The Yoga Vasishta in Poem (Chapter Five) -4

THE YOGA VASISTHA

IN POEM

CHAPTER FIVE

By Swami Suryadevananda

4. THE STORY OF PUNYA AND PAVANA

Background

Once lived a holy man with his family

Wife and two very dutiful sons

Punya, the first son reached enlightenment

Pavana the second only had semi-wisdom

In time the old man and his wife died

The unenlightened son was sunk in grief

While the enlightened remained unmoved

Performing last rites without bereavement

Punya's Advice to his Brother

Why do you bring sorrow upon yourself

Our parents have attained liberation

'Tis the high exalted state—difficult to attain

This is natural to holy ones like them

Your suffering is self-inflicted

Caused by notions of father and mother

You grieve for those who are liberated

Why do you suffer unnecessarily?

Inquire into the nature of self

See it as different from the body

There is nothing called 'you' or 'I'

These are but unexamined notions  

Even if the notion of 'I' seems real

You have had many relatives in the past

You have had countless births before

You do not grieve for earlier ones

I too have had many embodiments

Being enlightened, I see them all clearly

I too have had countless relatives

Considering this—I do not grieve

Abandon all arising notions of 'I'

Realize you are the self—directly

You've no unhappiness, father or mother

You are the self and naught else

Sages know well this middle path

They've firmly established themselves in it

They're always at peace within and without

Established always in witness-consciousness

Vasistha's Insight

Thus instructed by his brother Punya

Pavana was awakened—enlightened

Both lived as enlightened beings

Endowed with wisdom of direct realization

Craving is the root of all sorrow

Renounce all cravings completely

Never sow these seeds of sorrow

Lead a pure life—free from all ills

Utter dispassion is the only way

For the mind to attain fulfillment

Never by appeasing its desires and hopes

Which are fuel for its wild raging fires

Now listen attentively to this story

About bringing about complete change

Complete transmutation of the mind

Just as King Bali of yore did

5. THE STORY OF KING BALI

Background

Bali was a powerful demon king  

He ruled for a long time unchallenged

Dispassion arose in him in due time

He began to inquire within as such

King Bali's Inquiry

How long will I continue to rule this way

What shall I gain in continuing to rule

Everything is subject to destruction after all

How can all this give me real happiness?

Again and again the same pleasures

They seem disgusting after a while

The same shameless acts are repeated

How is it that I am not ashamed of this?

Doing the same thing day-in and day-out

How can one ever reach the exalted state

Cessation of the cycle of birth and death

What is the use in revolving like this?

I remember well now my father's advice

When I asked him about ending samsara

The tyranny caused by the deluded mind

And the means for gaining total satisfaction

Bali's Father's Advice in a Story

There's a vast realm of endless expanse

In it are no lakes, oceans or mountains

No forests, sky, winds or moon

No high, no low, not even you or I

Only One is there—the supreme Light

Omnipotent, omnipresent—he is the all

Remaining silent as if inactive is he

Prompted by him, his minister does all

This minister is incapable of enjoying anything

Ignorant—he knows nothing at all

He does everything for his master's sake

The king remains alone established in peace

All the gods and demons are no match

They can never challenge this minister

Love and anger too derive power from him

His wish is the reason for all conflicts here

The king alone can defeat this minister

Quite easily whenever he wishes to

All creation is this ministers handiwork

You are a true hero if you can conquer him

When the minister arises—worlds arise

When he retires—worlds subside as well

You must be free of all delusion and ignorance

Have an utterly one-pointed mind—to conquer him

If he is not conquered—nothing can be attained

If he is conquered—everything is had at once

Hence strive with all your might in every way

Overcome any obstacle and conquer him

Most invincible is he—but, hear, there’s a means

He can be overcome by intelligent action

The absence of which is indeed travesty

As he burns everything if one is not vigilant

One has to approach him most intelligently

And subdue him as one plays with a child

When the king is seen—the minister is controlled

When the minister is controlled—the king is seen

Great havoc he creates if the king is not seen

Till you conquer the minister—the king is unseen

It requires intense effort—steady intelligent practice

To subdue the minister and to behold the king

Intense effort and steady intelligent practice

Both are needed to go beyond all sorrow

To the region inhabited by holy ones

Those who are forever established in peace

This region is the state of liberation

Sorrow and grief never enter here

The supreme king is the absolute Self

The minister to conquer is the mind

All that you see is fashioned by the mind

Mind conquered—everything is conquered

Almost invincible is this powerful mind

But it can be overcome by intelligent practice

Now listen to the most intelligent means

Of conquering this mind of great power

Free yourself of hope, desires and expectations

In regards to all and everything at all times

Very easy yet most difficult is conquest

Difficult for those who are not serious

But easy for the one who is most earnest

Ready and eager to renounce all impediments

Until you turn away from every sense pleasure

You will continue to roam in this world in grief

Total dispassion takes persistent practice

It can be attained by relentless right exertion

No other means exists to conquer the mind

Talks about fate and destiny are mere talk

What brings equanimity is also called grace

Right exertion is the way to equanimity

What the mind conceives of through right exertion

Mind conceives, creates and brings to fruition

Either counter to or with the natural order

You can call it the prompter of natural order

Though certain actions appear to be selfish

Each act in accordance with their own nature

But as long as there is mind—God is not known

When the mind ceases—let be whatever is!

Self-knowledge alone can yield the fruit

Of cessation of all cravings permanently

Dispassion is natural when the self is seen

Intelligent self-inquiry ends all craving

When the intelligence is still unawakened

Spend half your time in your normal duties

Quarter in self-study through scriptures

Quarter in service of the teacher

When the intelligence is partially awakened

Spend half your time in service of the teacher

Quarter in self-study through scriptures

Quarter in tending to normal duties  

When the intelligence is fully awakened

Spend half your time in service of the teacher

The other half in self-study through scriptures

All with dispassion as your constant companion

Only when one is filled with natural goodness

Is one qualified to listen to the highest wisdom

Hence educate, purify and nourish the mind

Transforming it by your sincere study

The transformed mind will see clearly

Hence strive to see the self sincerely

Self-realization and cessation of craving

Go hand in hand simultaneously

True dispassion does not come

By austerities, charity or pilgrimage

Right self-exertion is the only way

Hence exert rightly to rid all craving

When dispassion matures within one

The spirit of inquiry arises as well

Dispassion and the spirit of inquiry

Are interdependent—best friends to have

Abandon dependency on external factors

Grind your teeth, gird up your loins

Set your whole being to exert relentlessly

Inquiring and studying till you reach the Truth

Support yourself financially by your work

Work to support your basic needs

Utilize wealth to have the company

Of the good and holy with noble qualities

Company of the holy generates dispassion

Their company helps the spirit of self-inquiry

Company of the worldly increases passion

They help destroy all higher aspirations

When you turn away resolutely

From the pursuit of all pleasures

You can then attain to the highest state

Through the means of self-inquiry

When the self has been thoroughly purified

It is then that you have the foundation

To begin ongoing relentless self-inquiry

And be established in the supreme peace

The purified self is your only best friend

It will keep you from falling into delusion again

It will keep you from sorrow and suffering

It will give you a life of joy and auspiciousness

Acquire a little wealth while you are young

Utilize this wealth to have holy company

Adore and serve the holy ones sincerely

Tremendous will be your gain in their company

Bali Continues to Recollect

Luckily I remember my father's teachings

Now that craving for pleasure has ceased in me

I shall renounce all—withdraw from pleasures' pursuits

And stay happily established in the self

This universe is a creation of the mind

Nothing is lost by abandoning it

Bali thus sat and remembered his teacher

Sukra materialized before him instantly

Bali Asks his Teacher Sukra

No desire for pleasure have I

I wish to learn the truth is all

Who am I and who are you

What is this world?—kindly instruct me

Sukra's Reply

Consciousness alone exists—it is all

You, I, the world—all of this

If you are humble and sincere—see directly

There is no need for any further explanation

Bali Reflects Again

My teacher’s instructions were most correct

All this is indeed consciousness—naught else

If consciousness did not recognize the mountain

Would this exist as a mountain at all?  

Contact is possible due to consciousness

Bodies and objects always stay apart

Who is my friend and who is my enemy

Since consciousness alone exists as all

Hate and attachment are modifications

Of consciousness only—apparently modified

Consciousness being infinite in nature

How can perversions arise in it?

Consciousness is just a word—it has no name

I am that pure infinite consciousness

All craving has ceased in me completely

I shall continue till I reach absolute quiescence

Bali Enters Deep Meditation

Thus contemplating he uttered OM

And became quiet and contemplated

Its meaning and real significance

And entered into the supreme state

All divisions melted in king Bali

Thinker, thought and thinking too

Meditator, meditation and the object

He existed in stillness for a very long time

All his subjects were greatly perturbed

As their king sat showing no let up

They finally cried out to his teacher

Who once again appeared instantly

Sukra told them about Bali's condition

He had entered the perfect state

He asked to let him remain undisturbed

He would emerge from meditation on his own

Bali Emerges from Meditation

It was indeed a most wondrous state

Though it seems to be just one moment

I am pure consciousness without perversion

What to acquire, what to abandon?

I long for liberation but who has bound me

What shall I gain by continuing meditation

Salutations to myself—the infinite being  

I will do what is needed as king

There is absolutely nothing to be done

By that entity which is known as 'me'

Let me do what seems natural to me now

And rule this kingdom spontaneously

Vasistha's Insight

Bali ruled the kingdom without premeditation

Worshipping gods and the holy ones

Treating his relatives with deference

Rewarding servants and giving in charity

Gain the wisdom that king Bali had

You are the light of consciousness

In you are all the worlds rooted

Who is your friend and who is enemy?

Know this by your direct realization

All worlds are strung in you as a rosary

Unborn art thou, deathless thou art

The self is real—all else is imagination

Inquire into the nature of craving

The root virus of all illnesses

See directly that it is wrong notion

Give up all notions and be free

In whatever the mind tends to sink

Retrieve and reorientate it to truth

This will tame the wild elephant mind

Now listen to another illustration

 

Om Tat Sat

                                                        

(Continued...) 

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