dispelled
All nothing but fanciful conviction
Of the unreal rooted by repetition
One can move to other ethereal bodies
Just as from one dream to another
Without abandoning or destroying
The previous one that was inhabited
Though the yogi's body appears to be
It is really invisible being pure light
He appears to live and to die
Non-different from pure consciousness
The ethereal body is the only body
Appearing linked to the physical
The yogi attains this while living
Due to his inner enlightenment
Inner Journey 2 (conclusion)
Sarasvati restrained the king's entry
Into the body of dead king Padma
The enlightened Lila then asked her
"How much time has lapsed in meditation?"
Sarasvati replied to enlightened Lila
One month has passed in meditation
You abandoned your body in fifteen days
It was cremated by your ministers
In you now are no memories of past
Nor are there any latent tendencies
Intelligence is established in its true nature
Today is the thirty-first day you are here"
They revealed themselves to the other Lila
Who worshiped them spontaneously
Sarasvati asked her how exactly
She recollected having gotten there
The second Lila replied to Sarasvati
"I fainted seeing the fierce battle
My subtle body rose into the sky
And was brought here by the king
Seeing that he was quite fatigued
From the battle, I fanned him
Not wishing to disturb his rest
You appeared at this very moment"
Sarasvati then allowed the entry
Of the king into Padma's body
Instantly awoke king Padma
As if from deep slumber
The king inquired about both
Sarasvati and the enlightened Lila
Who proceeded to tell him who
She and goddess Sarasvati were
The king at once rose to his feet
Respectfully saluting goddess Sarasvati
Who blessed him with long life and health
And the blessing of attaining enlightenment
Vasistha Concludes
O Rama, deeply do contemplate
The story of Lila narrated to you
It will remove faith in the reality
Your mind has with what is perceived
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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