/ Vedanta / Yoga Vāsistha / Yoga-Vāsistha (5): Upaśama-Khanda

Válmiki

Yoga-Vāsistha, Book 5: Upaśama-Khanda (On Quietism). Chapter 43 - Rest and Repose of Prahlāda

Rāma said- Sir, your knowledge of all truth, and the light of your holy discourses, have gratified me as much, as the cooling moon­beams gratify the medicinal plants: ¹.

Your gentle and purifying words are as gratifying to my ears, as the beautiful and sweet flowers delight the external senses ².

Sir, if the exertions of men, as you said, be the causes of their success, how was it that Prahlāda came to be enlightened without his effort or attempt? ³.

Vasistha replied- Yes Rāma, it was by his manly exertion, that the high-minded Prahlāda had acquired his divine knowledge; and there was no other cause ⁴

The soul of man is the same as the spirit of Nārāyana, ⁵; and there is no difference between them, as there is none between the oil and the sesame seed; and as the cloth and its whiteness, and the flower and its fragrance are not distinct things. ⁶.

And Visnu is the same with his spirit or the soul of man, and the human soul is the same with Visnu; ⁷; Visnu and the soul are synonymous terms as the plant and the vegetable.

Prahlāda came at first to know the soul by himself, ⁸, it was afterwards by means of his intellectual power, that he was led to the pursuation and made many prosylites after his own example.

It was by his own desert, that Prahlāda obtained his boon from Visnu; and it was by the exercise of his own reasoning, that he came to the knowledge of the eternal Mind.

Sometimes the soul is awakened of itself by one's own intuition, and at others it is roused by the grace of the personal god Visnu, owing in one's faith in his person. ⁹

And though this god may be pleased with his prolonged service and devout worship, yet he is unable to confer spiritual knowledge to one devoid of his reasoning faculty. ¹⁰

Hence the primary cause of spiritual light is the intelligence of a man, and which is gained by exertion of his mental powers only; the secondary causes may be the blessing and grace of a deity, but I wish you to prefer the former one for your salvation. ¹¹

Exert therefore your manliness at first, to keep the quintuple organs of sense under proper control; and habituate yourself with all diligence to cultivate your understanding, and the power of reasoning.

For know whatever gain any one makes at any time, it is owing to his own endeavours only that he gains the same, and not by any other means whatever.

It is only by dependence on your manly powers, that you can surmount the insuperable barriers of your sensual appetites; and then by crossing over the ocean of this world, reach to the other shore of supreme felicity.

It requires no exertion or manly effort to see the figure of Visnu; but the mere sight of the image is not sufficient to save you, or else the birds and beasts would all be saved by looking at it.

If it were in the power of the spiritual guide also to save his foolish followers by his preachings; it would be possible also to the leaders of camels and kine, to save herds in their future lives. ¹²

It is in the power of the mind only to acquire anything good for one's self, and not the favour of Hari or that of Hara, or the influence of money, that is able to effect anything.

It is by means of constant practice, accompanied by self resignation and self­control, that one is enabled to effect anything; and whatever he is unable to do by these means, is impossible for him to do by any other in the three worlds.

Look to the spirit -in the spirit, and adore the spirit in your own soul; behold the supreme soul in yourself, and have the universal soul in your own soul, and thus remain with it.

Fools flying from attending to the śāstras, or practicing their self-devotion and exercise of reason, have adopted to themselves the Vaisnava faith as a path leading to their better being; ¹³.

Practice and diligence are said to be steps to self edification, and rites and ceremonies are represented as secondary courses resorted to for want of the former!

The senses being refractory what is the good of ceremonial observances, and these being under control, it is useless to observe the ritual. ¹⁴

Without rationality and dispassionate-ness of his spirit, it is hard to have Hari ¹⁵; and when there is the cool and calm reasoning of the mind, it is as useless to have the idol of Hari, as to place a lotus in the hand of the dead and liberated.

When you have the qualities of abstraction and composure in your mind, think you have every thing in yourself; for these being in your possession, you become an adept, or else you are an ass of the forest. ¹⁶

Men are eager to find favour in the sight of the gods ¹⁷; but they do not seek the favour of their hearts and minds: ¹⁸.

Visnu the indwelling spirit of the body, is situated in the inmost soul of every individual; it is the ignorant fool only that forsake the innermost Visnu, and seek the outer form for its leading to the other; ¹⁹.

The consciousness dwelling in the cavity of the heart, is the true body of the everlasting spirit; and the outward form of Visnu, holding the conch-shell, cudgel, lotus and the discus, is but a false representation of it. ²⁰

He who forsakes the real form, and follows the fictitious one, lets off the ambrosia pass from his hand, in pursuit of some promised confectionery.

He who is not settled amidst the charming scenery of his spiritual meditation, lets his frantic mind to rove at large, after every object that presents itself before him.

He who has not the abstract knowledge of the soul in himself, is under the subjection of his infatuated mind; and worships the image bearing the conch, discus, club and lotus in its hands, as the supreme Lord and God.

It is by practice of continued austerity, and a prolonged worship of this deity, that the mind of the devotee becomes purified in process of time, and gets rid of its turbulent passions at last.

But the daily practice of self-control and abstract meditation, gives the mind the same purity, and like the āmra or mango fruit, it gets its accompanying virtues one by one. ²¹

So the soul is said to get in itself the virtues of peace, contentment and the rest, by means of the external adoration of Hari; and it is for this reason that the practice of idol worship is prescribed in the Śāstras. ²²

He who obtains his boon from the all powerful god, gets it in reward of his merit; as a fruit of the tree of his long practice.

It is mental labour ²³, which is the foundation of every improvement, and of all lasting good in life; just as the cultivated soil is the cause of the good condition of the harvest.

Even the digging of the ground, and the pulling of the hill ²⁴, is productive of no good without application of the mind. ²⁵

Men may undergo a thousand transmigrations, and wander about the earth in various births and shapes, and yet find no rest composure of their minds.

They may worship Brahmā, Visnu and the Rudras for ever, and gain their favour also, and yet can have no salvation owing to the perturbed state of their minds.

Leave off worshipping the visible form or image of Visnu ²⁶, either internally or externally in your mind or before your sight; and put an end to your trans­migration, by meditating on your consciousness alone.

Behold the unsullied from of One infinite God in your conscious self, and by forsaking all whatever it is conscious of. Relish the sweet essence of the one real entity, and go over the ocean of repeated births in the mortal world.

Footnotes

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE