TRIPURA RAHASYA OR THE MYSTERY BEYOND THE TRINITY -3

TRIPURA RAHASYA

OR

THE MYSTERY BEYOND THE TRINITY

Translated by

SWAMI SRI RAMANANANDA SARASWATHI

(Munagala S. Venkataramaiah)

Sri Ramanasramam

Tiruvannamalai

CHAPTER VIII

Key to the Parable of Chapter V

1-3. Having learnt from the mouth of his wise wife, the

true significance of Tripura, who is Pure Intelligence and

God in Truth, and also the technique of Tripura’s worship

from competent teachers as prompted by divine grace,

Hemachuda gained peace of mind and took to the worship

with intense devotion.

A few months passed in this manner.

[Note: God’s grace is the sine qua non of any kind of

knowledge of God.]

4. The Supreme Mother’s grace descended on him, and

he became totally indifferent to pleasure because his mind

was entirely absorbed in the practical investigation of the

Truth.

5. Such a state is impossible for anyone without the grace

of God, because the mind engaged in the practical search

for truth is the surest means of emancipation.

6. Parasurama! Countless aids will not give emancipation

if an earnest search for Truth is not made.

7. Once more Hemachuda sought his wife alone, his

mind absorbed in the quest for Truth.

8-9. She saw her husband coming to her apartment, so

she went to meet him, welcomed him and offered him her

seat. She washed his feet and prostrated before him, as was

due to one of his rank, and spoke melting words of sweet

love.

10-14. Dearest! I see you again after such a long time.

Are you in good health? Of course, the body is sometimes

liable to illness. Do tell me why you have been neglecting me

all these days. Not a day passed before without your seeing

me and conversing with me. How have you been passing

your time? I could never have dreamt that you would be so

indifferent to me! What makes you so? How do you spend

your nights? You used to say that a moment without me was

like an eternity to you, and that you could not bear it. Saying

this, she embraced him fondly and appeared distressed.

15-17. Though embraced lovingly by his dear wife, he

was not moved in the least and said to her: Dear, I can no

longer be deceived by you. I am convinced of your strength

and that nothing can affect your inherent happiness. You

are a Sage and unperturbed. You know this world and

beyond. How could anything affect you like this? I am here

to ask your advice. Now please listen. Explain to me that tale

you once related to me as the story of your life.

18. Who is your mother? Who is your friend? Who is

her husband? Who are her sons? Tell me, what relationship

have all these people to me?

19. I do not clearly understand it. I no longer think it is

a lie. I am sure you told me a parable which is full of significance.

20. Tell me everything in full so that I may understand

it clearly. I bow to you reverently. Kindly clear these doubts.

Chapter VIII  

21-23. Hemalekha with a smiling and delighted face

heard her husband and thought within herself: He is now

pure in mind and blessed of God. He is evidently

indifferent to the pleasures of life and is also strong in

mind. This must be due to God’s grace alone and his

former virtues are now bearing fruit. The time is now ripe

for him to be enlightened, so I will enlighten him. She

said: Lord, God’s grace is upon you, and you are blessed!

24-25. Dispassion cannot arise otherwise. It is the

criterion of God’s grace that the mind should be rapt in

the quest for truth, after becoming detached from sensual

pleasures. I shall now solve the puzzle of my life-story.

26. My mother is Transcendence — pure Consciousness;

my friend is intellect (discerning faculty); ignorance is Madam

Dark, the undesirable friend of intellect.

27. The caprices of ignorance are too well known to

need elucidation, she can delude anyone, making a rope seem

to be a serpent and striking terror in the onlooker.

28-33. Her son is the greatest of illusions — the mind;

his wife is thought or conception or imagination; her sons are

five in number, namely, hearing, taste, sight, touch and smell,

whose mansions are the respective senses. What the mind

was said to steal from them is enjoyment of sensual objects,

which leaves an impress on the mind to develop later into

the proclivities of the mind. Sharing stolen objects with his

wife is the manifestation of proclivities in dreams. Dream is

the daughter-in-law of Delusion (i.e., ignorance). Madam

Vorax is desire; her sons are anger and greed; their city is

the body. What was said to be my most potent talisman is

Realisation of the Self. Mind’s friend guarding the city is

the vital principle which keeps moving as the life-breath.

The different cities peopled by them are hells passed in

the eternal passage of the soul. The consummation of the

discerning faculty is samadhi. My admission into my

mother’s chamber is final emancipation.

34. Such is in brief the tale of my life. Yours is likewise.

Think well and be absolved.

Thus ends the Chapter on “The Course of Life” in the

Section of Hemachuda in Tripura Rahasya.

CHAPTER IX

How Hemachuda Realised the Self after

Analysing His Own Mind and Plunging Within

1. When Hemachuda understood the significance of

his wife’s parable he was agreeably surprised. His voice choked

with joy as he said to her:

2. My dear, you are indeed blessed, and clever too; how

shall I describe the profound wisdom of the story of your

life, narrated to me in the form of a parable.

3. Up to now I did not know your progress. It has all

been made as clear to me as a gooseberry resting on the palm

of my hand.

4-5. I now understand that the end of humanity is to

realise our wonderful nature. Please now tell me further, who

is this mother of yours? How is she without beginning? Who

are we? What is our real nature?

Asked thus, Hemalekha told her husband:

6. Lord, listen carefully to what I am going to say, for it

is subtle. Investigate the nature of the Self with intellect made

transparently clear.

7. It is not an object to be perceived, nor described;

how shall I then tell you of it? You know the Mother only if

you know the Self.

8. The Self does not admit of specification, and

therefore no teacher can teach it. However, realise the Self

within you, for it abides in unblemished intellect.

9. It pervades all, beginning from the personal God to

the amoeba; but it is not cognisable by the mind or senses;

being itself unillumined by external agencies, it illumines

all, everywhere and always. It surpasses demonstration or

discussion.

10. How, where, when, or by whom has it been specifically

described even incompletely? What you ask me, dear,

amounts to asking me to show your eyes to you.

11-12. Even the best teachers cannot bring your eyes

to your sight. Just as a teacher is of no use in this instance, so

in the other. He can at best guide you towards it and nothing

more. I shall also explain to you the means to realisation.

Listen attentively.

13. As long as you are contaminated with notions of me

or mine (e.g., my home, my body, my mind, my intellect),

the Self will not be found, for it lies beyond cognition and

cannot be realised as ‘my Self ’.

14. Retire into solitude, analyse and see what those

things are which are cognised as mine; discard them all and

transcending them, look for the Real Self.

15. For instance, you know me as your wife and not as

your self. I am only related to you and not part of you, much

less your very being.

16. Analyse everything in this way and discard it. What

remains over, transcending it all, beyond conception, appro

priation, or relinquishment — know That to be the Self.

That knowledge is final emancipation.

17. After receiving these instructions from his wife,

Hemachuda rose hurriedly from his seat, mounted on his

horse and rode away from the city.

18. He entered a royal pleasure-garden beyond the

outskirts of the town and went into a imposing crystal palace.

19-20. He dismissed his attendants and ordered the

keepers: Let no one enter these rooms while I am in contemplation

— be they ministers, elders or even the king himself.

They must wait until you obtain my permission.

21. Then he went up to a fine chamber in the ninth

storey which looked out in all directions.

22. The room was well furnished and he sat down on a

soft cushion. He collected his mind and began to contemplate

thus:

23-30. Truly all these people are deluded! Not one of

them knows even the fringe of the Self! But all are active for

the sake of their own selves. Some of them recite the scriptures,

a few study them and their commentaries; some are

busy accumulating wealth; others are ruling the land; some

are fighting the enemy; others are seeking the luxuries of

life. When engaged in all this selfish activity they never

question what exactly the Self may be; now why is there all

this confusion? Oh! When the Self is not known, all is in vain

and as if done in a dream. So I will now investigate the matter.

My home, wealth, kingdom, treasure, women, cattle —

none of these is me, and they are only mine. I certainly

take the body for the Self but it is simply a tool of mine.

I am indeed the king’s son, with goodly limbs and a fair

complexion. These people, too, are taken up by this same

notion that their bodies are their egos.

31-36. Reflecting thus, he considered the body. He

could not identify the body as the Self, and so began to

transcend it. ‘This body is mine, not me. It is built up of blood

and bones, and is changing each moment. How can this be

the changeless, continuous me. It looks like a chattel, it is

apart from me as is a waking body from the dream, etc. ‘I’

cannot be the body; nor can the vital force be the Self; mind

and intellect are clearly my tools, so they cannot be ‘I’. ‘I’ am

surely something apart from all these, beginning from the

body and ending with the intellect.

[Note: The intermediates are (1) the senses, (2) the mind

including the thinking, reasoning and coordinating faculties,

(3) the vital force. I am always aware, but do not realise that

pure state of awareness. The reason of this inability is not

clear to me.

37-38. ‘Objects are cognised through the senses, not

otherwise; life is recognised by touch, and mind by intellect.

By whom is the intellect made evident? I do not know .... I

now see I am always aware. Realisation of that pure awareness

is obstructed by other factors (pertaining to the nonself

) butting in. Now I shall not imagine them. They cannot

appear without my mental imagery of them and they cannot

obstruct the glory of the Self, without appearing.’

39. Thinking thus, he forcibly arrested his thoughts.

Chapter IX  

40-41. Instantaneously a blank superseded. He, at the

same time, decided that it was the Self, so became very

happy and once again he began to meditate. ‘I will do it

again,’ he said and plunged within.

42. The restlessness of the mind being thus resolutely

checked, he saw in an instant a blazing light with no

circumference.

43-45. Regaining human consciousness, he began

to wonder how this could happen: ‘There is no constancy

in the experience. The Self cannot be more than one. I

will repeat and see,’ he said and dived again. This time he

fell into a long sleep and dreamt wonderful dreams. On

waking up, he began to think furiously:

46-48. ‘How is it that I was overpowered by sleep

and started to dream? The darkness and light which I saw

before must also be in the nature of dreams. Dreams are

mental imagery, so how shall I overcome them?

‘I shall again repress my thoughts and see,’ he said,

and plunged within.

His mind was still for a time. He was sunk, as it

were, in in a ocean of bliss.

49-54. Shortly after, he regained his original state,

owing to the mind again beginning to function. He

reflected: ‘What is all this? Is it a dream or a hallucination

of the mind? My experience is a fact but it surpasses my

imagination.

‘Why is that bliss quite unique and unlike any that I

have experienced before? The highest of my known exper74

iences cannot compare with even an iota of the state of

bliss I was in just now. It was like sleep, in so far as I was not

externally aware. But there was a peculiar bliss at the same

time. The reason is not clear to me because there was nothing

to impart pleasure to me. Although I attempt to know the

Self, I do not do so. I see the Self differently now and again.

What can it be? Is it darkness, light or pleasure, etc. Or is

it possible that these are successive forms of the Self? I do

not understand it. Let me ask my recondite wife.’

55-61. Having thus resolved, the prince ordered the

doorkeeper to ask Hemalekha to come to him. Within an

hour and a half, she was climbing the steps of the mansion

like the Queen of Night moving across the sky. She

discovered the prince, her consort, in perfect peace of

mind, calm, collected and of happy countenance. She

quickly went to his side and sat by him. As she nestled

close to him he opened his eyes and found her sitting

close to him. Directly he did so, she quickly and fondly

embraced him and gently spoke sweet words of love: Lord,

what can I do for Your Highness? I hope you are well.

Please tell me why you called me up to this place? Thus

addressed, he spoke to his wife in his turn:

62-66. My dear! I have, as advised by you, retired to

a solitary place where I am engaged in investigating the

Self. Even so, I have diverse visions and experiences.

Thinking that the constant Self-awareness is dimmed by

the uncalled-for interference of mental activities, I forcibly

repressed my thoughts and remained calm. Darkness

superseded, light appeared, sleep supervened and finally a

Chapter IX  

unique bliss overpowered me for a little while. Is this the

Self, or something different? Please analyse these

experiences of mine and tell me, my dear, so that I may

clearly understand them.

67-69. After listening to him carefully Hemalekha,

the knower of this world and beyond, spoke sweetly thus:

Listen to me, my dear, closely. What you have now done

to restrain thoughts with the mind turned inward (vichara)

is a good beginning and praised by the worthy as the best

way. Without it, no one has ever been successful anywhere.

However, it does not produce Self-realisation, for the Self

remains realised at all times.

70. If a product, it cannot be the Self. For, how can the

Self be got anew? So then, the Self is never gained. Gain is of

something which is not already possessed. Is there any

moment when the Self is not the Self? Neither is control of

mind used to gain it. I shall give you some examples:

72. Just as things unseen in darkness are found on its

removal by means of a lamp, and are therefore said to be

recovered from oblivion.

73-74. Just as a confused man forgets his purse, but

remembers and locates it on keeping his mind unruffled

and steady, yet still says that he has gained the lost purse,

though the steadying of his mind did not produce it.

75. So also the control of your mind is not the cause

of your Self-realisation; though the Self is always there, it

is not recognised by you even with a controlled mind

because you are not conversant with it.

76. Just as a yokel unacquainted with the system

cannot understand the dazzling lights of the royal

audience-chamber at night and so ignores its magnificence

at first sight, so it is that you miss the Self.

77. Attend dear! Blank darkness was visible after you

controlled your thoughts. In the short interval before its

appearance and after the control of mind, there remains a

state free from the effort to control and the perception of

darkness.

78. Always remember that state as the one of perfect

and transcendental happiness. All are deceived in that state

because their minds are accustomed to be turned outward.

79. Though people may be learned, skilful and keen,

still they search and search, only to be thwarted and they do

not abide in that holy state.

80. They grieve day and night, without knowing this

state. Mere theoretical knowledge of sculpture can never

make a man a sculptor.

81. Though he be a pandit well grounded in the theory

and the discussion of the philosophy of the Self, he cannot

realise the Self because it is not realisable but already realised.

Realisation is not attained by going far, but only by staying

still; not by thought, but by cessation of thought.

83-85. Effort towards Realisation is like the attempt to

stamp with one’s foot on the shadow cast by one’s head. Effort

will always make it recede.

Just as an infant tries to take hold of his own reflection

being unaware of the mirror, so also common people are

Chapter IX  

taken in by their mental reflections in the mirror of the

pure, luminous Self and are not aware of the mirror,

because they have no acquaintance with the Self.

Although people understand space, they are not aware

of it because they are taken up by the objects in space.

86-88. They understand the universe in space but

have no regard for space itself. Similarly, it is with them in

regard to the Self.

My Lord, consider well. The world consists of

knowledge and the objects known. Of these the objects

are non-self and perceived by senses; knowledge is selfevident;

there is no world in the absence of knowledge.

Knowledge is the direct proof of the existence of objects

which are therefore dependent on knowledge. Knowledge

is dependent on the knower for its existence. The knower

does not require any tests for knowing his own existence.

The knower therefore is the only reality behind knowledge

and objects. That which is self-evident without the

necessity to be proved, is alone real; not so other things.

89-91. He who denies knowledge has no ground to

stand on and so no discussion is possible.

The subject of knowledge settled, the question arises

regarding the existence of objects in the absence of their

knowledge. Objects and their knowledge are only

reflections in the eternal, self-luminous, supreme

Consciousness which is the same as the knower and which

alone is real. The doubt that the reflection should be of

all objects simultaneously without reference to time and

place (contrary to our experience), need not arise because

time and space are themselves knowable concepts and

are equally reflections. The specific nature of the

reflections is the obverse of the objects found in space.

92. Therefore, Prince, realise with a still mind your

own true nature which is the one pure, undivided Consciousness

underlying the restless mind which is composed

of the whole universe in all its diversity.

93. If one is fixed in that fundamental basis of the

universe (i.e., the Self ), one becomes the All-doer. I shall tell

you how to inhere thus. I assure you — you will be That.

94. Realise with a still mind the state between sleep and

wakefulness, the interval between the recognition of one

object after another or the gap between two perceptions.

[Note: The commentator compares the rays of light

proceeding from the Sun before they impinge on materials.

They are themselves invisible, but capable of illumining

objects. This explains the third statement above. He also says

that consciousness is like water flowing through a channel

and later assuming the shape of the beds watered.]

95. This is the real Self, inhering in which one is no

longer deluded. Unaware of this Truth, people have become

inheritors of sorrow.

[Note: The commentator adds that a Sage realising the

world as the reflection of the mind treats it as such and is

thus free from misery.]

96-97. Shape, taste, smell, touch, sound, sorrow, pleasure,

the act of gaining, or the object gained — none of

Chapter IX  

these finds place in that Transcendence which is the support

of all there is, and which is the being in all, but is bereft

of everything (does not contain anything). That is the

Supreme Lord, the Creator, the Supporter and the Destroyer

of the universe and the Eternal Being.

98. Now let not your mind be outgoing; turn it inward;

control it just a little and watch for the Self, always remembering

that the investigator is himself the essence of being

and the Self of self.

[Note: The Commentary on this sloka says: This sloka

contains what is not to be done (namely, the mind should

not be permitted to be outgoing), what is to be done (the

mind is to be turned inwards) and what is to be engaged

in (watchfulness). Just a short control is enough; no long

control is necessary for the purpose. The question arises:

how to look? The investigator, investigation, and the object

investigated are all one. The mind should be brought to

the condition of a newborn baby. Then he feels as if he

were separate from all gross materials and only the feeling

‘I am’ persists.

When the mind is controlled a little, a state will be

evident at the end of the effort in which the Self can be

realised as pure being, underlying all phenomena but

undivided by them, similar to the baby-sense.]

99. Be also free from the thought ‘I see’; remain still

like a blind man seeing. What transcends sight and no

sight, That you are. Be quick and be That.

[Note: Here the Commentary says: The Self transcends

also the feeling ‘I see’. Adherence to that sensation divorces

one from the Self. Therefore, let that feeling also vanish, for

that state is absolutely unstained by will, sensation or thought.

Otherwise, there will be no perfection in spite of innumerable

efforts.

Again the word ‘sight’ includes the waking and dream

states and ‘no sight’ signifies deep sleep. That which is

threading through these three states and even surpasses

the sense ‘I am’ is what you are. This is the fourth state

Turiya (which is the string on which all the diverse objects

of the universe are strung and the whole is a garland to Sri

Ramana! Tr.).]

100. Hemachuda did accordingly, and having gained

that state referred to by his wife, he remained peaceful a

long time, unaware of anything beside the Self.

[Note: The commentator says that he was in nirvikalpa

samadhi.]

Thus ends the Chapter on “Peace” in the Section on

Hemachuda in Tripura Rahasya.

CHAPTER X

On Further Instructions by His Beloved, He

Got Samadhi in spite of His External

Activities and Remained in the State of

Emancipation even While Alive

1-5. Hemalekha noticed that her husband had attained

supreme peace and so did not disturb him. He awoke in an

hour and a half, opened his eyes and saw his wife nearby.

Eager to fall into that state once more, he closed his eyes;

and immediately Hemalekha took hold of his hands and asked

him sweetly: My Lord, tell me what you have ascertained to

be your gain on closing your eyes, or your loss on opening

them, my dearest. I love to hear you. Do say what happens

on the eyes being closed or left open.

6. On being pressed for an answer, he looked as if he

were drunk and replied reluctantly and languidly, as follows:

7-14. My dear, I have found pure untainted happiness.

I cannot find the least satisfaction in the activities of the world,

as sorrow increases when they finish. Enough of them! They

are tasteless to me like a sucked orange, only indulged in by

wastrels, or like cattle incessantly chewing their cud. What a

pity that such people should be to this day unaware of the

bliss of their own Self! Just as a man goes a-begging while

ignorant of the treasure hidden under his floor, so did I run

after sensual pleasures unaware of the boundless ocean of

bliss within me. Worldly pursuits are laden with misery,

and pleasures are transient. Still I was so infatuated that I

mistook them for enduring pleasures, was often griefstricken,

yet did not cease to pursue them over and over

again. The pity of it: Men are fools, unable to discriminate

pleasure from pain. They seek pleasures but gain sorrow.

Enough of these activities which increase the relish for

such pleasure.

My dear, I beg you with hands clasped. Let me fall

again into the peace of my blissful Self. I pity you that

though knowing this state, you are not in it but are ever

engaged in vain.

15-27. The wise girl gently smiled at all this, and said

to him: My lord, you do not yet know the highest state of

sanctity (which is not besmirched by duality), reaching

which the wise transcend duality and are never perplexed.

That state is as far from you as the sky is from the earth.

Your small measure of wisdom is as good as no wisdom,

because it is not unconditional, but remains conditioned

by closing or opening your eyes. Perfection cannot depend

on activity or the reverse, on effort or no effort. How can

that state be a perfect one if mental or physical activity

can influence it or if the displacement of the eyelid by the

width of eight barley grains makes all the difference to it?

Again, how can it be perfect if located only in the interior?

What shall I say of the grandeur of your delusion! How

ridiculous to think that your eyelid, one inch long, can

shut up the expanse in which millions of worlds revolve

in one corner alone!

Chapter X   

Listen Prince! I will tell you further. As long as these

knots are not cut asunder so long will bliss not be found

(The knowledge acquired is thus not effective). These

knots are millions in number and are created by the bond

of delusion which is no other than ignorance of Self. These

knots give rise to mistaken ideas, the chief of which is the

identification of the body with the Self, which in its turn

gives rise to the perennial stream of happiness and misery

in the shape of the cycle of births and deaths. The second

knot is the differentiation of the world from the Self whose

being-consciousness is the mirror in which the phenomena

are simply reflected. Similarly with the other knots

including the differentiation of beings among themselves

and from the universal Self. They have originated from

time immemorial and recur with unbroken ignorance.

The man is not finally redeemed until he has extricated

himself from these numberless knots of ignorance.

28-38. The state which is the result of your closing

the eyes cannot be enough, for it is pure intelligence

and eternal truth transcending anything else yet serving

as the magnificent mirror to reflect the phenomena

arising in itself. Prove, if you can, that everything is not

contained in it. Whatever you admit as known to you,

is in the knowledge conveyed by that consciousness.

Even what may be surmised to be in another place and

at a different time, is also within your consciousness.

Moreover, what is not apparent and unknown to that

intelligence is a figment of imagination, like the son of

a barren woman. There cannot be anything that is not

held by consciousness, just as there cannot be reflection

without a reflecting surface.

Therefore I tell you that your conviction, ‘I shall lose

it by opening my eyes’, or ‘I know it’, is the knot waiting

to be cut, and there will be no attainment, though. Remember,

it cannot be the perfect state if it can be attained.

What you consider the happy state as accomplished by the

movements of your eyelids, cannot indeed be perfect

because it is certainly intermittent and not unconditional.

Is any place found where the effulgence is not, my lord, of

the fire blazing at the dissolution of the universe? All will

resolve into that fire and no residue will be left. Similarly

also the fire of realisation will burn away all your sense of

duty so that there will be nothing left for you to do. Be

strong, root out your thoughts and cut off the deep-rooted

knots from your heart, namely, ‘I will see’, ‘I am not this’,

‘This is non-Self ’, and such like.

Find wherever you turn the one, undivided, eternal

blissful Self; also watch the whole universe reflected, as in a

mirror in the Self, as it arises and subsides in It. Stop contemplating

‘I see the Self everywhere and in everything

(within and without)’. Reach the residual Reality within and

abide as the Self, with your own natural state.

39-42. At the end of her speech, Hemachuda’s confusion

was cleared up, so that he gradually became well

established in the perfect Self bereft of any distinction of

within and without. Being always equable, he led a very happy

life with Hemalekha and others, reigned over his kingdom

and made it prosperous, engaged his enemies in war and

conquered them, studied the scriptures and taught them

to others, filled his treasury, performed the sacrifices

pertaining to royalty and lived twenty-thousand years,

emancipated while yet alive (Jivanmukta).

[Note: Scholars say that ‘One thousand’ is a peculiar

expression for ‘four’. Thus ‘twenty-thousand’ stands for ‘eighty’.]

43-61. The King Muktachuda, having heard that his

son Hemachuda had become a Jivanmukta, consulted his

other son Manichuda. Both agreed that Hemachuda was

not as before, but that he had changed so that he was no

longer affected by the greatest of pleasures or the worst of

sorrows; that he treated friend and foe alike; that he was

indifferent to loss or gain; that he engaged in royal duties

like an actor in a play; that he seemed like a man always

intoxicated with wine; and that he did his duty well, notwithstanding

his absent-minded or other-worldly look. They

pondered the matter and wondered. Then they sought him

in private and asked him for the reason of his change. When

they had heard him speak of his state, they too desired to be

instructed by him, and finally became Jivanmuktas like

Hemachuda. The ministers were in their turn desirous of

attaining that state, and eventually reached it after receiving

proper instructions from the king. So were the citizens, the

artisans and all classes of people in that city. All of them

gained the summum bonum (highest good) of life and transcended

desire, anger, lust, etc. Even the children and the

very old people were no longer moved by passions. There

were still worldly transactions in this ideal state, because the

people consciously acted their parts as the actors in a drama,

in accord with the rest of creation. A mother would rock

the cradle with lullabies expressive of the highest Truth; a

master and his servants dealt with one another in the Light

of that Truth; players entertained the audience with plays

depicting Truth; singers sang only songs on Truth; the

court fools caricatured ignorance as ludicrous; the academy

only taught lessons on God-knowledge. The whole State

was thus composed only of Sages and philosophers, be

they men or women; servant-boys or servant-maids;

dramatic actors or fashionable folk; artisans or labourers;

ministers or harlots. They nevertheless acted in their

professions in harmony with creation. They never cared

to recapitulate the past or speculate on the future with a

view to gain pleasure or avoid pain, but acted for the time

being, laughing, rejoicing, crying or shouting like

drunkards, thus dissipating all their latent tendencies.

62. The Rishis, Sanaka and others, called it the

Renowned City of Wisdom when they visited it.

63-68. Even parrots and cockatoos in their cages spoke

words of wisdom. For example: ‘Consider the Self as pure

intelligence bereft of objective knowledge.

‘What is known is not different from that intelligence,

it is like a series of images reflected in a mirror. Absolute

consciousness is the universe; it is ‘I’, it is all, sentient and

insentient, mobile and immobile. Everything else is illuminated

by it whereas it is alone and Self-luminous. Therefore

let those sensible people who are desirous of chit (pure

intelligence) turn away from illusory knowledge and

contemplate their own Self — the absolute consciousness —

Chapter X  

which illumines all the rest, and which is their being too.’

The town where even the lower animals convey such

supreme wisdom is famous to this day as the City of

Wisdom on Earth, which reputation it owes to that one

wise princess Hemalekha, by whose advice Hemachuda

became a Jivanmukta, all the rest following in his wake.

69. Dattatreya continued: Thus, you see, Parasurama,

the primary cause of emancipation is association with the

wise, Therefore, follow that advice first and foremost.

Thus ends Chapter X on the “Section of Hemachuda”

in Tripura Rahasya.

CHAPTER XI

That the Cosmos is Not Other than

Intelligence

1. After he had listened to this sublime story of Hemachuda,

Bhargava was confused and asked:

2-5. Lord, my Master! What you have related as a

wonderful teaching appears to me against the experience of

all people in every way. How can the magnificent, objective

universe be no other than tenuous consciousness, which is

not seen, but only inferred? Pure intelligence devoid of known

objects cannot be imagined and therefore cannot be

postulated. Thus the whole theme based on it is not at all

clear to me. I pray you kindly elucidate the subject so that I

may understand it. Thus requested, Dattatreya continued:

6-30. I will now tell you the truth of the objective world,

as it is. What is seen is absolutely nothing but sight. I shall

now give you the proof of this statement. Listen with attention.

All that is seen has an origin and there must therefore be an

antecedent cause for it. What is origin except that the thing

newly appears? The world is changing every moment and its

appearance is new every moment and so it is born every

moment. Some say that the birth of the universe is infinite

and eternal each moment. Some may contest the point saying

that the statement is true of a specific object or objects but

not of the world which is the aggregate of all that is seen.

Chapter XI

The scholiasts of vijnana answer them thus: The external

phenomena are only momentary projections of the

anamnesis of the continuous link, namely, the subject

and the worldly actions are based on them. But the intellect

which collates time, space and phenomena is infinite and

eternal at each moment of their appearance and it is called

vijnana by them. Others say that the universe is the

aggregate of matter — mobile and immobile. (The atomists

maintain that the universe is made up of five elements,

earth, air, fire, water and ether which are permanent and

of things like a pot, a cloth, etc., which are transient.

They are still unable to prove the external existence of the

world, because they admit that happenings in life imply

their conceptual nature. It follows that the objects not so

involved are useless.)

But all are agreed that the universe has an origin.

(What is then the point in saying that the momentary

creations are eternal and infinite? The momentary nature

cannot be modified by the qualifications mentioned.

There is no use in dressing a condemned man before the

executioner’s axe is laid on him.) To say however that

creation is due to nature (accidental?) is to overstretch

the imagination and therefore unwarranted. The

Charvakas, nihilists, argue that some effects are not

traceable to their efficient causes. There are occurrences

without any antecedent causes. Just as a cause need not

always foretell an event, so also the event need not always

have a cause. The conclusion follows that the world is an

accident.

If a thing can appear without a cause there is no

relation between cause and effect, and there can be no

harmony in the world. A potter’s work may lead to a

weaver’s products, and vice versa, which is absurd. The

interdependence of cause and effect is ascertained by their

logical sequence and proved by its role in practical life.

How then can the universe be an accident?

They infer the cause where it is not obvious, and

trace the cause from the effect. This conforms to the

universal practice. Each occurrence must have a cause for

it; that is the rule. Even if the cause is not obvious, it must

be inferred; otherwise the world activities would be in

vain — which is absurd. The conclusion is then reached

that every event is a product of a certain condition or

conditions; and this fact enables people to engage in

purposeful work. So it is in the practical world. Therefore

the theory of accidental creation is not admissible.

The atomists premise a material cause for creation

and name it imponderable atoms. According to them, the

imponderable atoms produce the tangible world, which did

not exist before creation and will not remain after dissolution.

(The existence of the world before or after is only imaginary

and untrue, like a human horn — they say.) How can the

same thing be true at one time and untrue at another? Again

if the primary atoms are imponderable, without magnitude

and yet are permanent, how can they give rise to material

and transient products endowed with magnitude?

How can the same thing be yellow and not yellow —

bright and dark — at the same time? These qualities are not

Chapter XI  

in harmony; the whole theory is confused, it is as if one

were trying to mix up the immiscibles. Again, how did

the primordial atoms begin to unite to produce diatoms

or triatoms? Was it of their own accord, (which is impossible

because they are insentient) or by God’s will? (Then the

action is God’s and not of the atoms. Otherwise it would

be like a king in his palace who, by merely willing to kill

the enemy, sent his weapons flying about in the act of

destruction). (It has already been pointed out that God

cannot be supposed to operate atoms for the purpose of

creation, as a potter does with clay.)

[Note: Thus the idea of the beginning of creation is

altogether refuted.]

It is also absurd to say that the insentient atoms of matter

began creation when the equilibrium of the three forces sattva,

rajas and tamas, was disturbed. (One of the systems of

philosophy believes that three qualities, brightness, activity

and darkness, are always there in equilibrium. When

disturbed, creation begins; when they revert to equilibrium,

the universe is dissolved.) How are the changes in the state

of equilibrium brought about? Change is not possible without

an intelligent cause. So none of the systems can satisfactorily

account for creation. Scriptures alone are the guide for

comprehending the metaphysical and the transcendental.

The rest are not authoritative because of the individual’s

limitations, the absence of reliable tests for their accuracy,

and of the repeated failures of attempts which ignore God.

The universe must have a Creator, and He must be an

intelligent principle, but He cannot be of any known type

because of the vastness of the creation. His power is past

understanding and is dealt with in the scriptures, whose

authority is incontrovertible. They speak of the unique

Creator, the Lord who was before creation, being selfcontained.

He created the universe by His own power. It is

in its entirety and all its details, a picture on the screen of His

Self like the dream world on the individual consciousness.

The individual encompasses his own creation with his ego

(as ‘I’); so does the Lord play with the universe. Just as the

dreamer is not to be confounded with the dream so is the

Lord not to be confounded with the creation. Just as a man

survives his dream, so does the Lord survive the dissolution

of His creation. Just as you remain ever as pure consciousness

apart from the body, etc., so is the Lord, unbounded consciousness

apart from the universe, etc. Is it not after all only

a picture drawn by Him on His Self? How can this unique

creation be apart from Him? There can indeed be nothing

but consciousness. Tell me of any place where there is no

consciousness; there is no place beyond consciousness. Or

can anyone prove in any manner anything outside consciousness?

Consciousness is inescapable.

31-32. Moreover, this consciousness is the only existence,

covering the whole universe, and perfect all through.

Just as there cannot be breakers apart from the ocean and

light without the Sun, so also the universe cannot be conceived

without consciousness. The Supreme God is thus the

embodiment of pure Consciousness.

33-34. This whole universe consisting of the mobile and

the immobile, arises from, abides in, and resolves into

Chapter XI  

Him. This is the final and well-known conclusion of the

scriptures; and the scriptures never err. The guide by which

one can apprehend the metaphysical and transcendental

matters is scripture alone.

35. Miraculous powers possessed by gems and incantations

cannot be denied, nor can they be fathomed by a man

of limited knowledge.

36-40. Because the scriptures proceed from the allknowing

Lord, they partake of His omniscient quality.

The Being mentioned in them is eternally existing even

before the birth of the universe. His creation has been

without any material aids. Therefore God is supreme,

perfect, pure and self-contained. The creation is not an

object apart; it is a picture drawn on the canvas of supreme

consciousness, for there cannot possibly be anything

beyond Perfection. Imagination on the contrary, is

impractical. The universe has thus originated only as an

image on the surface of the mirror of the Absolute. This

conclusion is in harmony with all facts.

41-45. Creation is like a magician’s trick, and is a city

born of divine imagination. O Parasurama, you are aware

of the mental creations of daydreamers which are full of

people, life and work, similar to this. There are also doubts,

tests, discussions and conclusions — all imaginary arising

in the mind and subsiding there. Just as castles in the air are

mental figments of men so also is this creation a mental

figment of Siva. Siva is absolute Awareness, without any

form. Sri Tripura is Sakti (energy) and Witness of the whole.

That Being is perfect all round and remains undivided.

46-47. Time and space are the factors of division in

the world; of these, space refers to the location of objects

and time to the sequence of events. Time and space are

themselves projected from consciousness. How then would

they divide or destroy their own basis and still continue

to be what they are?

48-51. Can you show the time or place not permeated

by consciousness? Is it not within your consciousness when

you speak of it? The fact of the existence of things is only

illumination of them, and nothing more. Such illumination

pertains to consciousness alone. That alone counts which is

self-shining. Objects are not so, for their existence depends

upon perception of them by conscious beings. But consciousness

is self-effulgent — not so the objects, which depend

on conscious beings for being known.

52-54. If on the other hand, you contend that objects

exist even if not perceived by us, I tell you — listen! There

is no consistency in the world regarding the existence or

nonexistence of things. Their cognition is the only factor

determining it. Just as reflections have no substance in

them, outside of the mirror, so also the things of the world

have no substance in them outside of the cognising factor,

viz., Intelligence.

The detail and tangibility of things are no arguments

against their being nothing but images.

55-63. Those qualities of reflected images depend on

the excellence of the reflecting surface, as we can see in the

case of water and polished surfaces. Mirrors are insentient

and are not self-contained. Whereas, consciousness is

Chapter XI  

always pure and self-contained; it does not require an

external object to create the image. Ordinary mirrors are

liable to be soiled by extraneous dirt, whereas consciousness

has nothing foreign to it, being always alone and undivided;

and therefore its reflections are unique. Created things are

not self-luminous and are illumined by another’s cognitive

faculty. Cognition of things implies their images on our

intelligence. They are only images. The creation therefore

is an image. It is not self-shining; and thus it is not selfaware,

but becomes a fact on our perception of it. Therefore

I say that the universe is nothing but an image on our

consciousness. Consciousness shines notwithstanding the

formation of images on it; though impalpable, it is steadily

fixed and does not falter. Just as the images in a mirror are

not apart from the mirror, so also the creations of

consciousness are not apart from it.

64. Objects are necessary for producing images in a

mirror; they are not however necessary for consciousness, because

it is self-contained.

65-66 O Parasurama! Note how daydreams and

hallucinations are clearly pictured in the mind even in the

absence of any reality behind them. How does it happen?

The place of objects is taken up by the peculiar imaginative

quality of the mind. When such imagination is deep, it takes

shape as creation; consciousness is pure and unblemished in

the absence of imagination.

67. Thus you see how consciousness was absolute and

pure before creation and how its peculiar quality or will

brought about this image of the world in it.

68-69. So the world is nothing but an image drawn

on the screen of consciousness, it differs from a mental

picture in its long duration; that is again due to the strength

of will producing the phenomenon. The universe appears

practical, material and perfect because the will determining

its creation is perfect and independent; whereas the human

conceptions are more or less transitory according to the

strength or the weakness of the will behind them.

70. The hampering of limitations is to some extent

overcome by the use of incantations, gems and herbs,

and an unbroken current of ‘I’ is established.

71. With the aid of that pure yoga, O Rama, observe

the creation manifested by one’s will like the hallucinations

brought about by a magician.

[Note: There are said to be some live gems which

have extraordinary properties. They are lustrous even in

the dark and do not take on different lustres according to

the background. They also illumine the objects close to

them. One kind is said to be cool to touch and it does not

become warm even on contact with the body; another is

said to sweat in moonlight; still another makes the owner

prosperous; yet another ruins him (e.g., the ‘Hope’

diamond), and so on.

A vivid account is given of a magician’s performance

in Ranjit Singh’s court. He threw a rope into the air which

stood taut. A man climbed up the rope and disappeared.]

72. Objects in the world can be handled and put to

use, while mental creations (e.g., dreams) present the same

phenomenon.

Chapter XI  

73. A magician’s creations are only transitory; a yogi’s

creations may be permanent; both are external to the

creator, whereas the divine creation cannot be apart from

the omnipresent Lord.

[Note: Visvamitra, a great Rishi, is reputed to have

created a duplicate universe, a part of which consists of

the constellations composing Scorpio, Sagittarius, and

the Southern Cross. Some trees, plants and herbs in

imitation of well-known species (e.g., palmyra

corresponding to coconut, jungle potatoes and onions,

insipid to taste and useless, etc.) are among his creations.]

74. Because the Lord of consciousness is infinite, the

creation can remain only within Him and the contrary is

pure fancy.

75. Since the universe is only a projection from and in

the mirror of consciousness, its unreal nature can become

clear only on investigation, and not otherwise.

76. Truth can never change its nature, whereas untruth is

always changing. See how changeful the nature of the world is!

77-78. Distinguish between the changeless truth and

the changeful untruth and scrutinise the world comprised

of these two factors, changeful phenomena and changeless

subjective consciousness, like the unchanging light of the

mirror and the changing images in it.

79. The world cannot stand investigation because of its

changing unreal nature. Just as the owl is dazzled and blinded

by bright sunlight, so the world parades in glory before

ignorance and disappears before right analysis.

[Note: The man sees by sunlight and is helpless in its

absence. The owl sees in darkness and is blinded in

sunlight. Whose sight is the better of the two? This cannot

be determined satisfactorily so that investigation becomes

lame.]

80-84. What is food for one, is poison for another

(e.g., decomposed food for worms and men). What is one

thing to yogis and celestials, is another to others. A long

distance by one vehicle is short by another.

Long intervals of space reflected in the mirror are

themselves in it and yet unreal.

In this way, investigation becomes indeterminate by

itself. Investigation and the object investigated are both indeterminate,

and the only constant factor underlying both is

consciousness. Nothing else can stand beside it.

85. That which shines as ‘Is’, is Her Majesty the Absolute

Consciousness.

Thus the universe is only the Self — the One and one

only.

Thus ends the Chapter XI on “The Ascertainment of

Truth” in Tripura Rahasya.

Om Tat Sat

                                                        

(Continued...) 

(My humble salutations H H   Bhagawan Sri Ramana Maharshi

and Humble salutations  H H to  SWAMI SRI RAMANANANDA SARASWATHI  for the collection)