THE YOGA VASISTHA
IN
POEM
CHAPTER Six
By Swami Suryadevananda
14. THE STORY OF VIPASCHIT
Background
There once lived a king called Vipaschit
Four ministers guarded his kingdom
A wise man visited him one day
After saluting, he spoke to the king
The Wise Man Said to the King
All four ministers have been killed
The city is surrounded by the enemy
Only you can fend off this assault
Only you can destroy this enemy
The King Acts
The king offered prayers and worship
He then summoned four powerful forces
Offering his head in return as sacrifice
Four powerful forces emerged right then
Most radiant were the king's four forms
They were blessed with seeing everything
They immediately proceeded to do battle
And vanquished the enemy's four forces
Vasistha's Comments
Though consciousness is one and non-dual
It seems to become diverse like in dream
Thus it is non-diverse—still appearing diverse
As the diverse forms are its own reflections
Similarly the yogi too acts everywhere
Experiencing all things in all of time
Though apparently remaining in one place
As he has overcome all self-limitation
Returning to the Story
The four radiant forms the king assumed
Were neither enlightened nor ignorant
All things are possible for those in such state
Of both awakening and non-awakening
In the case of partial awakening
Psychic powers come naturally to one
Yogis who practice just to attain powers
May get them but they are still ignorant
Liberated sages are quite different
They've attained insight into truth
Though they engage in normal activity
They are liberated from bondage's chains
They may weep, laugh and get angry
Within they are never elated or depressed
They are established firmly in the truth
Though they may seem to be quite ordinary
The king's four forms had different outcomes
One attained salvation by the Lord's grace
Another reached the realm of the moon
The third continued to rule his kingdom
The fourth attained to heaven's abode
As he was utterly free from any desires
Still not having attained enlightenment
He continued investigation into the truth
Though each had the same vasana initially
They were drawn in different directions
Repetitions of vasana impact its effects
Time, place and activity are other factors
Vipaschit the fourth form roamed very far
He realized the truth—then ignorance ceased
Ignorance too is infinite as is truth
All seen within infinite consciousness
Vasistha's Insight
When truth is not realized ignorance is
When truth is realized ignorance is not seen
The same consciousness is ignorance
The same consciousness is Brahman
Redemption is the original cause's reversal
That which gave rise to the initial fall
No other path is adequate or fruitful
Self effort and grace meet in redemption
Vipaschit had gone through many births
Gradually freeing himself of ignorance
Each step was a step into the light
Leaving behind some clouds of ignorance
Each moment is a precious opportunity
Towards the light or the fall into darkness
You must chose which path to tread
Resulting experiences are beyond your choice
15. THE STORY OF THE HUNTER AND THE SAGE
Background
Vipaschit from the earlier story
Took birth once again as Bhasa
Must luminous and radiant was his form
He had a boon to experience everything
For eons he took birth in different forms
Remembering knowledge and experiences
Seeing worlds most distant and different
Endless were experiences like flowing streams
In a certain universe lived a fierce demon
Who had destroyed the abode of a sage
He was cursed to be born as a mosquito
Somehow suddenly he had self-awareness
He became a mosquito with self-awareness
That of Brahma down to a blade of grass
All beings are subject to two forms of birth
Those of Brahma's and illusory creation also
Meeting the Ascetic
In time he took birth as a hunter
One day meeting a ascetic who asked
"Why do you live this cruel life
Why not seek liberation instead?"
The hunter took these words to heart
And entered the wisdom of scriptures
Just as the flower's deep fragrance
Enters one's body when it is inhaled
One day the hunter asked the ascetic
Just how is it that though this dream
Takes place within oneself only
It appears to be outside as real
The Ascetic Replied
To find the answer to this question
I once practiced long contemplation
Exhaling prana and mind outside
The prana entered another being
I followed it into that being
And into his heart I did enter
Beholding the principle of light
There I saw the entire universe
It was just like seeing with my eyes
I saw the sun, mountains and oceans
Different human beings and gods too
And realized the truth about consciousness
On the Play of Consciousness
Whatever consciousness manifests in itself
That is what is known as the world
This world is indeed the dream object
The perception of infinite consciousness
The expansion of this perception
Is what is known as the waking state
Dream is dream in relation to
The waking state preceding it
Dream is a waking state in itself
The waking state having two aspects
When one wishes to rest in himself
And when one attains perfect illumination
Resting in himself the illusion continues
One responds to the world in the mind
But when one attains perfect illumination
The world-appearance ceases completely
I ventured further into the being
Entering his individual consciousness
I experienced his world of confusion
His vital energy was heavily congested
Years of poor habits, fatigue and drink
Made his vital energy dense and inefficient
The self is its own object, you see
Congestion within is experienced without
Mind is creator of the world
It fancies prana to be its movement
Thus mind brings prana into being
And on prana mind becomes dependent
Prana busied in its own movement
Is unable to exert in self-knowledge
When prana and mind are in harmony
One engages himself in various activities
When prana and mind have disharmony
Both resting—is called the sleep state
Clogs in the nadis due to unhealthy habits
Is experienced as fatigue and need for sleep
All this I saw within that being
Into whose consciousness I entered
I saw a world within his consciousness
And realized it was all consciousness' play
On the Power of Assertion
After this I asserted that I was sixteen
I experienced that I was sixteen years old
Living in a hermitage in a small village
All this instantly became real to me
Previous experiences began to fade
The body seemed to be my only hope
Social customs and wealth became important
It felt wisdom had completely abandoned me
One day a guest came by to visit
He described the truth of this universe
One infinite consciousness alone is
I awakened fully on hearing his words
I recollected I was in another's body
One with his prana but in samadhi
I exited his body and came to know
Just one hour had passed in samadhi
Curiously I entered another's heart
In it, cosmic dissolution had just concluded
Where is the body, creation and death
There is only pure consciousness
In the presence of this consciousness
The tiniest particle appears macrocosmic
When world-appearance's notion is rooted
The karma notion takes root—creation seems real
The cycle of life, experience and
death
Continues till one attains liberation
Creation is in the heart of consciousness
Just as dream is in the dreamer's heart
Virtue, vice, tendency and personality
All are but notions, words with no reality
One infinite consciousness alone is
In which diversity appears as a dream
Creation is an appearance in consciousness
'Tis very much like dream-experience
Just as cloud formations appear in the sky
Seeming quite stable but ever changing
Countless worlds appear in consciousness
Some in the same space, some seem separate
Appearances exist in consciousness only
There is not else—this must be known directly
Impressions created in the waking state
Appear in the dream state as well
Strengthened again in the waking state
But the waking state too is an appearance
Just as movement is natural in air
Notions arise in consciousness
Impressions are not needed to create them
They appear and dissolve on their own
Consciousness's faculty to hold onto something
Is what is known as impression or samskara
When it is realized it is a reflection within
Impressions are not seen or experienced
Creation is non-different from consciousness
Consciousness alone shines as all this
The cause was there before the effect
This cause continues to shine unchanged
Things appear to exist independently
All because the substratum is reality
Just as dream objects appear so very real
Because of the dreamer dreaming them
Simultaneous multiple reflections
Appear as this grand creation we see
All of it rises and exists in consciousness
Infinite consciousness is the only reality
Diversity appears to be just as in dream
Creation exists in infinite consciousness
As dream is non-different from the dreamer
Creation is non-different from consciousness
Everywhere I look, I see myself only
As I am a particle in consciousness
The part cannot be divided from the whole
This truth has to be realized by you directly
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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