YOGA

VAASISHTA

A PHILOSOPHICAL TREATISE

COMPOSED BY

VAALMIKI MAHARSHI

qF 9*




ESSENCE OF YOGAVAASISHTA
Compiled by

Tejasvini









F9

SECTION FIVE QUIESCENCE

PART TEN

INTRODUCTION

In all the narratives presented in the past sections, it was discussed in detail, how the
mind projects a world for every individual as per his latent desires (Vaasanaas) and the
degree of knowledge one has.
Leelas husband Padma experienced various lives colored by his own desires. He had no
control over the events that happened. He was ignorant and suffered through unpleasant
events as if caught in a speeding flood. His body died every time he entered a new life.
Ushanas experienced many lives again forced by his passionate desires. He had to go
through many good and bad lives, oscillating between ignorance and knowledge. His
original body was not dead but withered away due to the absence of mind-contact.
Gaadhi experienced a new life without going through the death process. His mind held on
to the Brahmin body yet went through the birth and death of a low caste man. In this case
Gaadhi was completely ignorant of the Self and the events of his life were produced by
his deluded mind in various ways based on his Karma and desires.
All these stories are of the ignorant who had not reached the Self-state.
Suppose a man realizes, can he have other life experiences?
Why not? says the Sage and narrates the events in the life of VeetaHavya.
VeetaHavya experiences auspicious lives as he is absorbed in the Nirvikalpa Samaadhi.
His body on the other hand does not decay or get consumed by wild animals but remains
buried under the earth in tact.
How all this becomes possible is explained by the Sage in this section.

Other topics that get discussed are-
Whether Siddhis are the bi-products of realization? Does a JeevanMukta get super natural
powers by attaining the state of Brahman?
What are the easiest methods of realizing the Self?
Why Hatha Yoga practices are to be avoided?
And so on.
OM TAT SAT



VEETAHAVYAS STORY


CHAPTER ONE


*
Vasishta spoke



7* 9

j ||

Rama! Now listen to
this other Supreme understanding bestowing the Self-state,
through which Sage VeetaHavya stayed in the Self-state freed of all doubts.


In the past, VeetaHavya of great luster wandered in the forests of Vindhya Mountains.

He had become apprehensive in course of time, by the action-based life which was
terrifying, which drowned one in the delusion of mundane existence resulting in various
physical and mental ailments.

Having developed the noble desire for Nirvikalpa Samaadhi, he renounced the worthless
world of selfish enterprises.

He entered his fragrant leafy hut made of plantain trees like a bee entering the blue lotus.

He sat on the lotus posture on the deer skin spread out on the even ground and remained
stable in that position like a cloud which had finished pouring out the waters.

He placed his fingers on the tip of his feet; kept his neck high, straight and unmoving like
the peak of the mountain. He completely withdrew the mind gradually from its
wanderings outside. He renounced the external and internal activities of the mind step by
step. With a purified mind, he started to ponder like this.





CHAPTER TWO


*
Vasishta spoke


VeetaHavya pondered


{FICKLE MIND}

9c( H
j9 ||

Alas! This fickle mind does not become stable even for a second
though restrained,
like a leaf caught in the flooding waves.

c (

c=5

= =9c ||

c

c
* ||

In the very process of discarding it,
it produces more thoughts augmented by the senses.
From wherever it gets removed, it runs back there again like insane.

From the pot it jumps to the cloth; from the cloth to the cart.
The mad mind moves from object to object
like a monkey jumping from tree to tree.

q H|==

=5 - ||

I will scrutinize well these eyes etc,
the wretched ones termed Senses, which act as the five doors of the mind.


{INERT SENSES GOING AFTER INERT OBJECTS}

=5 l
-=

||
5

||

Hey! Hey! You despised wretches of senses!
Is it not the time for my enlightenment?
You are as unstable as the oceans with its turbulent waters!
You with fickle wants!
Do not act with greed and bring harm on yourselves!
Remember all the past incidents which abound in sufferings!

+

l
cH

*

||
c = Hc -
=5

||

You are just the extended forms of the mind.
You lowly things are inert only.
Going after another inert object is a wasted act indeed;
for it vanishes like the mirage.

(What difference is there between inert objects? What meaning is there in the inert sense getting attracted
towards another inert object?)


I am the Conscious Self, the Lord.
I will do everything from the witness level.
You wretched senses!
Why are you getting apprehensive for no reason?

c 7

7H
= ql5

||

There is not the least connection between
the eyes and other senses which know nothing and the Self which knows everything,
like the heaven and the tree at the bottom of the nether world.

= l+ H+

* ==5+c ||

The faultless Pure consciousness stays far from the reach of the senses
like a frightened traveler from the snakes
or a Brahmin from the Chaandaalas.

cc H
* lc l ||

The commotion among you is only because of the existence of Chit,
like the people attending to their routine works
when the Sun stays above unconcerned.


{HEY MIND!}

c l HHH


||

Hey Mind! Hey (sense) herd!
Hey Chaarvaaka (pampers the body identifying with it)!
You beggar wandering in the hollows of all the four directions!
Hey world!
Do not move about like this wastefully like a dog!



{YOU ARE NOT CONSCIOUS. YOU ARE NOT ALIVE. YOU ARE NOT THE EGO.}

ql c
c== H = ||

Your Vaasanaa - I am (conscious) like the Chit - is a meaningless lie!
You rogue!
Chit (non-inert) and mind (inert) are so different that
they never can be the same!

-c

c c ||

I am living
This idiotic idea of yours has falsely risen to give pain alone.
It is not true; it is completely bereft of Reality.

(Self alone makes any living possible; not the Mind or Praanaas.)

c = c
l

c l ||

Renounce the excitement at the rise of the ego,
I am so and so.
You are not anything O fool!
Why do you jump about in vain?



{MIND IS NOT ANYTHING AT ALL}

ccq= s== q
s==

l c c ||

Consciousness which perceives is beginningless and endless.
There exists nothing but the Consciousness.
Hey greatest idiot!
What are you in this body calling yourself the mind?


{YOU ARE JUST AN INERT TOOL}

=5

c H c = ||

Hey Fool!
Do not go to the ridiculous state of taking shelter with the senses.
You are not the doer.
You are not the enjoyer.
You are inert.
You are made to act by some one else.

c =
c =l

||

What are you to the sense experiences?
What are sense experiences to you?
You are inert and have no essence at all!
How can you have relatives or friends?

cHc

c
9=

Hc

||

Since you have falsely taken on yourself, the doer ship and enjoyer ship,
I will erase them off completely.
Listen to how gradually it gets done.

c c
|7H

c c=

||

Revered Mind-Sir!
You are indeed inert! There is no doubt about it!
How can an inert thing do anything?
How can statues dance in this world?



(If you say that wooden dolls dance in the hands of a puppeteer, then you also act like that and hold on to
the Self.)

@

|
c

||

You do manage to survive for a long time
supported by that part (Consciousness), which is pure and which rules.
That is why you live; desire; kill; move; and jump about wastefully!

(All the credit belongs to the Self which makes you act.)

lH c

Hc c

Hc 9

||

=

Hc
= q

Hc = 9

||

Hc

||

Whatever action is done, that is done by him alone who used his strength.
That man alone who cuts the crops using a sickle with his man-power,
is known as the cutter (reaper).

He who is killed by a man who is strong, is killed by the strong person only.
The sword kills by the man-power behind it; man alone is said to be the killer.

When a man drinks using his strength, he only drinks.
The cup is used in drinking.
But the man is said to be the one who drank.



{YOU DO NOT PERCEIVE SIR! YOU ARE INERT!}

9c

7
ccc l ||

You are by nature completely inert and supine.
You are made alive by that All knowing Self.
Self alone manifests as all this by the Self in the Self; and not you sir!

cc ||

The Supreme Lord, the Self keeps you active continuously.


{DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I AM SAYING?}



lc

||

Fools are be taught by the wise ones by repeating hundred times even.

cc +

l
c=jc

c ||

The essence of the Self alone manifests as perception here.
Because of that only,
you have taken the name as the Mind and manage to exist.


{YOU LIVE BY IGNORANCE. I WILL KILL YOU BY KNOWLEDGE.}

c c7cH5
7 c d l ||

Hey mind!
As I told you,
you have risen by the power of the Self through ignorance.
When knowledge rises,
you will melt away like the snow by the hot Sun.

=

c c
c

||

So you are dead! You are a fool!
You do not exist in reality!
So do not declare that I alone am the conscious Self.
and end up in troubles (of repeated births).

+ l c
c9 7 9 ||

That state (of Brahman) is everywhere;
in every object; as every form.
You ignorant fool!
If that state is attained, everything gets achieved at all times.

c d( c

-c = c l

||

You are not there. The body is not there.
Only Brahman is there shining forth expansively like this.
The superimposed ideas of I and you appear
in the Non-vibrating Consciousness.
Who is getting harmed here?


(Body is inert. Mind is inert. The ideas of I, you etc are just meaningless superimpositions which are not
real. Brahman alone is there as everything.
Who is suffering here actually?)



{YOU ARE NOT THE CONSCIOUS SELF; YOU ARE INERT; YOU DO NOT EXIST}

c cc c
c==c ccc c q

||

If you are the Self,
then, (actually) Self alone is here; not any other.
If there is any principle of inertness other than the Self,
it has no existence at all.

c = l
q

||

I am this I am that All this is mine
Why do you exert like this for no purpose?
Does a non-existing thing ever shine forth?
Who has been hurt by a hares horn?

7c

@
c

cc ||

Just to make the instruction about the Self-knowledge state fruitful,
you are made an instrument and
it is stated that the Self does.

(It is like using a mirror to see the face; the face only sees the face; mirror is just an instrument;
Similarly when the statements Mind alone has to understand this Mind alone has to attain this are made
in the Scriptures, the mind is addressed just as a tool for understanding.)


{YOU CANNOT ACT BY YOURSELF; YOU ARE AN INERT TOOL}


c+
= =

||

The tool is of an unreal nature; it is inert; cannot exist without any support.
It has no movement by itself.
It cannot move without the help of the person who uses it.

H = q

l H ||

The tool is a non-doer.
It has no power by itself.
What can a sickle do by itself if the man who cuts is not there!

=5l

|7

c *

- ||

How can doer ship be attributed to the mind, body and senses
which are as inert as the stone etc.
Hey Mind!
How can a flower bloom in the empty sky?



{SELF ALONE IS ALL THIS}

c c
c=-

||

Only the Self manifests as this manifold multifarious phenomenon in the Self,
like the ocean filled with waters appearing as the foam, bubbles, waves etc.

l + c
c

- ||

Who can superimpose limitations to the Self
which is beginning less, formless, which is everywhere and extensive?
Who can write Rig-Veda in the empty sky?











CHAPTER THREE

*
Vasishta spoke


Again the wise Sage of purified intellect started to instruct the group of senses and the
(mind) in solitude.
Rama! Listen! I will tell you how he controlled the group of senses. Think like him and
attain the painless state of the Supreme.



VeetaHavya pondered


{DO SENSES EXIST?}

cc =

cc c |=c=c ||

The very existence of you people (senses)
will surely end up in painful experiences.
As you have no existence at all, stop acting as if you exist.

| c H

=
(7- ||

By my instruction, I know definitely that your existence will indeed be destroyed.
You are just the products of ignorance only!

c c

9 1= =c ||

If you all are not there at all, then well done you all!
All the auspicious qualities will blossom forth with the light of discrimination,
like lotuses blooming in the light of the early morning.



{HEY MIND!}

Take shelter in that by which you perceive. Contemplation on the Self indeed will make
you happy. Be absorbed in that only. Discarding such happiness is foolishness.
If you are really alive, who will want you dead?
But you are not there at all.
I tell you the truth my handsome friend!
Do not be under the false belief that you will live.
You are not there at all from the beginning. Your existence is due to my delusion.
Now through enquiry your existence will be erased off completely. You are seen only
because of non-enquiry. You arise because of non-discrimination. Through
discrimination you perish. All this time I had no discriminating ability.

c=5 c=: ||

Hey Mind! Lord of the senses!
May good be there for you.
The end has come.

c c c
c cc c == q
c c==7 H ||

Therefore it is not there, not there!
Mind is non-existent in this world phenomenon.

Self is there, is there.
Nothing else is there other than that.

This is the Self. I am this.
There is nothing else other than me.

How can even such a thought I am the Self rise in the taintless Self?
Who is there as another to make such a statement?

c

c * j ||

I will not anymore entertain even thoughts like so I am the Self etc.
I will remain silent in the Self, like a wave inside the water.





CHAPTER FOUR

*
Vasishta spoke

Having pondered thus, VeetaHavya who was now freed of all Vaasanaas remained in the
Samadhi state inside the cave of that Vindhya Mountain.
He appeared like a statue carved in stone and remained without any movement.
Three hundred years passed in this manner.
He never woke up from this Samaadhi state all this time. He never discarded the body
also. Heavy rains, earth quakes, floods and the heat of the Sun did not disturb him in any
manner. The years moved over him like waves of a river.
Soon the wet soil of the earth slowly covered him up and he was buried inside the earth
as if he was a rock. His neck and shoulders were stuck inside and held tightly by the soil.
Only after three hundred years he woke up from his Samaadhi state and found himself
buried under the earth.
All this time, his Praanaas had ceased their action; but his consciousness alone had kept
his body alive.

His Jeeva-consciousness rising from the heart to fulfill his left over Praarabdha opened its
eyes as it were and extending as a mind, experienced many lives within the heart itself in
imagination. (Praarabdha here is not the binding Karma but some harmless ideas stored in
VeetaHavya-Mind such as devotion to Shiva, the greatness of Indra, the wonders of
Vidyaadhara world etc.)
In the Kailaasa mountain forest, under the Kadamba tree he lived as a liberated Sage for
hundred years. Then he was a Vidyaadhara for hundred years bereft of all physical and
mental ailments. Later he was the king of Gods in the heaven served by all the Gods for
five Yugas.


(VeetaHavya was in the Nirvikalpa Samaadhi for three hundred years. He was free of all Vaasanaas.
Even then he experienced a life in Kailaasa Mountain, another life in Vidyaadhara world; another life as
Indra and so on for many Kalpas.
How could he experience those lives in a short span of three hundred years of Samaadhi?
And why?
If he was in the Self state, what made him experience those lives?
Rama questions SageVasishta about these topics.)







CHAPTER FIVE



Rama spoke

Hcl

* 9

lH ||

Hey revered Sage!
In his experiences of Indra etc, how were the space/time boundaries
which are restricted otherwise
became un-restricted?

*
Vasishta spoke


(What limitations can be there for the all powerful Chit?
The Chit manifesting as the world phenomenon through VeetaHavya channel just experienced some lives
as VeetaHavya creating suitable time-space boundaries accordingly.
Chit can become anything anywhere any time by its own will for no particular reason, even if no Vaasanaas
are there. Who is there to bind Chit by rules when it manifests as anything anywhere anytime?)


c H

c ||

In whatever manner and wherever
the power of the Chit, the essence of all, raises,
it becomes that only, in that manner, there and all,
by its very nature.

@

lH =c ||

In whatever manner, in whichever place, in whatever time,
the boundaries of space and time appear inside the intellect,
that alone holds good at that time of experience
by the complete absorption into it.

= = *

(l ||

That is how
VeetaHavya who was rid of all Vaasanaas,
perceived all these various types of worlds
in his heart, the arena of all perceptions.


7 ||

For those who have attained the Supreme understanding,
this Vaasanaa is not a Vaasanaa at all.
How can the seed burnt by the fire of knowledge, ever sprout like a seed?

c =5
q

||

He served Lord Shiva with the crescent moon on the head
for one Kalpa as one of his Ganas.
He was a master of all learning then
and was capable of knowing the events of all the three time modes.

77 7
=

H qs

||

Whatever intense impressions one maintains,
he experiences them in that manner only.
Even as he remained as a JeevanMukta,
VeetaHavya had these experiences accordingly.


(If his own hidden impressions caused VeetaHavyas experiences in Kailaasa, Heaven etc,, then he is not
free of his impressions; is it not so? He is also bound by experiences like any other ignorant person. He is
not fully liberated though he is JeevanMukta! Is that so?
Rama gives words to this doubt.)







CHAPTER SIX



Rama spoke

*

=H

=H7 = c ||

O Best among Sages!
If that is the case, then even those JeevanMuktas like VeetaHavya
entertain ideas of bondage and liberation!
Is that so?

*
Vasishta spoke


(Brahman alone manifests as all that is perceived by any one.
As VeetaHavya had no identity of VeetaHavya after realization, Brahman alone was manifesting through
that mind. VeetaHavya the limited consciousness with Vaasanaa-filled mind was not there. Self alone was
sporting there using the Vaasanaa-less mind to produce experiences.

What Rama is experiencing as his life-events, what Vasishta is experiencing as his life events or whatever
anyone is experiencing anywhere anytime is nothing but the Brahman manifesting as all this; nothing
special about the same Brahman having some experiences as VeetaHavya in Nirvikalpa Samaadhi. The
only difference is that in the liberated knowers, Mind is dead and bliss alone prevails; and in the ignorant,
Mind is alive and suffers through ignorance.)

=
d( =H

=H7

||

This world as it is in reality is
the taintless quiescent space of Brahman.
How can liberated beings entertain thoughts of bondage and liberation?

c=
ccq= ||

Wherever however this conscious space shines forth
there and all, in that very manner, at those times,
it attains all those (experiences).

==


= c d(+ ||

Raaghava! Whatever is experienced by that (conscious space),
many experience the same in this world,
as Brahman who is the essence of all.

(Brahman alone has all the experiences all over this world simultaneously with various time/space
boundaries.
If through VeetaHavya-Mind the Brahman went through Indras life and a Shiva Gana life, he experiences
other lives also as you, me, and so many others. What is there other than Brahman?!)

c

*=t

||
H@c

q |

9c

H= ||
@c

1
=5

||
@c

*
q =

||

In the countless worlds which are extensive and formless
that appeared
in the conscious Self of VeetaHavya buried under the hollow of the earth,

he who saw himself as Indra
is now a king of some pitiable people,
is at this moment engaged in hunting in this forest;

he who saw himself as the sporting swan of Brahma seated in the lotus,
is now the king of hunters in the Kailaasa forest bowers;

he who saw himself as a king of Souraashtra kingdom,
is now living in the Andhra village filled with many trees.









CHAPTER SEVEN



Rama spoke

l |
l += c7 ||

That Creation was only a mental projection of VeetaHavya.
Those identities were just imaginations.
How could they be real persons with bodies?

(According to Rama his world is more real with real people moving around. In the case of VeetaHavya,
VeetaHavya saw his world, only inside his mind as imaginations or mental projections.
The people there cannot be real Rama argues.
Sage Vasishta brushes aside his question explaining that whether it is Ramas perceived world or
VeetaHavyas perceived world, both are illusions.)

*
Vasishta spoke

l +=cc =
l l

||

If that world of VeetaHavya is just a figment of delusion,
then how is that Rama,
whatever is seen as your world shines as real?

j = +
= + ||

Even this my dear Rama, is also just consciousness (Chit) only
and is just like a delusion felt by the mind.
That also is just emptiness, only Chit, only the mind, and is like a delusion.

5 =
cc d( ||

Actually that world is also not there; not any other also.
Your world also is not real.
Brahman alone shines as all this.

*
c 7 = ||

Of what nature all the occurrences of the present, past or future are here,
so they are in other worlds too.
The entire perceived phenomenon is just a mental projection of the Consciousness.

+ = 77
57 =7 c ||

As long as one does not understand the truth like this,
the world is as hard as the diamond;
when understood,
it is just the Supreme space of the Chit.

7= c 9

-
9c

||

Mind alone shines forth as all this because of ignorance,
like the rising and jumping waves of the ocean.



{CHIT ALONE IS THE MIND}

c

l ||

The Chit-space, as it is, through its cognizing state,
gets to be known as the mind.
This world extends because of that mind.

The world is perceived like this as spread out; yet nothing spreads out ever.







CHAPTER EIGHT


{VEETAHAVYAS STORY CONTINUES}


Rama spoke

l =
@

= = l ||

Then how did VeetaHavya buried inside the bowels of earth
get his body out of there
and how did he achieve this?


*
Vasishta spoke

{Brahman manifesting as the mind of VeetaHavya is not the ignorant VeetaHavya.
It is the All-knowing Chit.
In the ignorant minds, Chit is hidden as it were and a delusion of suffering is there because of ignorance.
JeevanMukta is Brahman manifesting through his Vaasanaaless mind.
A knower is Brahman alone, state the Shrutis.
Chit alone perceives the world as VeetaHavya Consciousness and sports around.}


{THE MIND OF VEETAHAVYA WAS AN EXPRESSION OF BRAHMAN AFTER REALIZATION}

==c
cc @

||

Later on, the mind called VeetaHavya
understood the play of his own Self, the endless principle of Chit.


{IN THE SHIVA-GANA EXPERIENCE, THE MIND DEVELOPS A WISH}

When VeetaHavya was one of the Ganas of Shiva, he at the time of contemplation of the
ancient Self, for no reason developed a wish to see all of his previous lives.



{ALL JEEVANMUKTA BODIES ARE PLAYGROUNDS FOR CHIT}

He saw completely all his dead and living bodies. Amongst those which were not dead,
he just randomly chose to lift out that body which was buried under the earth.

{VEETAHAVYAS BURIED BODY IS CHOSEN BY CHIT}

He saw then the body named VeetaHavya stuck under the hollow of the earth like a worm
of the soil. Monsoon streams had dragged it for some distance and had covered the body
completely with a heap of wet soil. Grass had grown on the surface of the mud which
covered the skin at the back of that upturned body.

{LIBERATED MIND OF VEETAHAVYA THINKS}

Observing the body trapped under the earth, he pondered like this with the enlightened
intellect.
Being covered all over by the wet soil, this body of mine has no Praana wind flowing
through it. It cannot move even a little. I will think of the proper method and enter this
body. Pingala (the servant Gana) will be able to lift it out. Or, why should I bother? I
will discard it and be absorbed in the Chit bereft of the body. What use do I have for the
body?

Having thought like this, the wise VeetaHavya remained silent for a second and again
started to ponder like this.
I do not want to have the body; nor do I want to discard it. Body-renouncement is the
same as Body-acceptance. As long as this body exists, as long as it has not dissolved into
dust, I will maintain it and wander through it.
I will enter the heat-body of the Sun like the reflection entering the mirror kept in the sky
and get Pingala to raise the body out from under the earth.

Then the Sage entered the Sun taking the form of the wind; then he took the form of the
eight-fold city (subtle body) and entered it like the fire entering the wind-filled bellows.
Sun observed the Sage who had entered his heart. The compassionate Lord saw the
Sages body buried under the earth of the Vindhya Mountain and the grass covering the
land all over. The Sun understood the wish of the Sage and ordered the foremost Gana to
lift the body out from under the earth.

VeetaHavyas cognizing consciousness of the form of the eight-fold city (subtle body)
and made of wind saluted the benevolent lord.

Permitted by the Sun, the Sage now entered Pingalas body which was descending
towards the Vindhya Mountain. Pingala left the sky-region and entered the dark forest of
the Vindhya Mountain. He dug the earth with his nails and pulled out the Sages body.

The Puryashtaka of the Sage entered the body like the bird entering its nest.

Both VeetaHavya and the divine Gana saluted each other. Both returned to their own
duties. Pingala returned to the sky. VeetaHavya went to a lake which was filled with
night lotuses and shining with the Suns hue. He bathed there; recited chants of the Sun
God; worshipped the Sun. His body shone forth as before adorned by a mind.
The Sage rested on the bank of the lake for a day.


CHAPTER NINE

*
Vasishta spoke


At the end of the day the Sage decided to enter the Samaadhi state once again. He went to
some familiar forest ground and sat there. His contemplation of the Self was unbroken;
and he started to think about the senses and the mind once again.

I had renounced the group of senses already in the beginning. There is no use in thinking
about them now in detail. I will cease to think about the existence or non-existence of
anything. I will make the body sit in the proper posture and remain like an unmovable
peak.

l- l
* ||

I will remain in the pure state of the Self;
equal; as the equal essence of all;
risen as if set; set as if risen.

(risen as if set acting in the world alive yet dead as it were, being unconnected to the world events.
set as if risen - the individual identity is lost yet acting like the individual Self in the world)

9@

9@

-=

=* - ||

Though awake, yet asleep;
though asleep, yet awake,
I will remain in the state of Turyaa and
stay inside the body paralyzed as it were.

(awake yet asleep - though acting in the world, not perceiving duality
asleep yet awake - unaffected by the unreal world and awake to the Self state)


=

==
cc=- l *- ||

Fixed like a pillar,
remaining in solitude,
remaining in the state which transcends all,
absorbed in the essence which is commonly present in all,
I will stay without afflictions.


Having thought like this, he remained in contemplation for six days. Then he woke up
like a traveler who had fallen asleep for a second.



CHAPTER TEN


*
Vasishta spoke


Later Lord VeetaHavya of great penance, the great achiever wandered on the earth for a
long time as a JeevanMukta. He neither admired anything; nor condemned anything. He
never became apprehensive about anything; nor did he gain joy out of anything.

As he moved about, as he stayed, the Sage bereft of the mind, conversed with his mind
like this in an amusing way.


{SUBDUED MIND RESULTS IN SELF-REALIZATION}

=5 c
=
|7l ||

Hey Lord of the senses which are capable of enjoying endless pleasures!
Hey Mind!
Look, how the experience of the true bliss which is everywhere,
has been obtained because of your quietening down!



{HEY MIND! STOP GOING AFTER PLEASURES}

= c
-= c= ||

This (state) alone is continuous.
Therefore you should cling on to the state of desirelessness.
Hey You! The Best of the fickle!
You should renounce this restlessness.


{SENSES ARE INERT AND UNCONNECTED TO THE SELF}

=5
*

c =c ||

Hey Hey! You Thieving senses!
Hey wretched desires!
You of wretched names!
You do not have this Self! Nor do you belong to the Self!


{DESIRES ARE NO MORE}

d - |

H= =

||

Hey desires! You have failed!
Go towards your destruction!
You are supported by transitory objects.
You are not capable of conquering me!


{IDENTIFICATION WITH THE NON-SELF IS IGNORANCE}

c

l
cc

l 7*=j
||

The Vaasanaa- I am the Self (identification with the senses, mind and the body) appeared;
and the Self was forgotten indeed,
like seeing the snake in a rope!


{IGNORANCE BECAUSE OF NON-ENQUIRY}

c=c =


H ||

The misunderstood vision of
the Self in the non-self and the unreal in the real arose because of non-enquiry.
It was destroyed by enquiry.



{WHO ACTUALLY GETS THE HAPPINESS FROM THE OBJECTS OF THE WORLD?}

== = d(=c

= H= c |7 ||

You revered ones are different! (being merely tools)
We are different! (Willing agent)
Brahman is different! (Non-dual)
Doer-ship belongs to someone else! (Vibration of Praana)
Some other one enjoys! (Limited consciousness)
Another one brings it. (Mind)

+ 5 =

= H q

||
c H
-= | 7

||
-= |cH=5
||

Wood grows in the forest.
Rope is made of the bamboo skin.
The dweller, the tools that are used
and the carpenter working for his livelihood;

thus, all the materials join at one place
as objects with their own unique nature as a matter of co-incidence,
to build a nice house and make it strong.


The senses with their own unique capacities,
also are together by just a co-incidence.
They act in unison.
So what is there to bother?

c= H H ||

Forgetting (the Self) has been forgotten for long.
Remembering (of the Self) has been remembered clearly.

The Real became Real.
The unreal is unreal; it is wounded; it is destroyed.

What is there is there!



CHAPTER ELEVEN


*
Vasishta spoke


Pondering like this, the lion among Sages VeetaHavya of great penance remained in this
world for many years.

==

c ||

He always lived there-(in that state of Brahman-bliss)
where the mind had seen its end never to rise up again;
where the foolishness (ignorance) had gone too far (to return).

l c

-= c

||

He lived happily in that Self-state always,
taking the support from the consoling contemplation,
which warded off the wasteful vision of hosts of objects
that may rise randomly.

c7 H
l

||

With the ideas of renouncement and acceptance
rising out of the combination of attributions of good and bad
completely destroyed,
VeetaHavyas mind had transcended the states of likes and dislikes.

(Objects are either good or bad; should be desired for or rejected. However once the entire world is
visualized as an illusory panorama of changing patterns, the Yogi does not again entertain the ideas of
good or bad; does not either renounce or accept the objects willfully. His mind transcends the ordinary
view of superimposing goodness or badness to the objects. His mind is actually dead and no such divisions
arise at all, in his contemplative state.)


He had the desire now to taste the honey of the complete renouncement of the world and
attain the state of the solitary state of formless Brahman, which was the end of all births
and actions connected with them.

Having had enough of the world experiences, desiring to never ever have the perception
of the world, he entered a cave in the Sahya Mountain.

He sat in the lotus posture and talked to the Self by the Self like this.


{FAREWELL ALL OF YOU}

qq d
q+
9H|l ||

Hey Attachment! Become colorless (become non-attachment)!
Hey Hatred! Become non-hatred!
I have played long enough here with you both!

*+

=l=
| ||

Hey Enjoyments! Salutation to you all!
I have been pampered by you in this world for hundred crores of births
like a child by his indulging parents.

||

Salutations to that happiness
by which I was made to forget
this supremely meritorious state of final beatitude!

cc

c=*
qc

l* |

||

Hey Suffering!
Being burnt by you, I intensely searched for the Self!
Therefore you were the one who guided me in this path!
Salutations to you!


{HEY PAIN! YOU ARE ALSO THE SELF}

cc9 =
-

cc

c=

||

By your grace, this cool state has been obtained by me!
You are the principle of pain and called the pain.
Salutations to you the Self the bestower of bliss!


{HEY BODY! SORRY! I HAVE TO RETURN HOME}

-
c ||

May good befall you my friend!
You are the one who lived to enjoy the essence of this world.
Hey Body!
We will go back to our own abode of Self-state.

9 =

=
c

== ||

Alas! This is the awful way things happen to people
who are selfish!
Having been with the body for hundreds of births,
now I am going away from it!


{HEY BODY! ALL THIS IS YOUR FAULT!
YOU LED YOUR WAY TO YOUR OWN DESTRUCTION}

cc c= =
cc=

c7 H ||

The reason that you are getting renounced by me
though you are a close friend of mine is
because of your leading towards the Self;
and by the rise of knowledge you have been destroyed!

-c7c c

= c
||

Attaining the Self-knowledge, you have killed yourself, hey Body!
You have not been destroyed by any one else!
You alone chose this!



{FAREWELL MOTHER TRISHNAA!}

l=

*= 9= |
c

d- ||

Hey Mother Trishnaa (Thirst for pleasures)!
Though left alone to pathetically pine away,
you should not cry for me who am in a quiescent state!
I am leaving!

- *

l
9 ||

Mother Trishnaa!
Our separation will last longer than the longest of time (always, ever)
because of the fault of having been together!
This is my final salutation to you!






{FAREWELL! PASSION!}

H= =|
= d-l j ||

Lust! Lord!
Forgive my faults rising out of terrible mistakes!
I am going to live alone in absolute quietness!
Wish me good!



{FAREWELL! GOOD ACTION}

+ c

||

Salutation to the honorable Lord Good Action!
In the past you alone rescued me out of the hells and placed me in the heavens!



{FAREWELL! TREE OF WICKED ACTION!}

H+ =l
*

*

||

Hey Tree, spreading out with branches of Bad Actions!
You are rooted in the field of Evil Deeds.
You carry huge boughs of hells on you.
You are weighed down with flowers of punishments.



{FAREWELL! DELUSION!}


( H

q9c7

c ||

With you I have experienced many many lowly births.
From today you will vanish off!
Salutations to the Delusion companion!


{FAREWELL! CAVE, MY FRIEND!}


9q-

||

You utter sweet words with the sound emanating from the bamboos.
You are covered with leaves.
Salutation to the Cave-ascetic lady!
You are a friend at contemplation-time!

-= c

||

You cheered me up consoling me when I was depressed by the world affairs.
You were a friend full of affection.
You removed all my greedy thoughts.

== + 5
c ||

You were my best friend!
You alone gave shelter to me and removed my sorrow
when I was melting away with many faults
and suffered with all sorts of afflictions.


{FAREWELL! STICK USED IN THE FOREST PATHS!}

=

-
=(

* ||

You held my hand in support when I had to cross over many pits and dangers!
You are the only friend when old.
Salutations hey wooden stick!

{HEY WITHERING BODY!}

c H==

= |c

||

Hey body!
This skeletal cage of yours filled with blood and nerves;
that is all that belongs to you; take it all and get out!



{FAREWELL TO ALL ROUTINE ACTIONS}

H9 + +

+ -+

||

Salutations to the processes of removing dirt, sweat etc in water and bathings also!
Salutations to all actions connected to the world!
Salutations to the routine life of the world!



{FAREWELL PRAANAAS!}

= 9H (

Hqc

d- ||

All of you who have been my friends born along with me
have been lifted up step by step.
Hey Praanaas! May good be with you!
I am leaving!

|

=

= =

||
H|l =5

||

c | =

( c - ||

l =

= - 9 ||




Along with you all,
I have rested in a variety of wombs;
relaxed in many bowers of hills;
sported in many worlds;
have visited many excellent cities;
stayed in mountains;
was engaged in various actions in various paths.

There is nothing in this cave of the world
that has not been done, taken, gone, given, held on to,
by me along with you all!

My beloved ones! Now go your way! I will leave!


{SEPERATION IS INEVITABLE!}

H= = Q

- 9= -c ||

In this journey of Samsaara,
all collections end in breaking up;
all that rise up, fall down;
all meetings end up in separation.

H clc |
=

* ==- |
9 = cq 9 |
c

=H |
=5=

H ||

Let the sight of the eyes,
enter the solar sphere.
Let the cognition of the bliss of fragrance,
enter the forest flowers.
Today let the Praana winds,
enter the vibration of Vaayu.
Let the powers of hearing the sound,
enter the hollow of the sky.
Let the power of cognizing the taste,
enter the sphere of Indra.




{I WILL WITHDRAW INTO THE SELF-STATE ALONG WITH OMKAARA RESONANCE}


= -
| 9 = ||
-= 9--cc
= *= | ||

Like the ocean rid of Mandara Mountain,
like the day rid of the Sun,
like the autumn rid of clouds,
like the end of Kalpa rid of creation
all happening by itself;

at the end of this Omkaara chant
I will withdraw the mind into the Self by the Self,
like the fire which has burnt away the fuel completely,
or like the lamp without oil.

-
7
9=c=


||

With the entire succession of works got rid off,
having transcended all the states of perceptions,
with the intellect quietened down following the silence of the Pranava chant,
I remain now taintless
with the delusion completely gone.












CHAPTER TWELVE

*
Vasishta spoke



{VEETAHAVYA ENTERS THE TURYAA STATE}


Having subdued all desires,
having pondered within, in this manner,
having attained the final level of Knowledge,
as he recited the Pranava loudly -

the ascetic VeetaHavya remembering the Pranava
with its various measures of recitation;
(Akaara, Ukaara, Makaara and the half Maatra
representing the gross, subtle and the absorption into the Turyaa state);

renouncing the external, internal and also gross and subtle parts,
which were erroneously superimposed on the pure and unchanging Self,
which were the cause of the three worlds,
which were the results of misconception;
(~9= 9= 9= 9= 9= 9= Shrutis)

remaining unperturbed in the Self
like a self-shining Chintaamani Gem,
like the moon complete with all its digits,
like the Mandara Mountain at rest;
like the wheel in potters house had stopped rotating;
like a calm taintless ocean without any waves;
with both the darkness and luster subdued;
without the light of sun, moon or stars;
like the endless stretch of autumn sky pure without dust or clouds;

he discarded the network of the subtle senses along with
the elongated stretch of the resonance of Pranava recitation,
like the wind discarding the scent.

Then he left the dark-state
like the wise discarding the least of anger-emotion and
he rose up with a shining form.

Then he pondered about the shining form of his for half a moment and
instantly became that which was neither darkness nor luster.

After reaching that state beyond the conception of the mind,
he immediately destroyed the infinitesimal sprout of the mind-grass.

Then Rama,
the very next moment,
he renounced the perceiving state of the consciousness
which was like the potential state of conception in a just-born baby,
like the wind discarding its power of movement.

Then he attained the Witness state, remaining only as Existence and
in the Deep Sleep (perception-less) state he stayed like an unmoving mountain.

Then remaining in the Deep-Sleep state for a while,
he attained stability in that state
and reached the Turyaa state.




CHAPTER THIRTEEN

*
Vasishta spoke


{BRAHMAN-STATE}


= =
= l=c=cc9 ||

He was happy (in bliss of the Self-state),
yet was not happy (in the pleasures of sense objects);
was real and unreal both;
was something, yet not something like the shine of darkness (at night).

= =

c-

q ||

He had attained that state which is not conscious (absence of perceptions),
yet conscious (Self-conscious);
that which is pointed out by the Not this Not this method of Upanishads;
that which is beyond the reach of words.

=c
||

He had attained that state which was
completely leveled (no perturbations),
extensive, supremely sacred,
which is the essence of all objects,
which is without anything.

=l

d( d(
7 7 ||
5

t7*| l
j l ||
ccq

c- 7c

||
c @= c (

c ccc ||

He remained as that Reality
which was all, in all, for all;
the Void of the Shoonya philosophers;
Brahma of the Brahma propounders;
Vijnaana of the Vijnaana propounders;
Purusha of the Saamkhya philosophers;
Ishvara of the Yoga propounders;
Shiva of the Saivaites;
Kaala of the Kaala propounders;
Self of the knowers who realize the taintless state of the Self;
Not-Self for those who have such selves ;( Kshanika Vijnaana/Sautantrikas)
Madhya of the Maadhyamikaas ;( that void state in between
conscious and non-conscious)
All for those who have the equal vision ;( JeevanMuktas)
that which is the conclusion of all spiritual texts;
that which shines forth in all the hearts.

c=

|
c

qccc ||

He remained as all that the Reality was
and completely vibration-less;
lighting up even the luster;
and getting known only through direct experience.


c ccc ||

He remained as all that the Reality was
one yet many;
with taint, yet without taint;
which was all, yet not all.

q *
+ | H ||

As he remained
as that state
which was not born; not aging; without beginning; one; which was all; and taintless;
he was instantly the Lord of all,
purer than the pure space.
















CHAPTER FOURTEEN


*
Vasishta spoke


{VEETAHAVYA ATTAINS VIDEHA MUKTI}


VeetaHavya in this manner had destroyed his mind;
reached the end of his worldly existence and
crossed over the ocean of suffering.

He had attained the Supreme beatitude and
had attained his true state
like a water drop in the ocean.

The body which remained motionless became dehydrated and
started to deteriorate like a lotus in winter.

Like birds, his Praanaas left the tree of the body;
flew high and reached the nest of the Heart,
like rocks shot from the machine.

All the beings are established here in the elements only.
The body made of flesh, bones and sinews remained in the forest on the earth only.

This is the story of VeetaHavya filled with various types of enquiry processes
which was related to you O Rama.

You also do such an enquiry and rise up to higher levels.

Whatever I have told you in the past,
whatever I am telling you now or whatever will be taught to you in the future,
have been directly witnessed by me
for, I have lived for long and
I know all the events of the three modes of time.





7*-=
7 7=Hl

+ ||
7=

77H
7 @=5

||

So Wise Rama,
take recourse to this taintless vision and attain knowledge.
Knowledge alone leads to liberation.
By knowledge alone one can be freed of sufferings.
Knowledge alone can destroy ignorance.
Through knowledge alone the highest state can be achieved,
not through anything else for sure.

7 c

=
cl5|

||

VeetaHavya the best among Sages,
cut off all the desires completely through Knowledge and
destroyed the mind-mountain without a trace.



{PERCEIVING CONSCIOUSNESS}

c -c-

7 = ||
c=5
l c==

||

The Perceiving Consciousness labeled as VeetaHavya
experienced this perceived phenomenon as the conceived universe.
This is that world.

VeetaHavya is just the mind.
Mind alone is the I You and the senses.
Mind alone is this entire world.
Where is the possibility of difference or non-difference
(like the difference between the sons of a barren woman)?






CHAPTER FIFTEEN


*
Vasishta spoke


{DEAR RAMA! WORRY NO MORE!}


Raaghava! Like VeetaHavya, attain the Supreme state of Knowledge. Being free of
attachment and fear, rise up always.

VeetaHavya wandered on this earth for thirty thousand years happily without any
suffering. You also do the same Raaghava.

Many royal sages who realized the state of Brahman lived in their own kingdom.
You also do the same O Intelligent Rama.

The Self is never affected by the sequences of pain and pleasures, even though it is
everywhere. O Mighty Armed Rama! Why do you grieve like this?

So many realized ones wander on this earth. No one feels aggrieved like you my dear
Rama!

Be established in the Self. Be noble. Be equal. Be happy.

You are in everything. You are the Self. You will never again enter the worldly existence
again.

Like lions cannot be attacked by peacocks, JeevanMuktas like you never come into the
grip of emotions like pleasure, friction etc.











CHAPTER SIXTEEN




Rama spoke


{WILL A REALIZED MAN HAVE SUPER-POWERS?}

9 - l
c - c

||
=H|

c
H 7= l ||

In this context, I have one doubt like a cloud rising in the autumn season.
Make it disappear, Sir!
O Best among Knowers!
Why the liberated ones living here in this world,
do not seem to have powers like flying in the sky etc?


*
Vasishta spoke


{SUPER-POWERS ARE INFERIOR TO KNOWLEDGE}


| = q

H ||

O Shine of Raghu dynasty!
These powers like Flying in the sky etc
which are mentioned in the scriptures,
are natural for some objects (Gods, insects).

q lH 7 -

c ||

The strange actions which are seen and achieved O Rama,
are natural for some objects.
The Self-knowers do not want them.



{ANYONE CAN ACHIEVE SIDDHIS WITH PRACTICE}


cH

l
= lHHc 9 ||

O Raaghava!
Even a person who has not realized the Self and who is not liberated (ignorant)
can attain these powers of flying in the sky etc
with the fructification in course of time
through some particular magical chants and some particular prescribed actions.
(like the ants developing wings at the end of summer season)



{POWERS HAVE NO MEANING FOR THE KNOWER}

c7 c7 (c=
cc =

||

This is not an interesting subject for the Self-Knower.
A Self-Knower is in the state of the Self.
He is completely happy in the Self by the Self.
He does not chase objects related to ignorance.

|q=

lc7cHq = ||

Whatever achievements are connected to the world are only products of ignorance.
How can a self-realized man who has got rid of ignorance
drown in such wants?

q Hc

= c

(q cc7H ||


Those who achieve such ignorance-based enchanting powers
through the practice of some particular methods,
are indeed ignorant.
The Self-realized never go for such practices.



{ANYONE CAN ACHIEVE SIDDHIS WITH PRACTICE}


cc7 scc7 5
H 9 cl q ||

Whether one is the Knower of the Self or not the Knower of the Self,
he who makes effort through time, ingridients and actions,
can achieve powers like flying above.



{POWERS HAVE NO MEANING FOR THE KNOWER}


c
c= l =*

||

A realized man has transcended all states and is without desires.
He is happy in the Self-state.
He does not try for them and will not want them.

| c q
9 ||

He has no use for
flying in the sky or any other (super-human) achievement
or worldly enjoyments,
or influencing others, or getting honored.
He does not care about (prolonging) life or (avoiding) death.

c

9=c
77 c * ||


Always contented,
quiescent in nature,
bereft of attachments,
bereft of Vaasanaas,
extending like the sky,
the Knower of the Self remains in the Self.

|

||

There is nothing to be achieved by him through some particular action; or
by avoiding some particular action.
He has nothing to gain from any living being anywhere.



{SELF-KNOWLEDGE IS NOT NECESSARY FOR SIDDHI ACHIEVEMENT}

c @
@ 5 H ||

Even if a person who does not contemplate on the Self,
desires such powers and Siddhis,
he will gradually achieve them through methods prescribed for those Siddhis.


{SIDDHIS ARE JUST RESULTS OF SOME ACTIONS}

qc Hc
H
Hl |

H ||

This action leads to such and such a result through such and such a method
This is the rule fixed by the Creator.
Even great Gods like Shiva cannot change them.

@l =
c j ||

This is the innate quality of the objects naturally belonging to them; not anything special.
They do not give up their nature
like the moon not losing its coolness.
(It is the innate nature of the moon to be cool.)

7

7
=

H l ||

Whether one is an all-knower, or knows much, or even if it is Vishnu or Shiva
no one can change the rule fixed for the Creation.

5lH=9
H ql ||
= =

= H

||

These powers like flying in the sky etc, are the natural results that arise
in some particular time
through some particular methods
involving some particular ingredients and actions,
as naturally as poison bringing about death,
wine causing intoxication,
or some secretions of some insects and some particular fruits inducing vomiting.



{WHY SHOULD A KNOWER WANT SIDDHIS?}

c cHq
c7 c

||

Therefore, one who has transcended all states of the mind;
has rid himself of the ignorance;
and attained Self-Knowledge;
has no (purposeful) doer-ship or non-doer ship here
O Taintless Rama!


{SIDDHIS DO NOT LEAD TO SELF-REALIZATION}

5 lHH

c9 =

||

These methods involving all these ingredients, actions, and time-span
do not in the least help in the Attainment of the Supreme Self
for the one who aspires for Self-Knowledge.


{A KNOWER HAS NO DESIRES AT ALL}

q c @ c
c7

- H ||

If any one has a desire for such things,
he can achieve them with effort indeed.
For the Knower of the Self who is complete in himself,
such desires never arise.

-=c l
q5@ l ||

O Taintless Rama!
How can a contradictory desire rise in a person
who has subdued all the desires that ever could be there
and is intent only on the attainment of the Self state?
(Any desire hinders his goal of Self-realization.)



{ANYONE CAN ACHIEVE SIDDHIS WITH PRACTICE}


7 7 ||

He who develops any such desire (for super-powers)
makes effort to fulfill it
and achieves it within some particular time-span,
whether he be a Knower (for some amusement may be),
or the worst of the ignorant lot (desiring wealth or honor)!

7 l=
7

9c ||

VeetaHavya with the desire for Knowledge
did not make effort for anything else.
He tried to fulfill his desire for knowledge
and was making an effort for that only, in the forest.
Is it not so!?



{A KNOWER HAS NO USE FOR SIDDHIS}

c

=7 c
l -9 =

@ ||

Siddhis are not of any use to those great ones
who are always contented,
who have realized the Self,
who are contemplating on the Self,
and who are engaged in attaining the bliss of the Self.





CHAPTER SEVENTEEN



Rama spoke

- d(=

H H

H=

||

9
H
l ||

This one doubt I still have O Sage!
How is it that carnivorous animals and birds did not consume VeetaHavyas body,
and how it never decayed?
(when it was stuck in the wet soil)

How did VeetaHavya in the forest attain Videha-Mukti?
Tell me immediately as it is O Lord!





*
Vasishta spoke

-q =

||

O Good one!
That Perceiving Consciousness
which is tied all around by the dirty strand of Vaasanaa,
becomes the receptacle of pleasures and pains in this world.


(There are no two types of Consciousnesses.
Pure Consciousness is the Unmanifest Brahman which shines by itself without the perceived worlds.
Perceiving Consciousness is the Manifest Brahman which shines as all the perceived-perceiver
phenomena because of Vaasanaas.)

H

@-=

H ||

That body which has only the Pure Consciousness remains freed of all Vaasanaas.
Nobody here is capable of destroying it.


Listen to how a Yogi does not allow his body to get destroyed or decayed even after
many years.

Whenever the mind falls on whichever object, it reflects the character of that object
alone, at that time of perception.
If an enemy stands with hatred, the mind reflects the same emotion and knows him as the
enemy. If a friend is there with affection, it perceives him as a friend and feels affection
for him. Such things are experienced by every one.

When a traveler is passing a village, he ignores the roadside rock or creeper because there
is no emotion of hatred or love in them. His mind remains passive when perceiving those
objects. Such things are experienced by every one.

When a tasty food is there, the emotion of greed overtakes the mind.
When rotten food is there the mind dislikes it.
When bitter objects are there, the mind avoids them with disgust.
Such things are experienced by every one.

The body of a realized Yogi has no mind. It no more projects the body as its identity.
Pure Consciousness alone is in there expressing equanimity.


{WILD ANIMALS DO NOT HARM THE BODY}

When a wild animal or bird looks at the motionless body of a realized Yogi in Samadhi
state, it also feels the same emotion of equanimity and does not hurt the body.

A traveler attends to his own work in the village after passing the objects on the road
without feeling any emotion. The wild carnivorous animal or bird also moves away from
the Yogis body, and regains its cruel nature.

Whatever object is there with whatever quality, the mind reflects the same quality. That is
why VeetaHavyas body was not destroyed by the wild animals like lion or tiger or even
lowly creatures like snakes or worms.
(c~ c Patanjali)


{THE BODY DOES NOT DECAY}

Pure Consciousness is present in each piece of mud and wood as a common principle of
all, like a silent child. In the Yogis body, it appears to the outside world as if floating
lightly as the subtle body, like a reflection seen in the water. Because of the Samaadhi
state, all the elements are shining as the common principle of Chit only. Therefore the
elements earth, water, wind and fire which made up (VeetaHavyas) body remained
without undergoing any change, Dear Rama!

{NO VIBRATION}

Another thing Rama is that Vibration (Spanda) also causes the destruction of the body
be it an agitation in the mind or the quivering of the Praana or the events of the world.

In VeetaHavyas case, the Praanaas were quietened and were like stones because of the
contemplation state. The body remained without perishing as the Praanas were stilled.

If there is no vibration at all of the wind or the mind in the body, the natural destruction
does not happen to the body.

When there is no quivering of any sort outside or inside, then the constituents of the body
(like the skin etc) do not ever break up.

When the body is still and the Praana/ Mind vibrations are stopped completely, the
Dhaatus or constituents remain stable like the Meru Mountain, as if frozen.

The bodies of the Yogis remain like wood paralyzed in the limbs like a corpse.
Thus, their bodies are like sunken rocks and do not decay or break up like clouds.



{VIDEHA MUKTI OF VEETAHAVYA}

In those who have realized the Self and who have no attachments, all the knots of the
Heart (Ego etc) are completely cut off. They remain independent of everything.
The divine rule of actions bearing results within, does not affect them. There are no
desires which bind them. There are no Vaasanaas to move them.
Just as a matter of co-incidence, they act whatever idea suddenly props up in their mind.
VeetaHavyas Consciousness (Pure Consciousness acting through the mind called
VeetaHavya) was awake to a life of a JeevanMukta for some time; then it remained
established in that state.
When his consciousness discarded the body, he attained the state of VidehaMukti, which
was complete freedom from all perceptions.

cl
= | HcH l ||

The mind which rises after the Self-realization has
no Vaasanaas and no attachments.
Whatever it wants, it becomes that instantly.
The Supreme Lord is all-powerful!



CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

*
Vasishta spoke

(9 c

||

When the mind had completely set,
through the process of enquiry,
VeetaHavya developed qualities like friendship etc.


(VeetaHavya was a realized man. His mind was no more. Then how could he develop any noble qualities
in his mind?
This is Ramas doubt.)





Rama spoke

+c+=l

H l c 9 ||
d( c

H =

||

Sage! When the mind with its restless nature has completely vanished
because of enquiry,
why did you mention that qualities like friendship etc were born?

(+-Friendship; -Compassion; - Cheerful nature; -Disregard)

O Best among orators!
When the mind has got absorbed into Brahman,
who then has the qualities of friendship etc
and where do they appear?



(Mind is not a physical part of the body; nor is it there as a solid attachment to the body. But it seems to
exist in each and every one as a continuous flow of thoughts or agitations.
These thoughts arise because Praana vibrates within and because of the desires induced by Vaasanaas.
If Mind is brought under control somehow and the thoughts are destroyed by either Praana-Control or
Vaasanaa-destruction, then mind remains dead.
A JeevanMukta has no more agitations or desires. He has no mind at all.
That is what Vasishta said earlier. Now he tells Rama that a liberated man like VeetaHavya will develop
noble qualities in his mind.
No what is this mind in a realized Yogi? Is it a mind with continuous flow of thoughts? Then how could
he be not like an ignorant man?
If there is no mind at all, how can he develop virtues?
What is this mind actually?
Vasishta answers.)










*
Vasishta spoke


{DESTROYED MIND IS OF TWO TYPES}


qc ++
=H

+ + H

||

There are two types of Mind-destruction; with form and without form.
A man who is liberated while living is with form;
one who is freed of the body is without form.

(A JeevanMukta has a mind which has a form.
A Mukta who has discarded the body has a mind without form.)


{MIND EXISTENCE AND MIND NON-EXISTENCE}

cc

cc H c c
||

The Existence of the mind leads to pain.
The Destruction of the mind leads to happiness.
By removing the Existence of the mind,
the mind should be killed.



{EXISTING MIND OF THE IGNORANT}

==
q @ 7 ||

Know that mind as existing, which
being crowded with Taamasic Vaasanaas leads towards repeated births
only to end up in suffering.



9H -

=
c

ccc7

||

That mind of the ignorant which intensely identifies
with the collective qualities of the senses and body as belonging to it,
is known as the suffering Jeeva.

q c7H

= -

||

As long as the mind exists, how can sufferings disappear?
If the mind sets, then the worldly existence of the person also sets.

*==


q @

Hj

||

That mind is said to be the sprout for the forest of sufferings,
which is firmly rooted in pains and stabilized thereof.




CHAPTER NINETEEN


Rama spoke


* d(=* |7
|7 cc |7 ||

Whose mind gets destroyed O Sage!
How will be the mind which is destroyed?
How is the destruction of the mind brought about?
How is the destruction made to exist?






INTRODUCTION

New terms are introduced here by Sage Vasishta as he explains the nature of the Mind.
He states that in the ignorant, Existence of Mind-existence is there binding them to
sufferings; whereas the liberated ones are said to have the Existence of Mind-
Destruction.
Moreover, JeevanMuktas have a mind with form and the VidehaMuktas have a mind
without form.
Ramas questions are-
How does the mind get destroyed, for whom?
How will a liberated man act in the world with a destroyed mind?
What is the meaning of saying Mind-Destruction exists in the liberated ones?
How to remove the Existence of the Mind-existence and make the Existence of non-
existence of the Mind come about?


*
Vasishta spoke

c q


c

9 ||

Hey Best of Raghu dynasty!
I told you about the existence of the mind.
O Best of questioners!
Now listen to the topic of its destruction.


{DEAD-MIND OF A JEEVANMUKTA}

-= 9@=
=5 c

||

His mind is said to be dead
when the states of pains and pleasures do not dent the man of understanding
due to his equanimous state,
like the sighs do not break a mountain.

= c
| = *

||

I am this (body) I am not this (Self)
When such ideas do not cripple the man of excellence,
his mind is said to be dead.

c c

=q c
= + *

||

When difficulties, pathetic situations, enthusiasm, intoxication, dullness, great festivals
do not make a man ugly in looks
(because of varying facial contours),
his mind is said to be dead.

*
c =H

q ||

This O Good Rama, is mind-destruction.
The mind will not exist here.
This state where the mind is destroyed is in JeevanMuktas.


(An ignorant man has Mind-existence as part of his existence. It is his very nature. Birth after birth he
moves with the Mind-Existence as his permanent feature. Mind is synonymous with Suffering for him.
Kindled by the Vaasanaa fuel, his mind keeps burning continuously scorching him with countless
sufferings.
A liberated man on the other hand has Dead-Mind as his permanent feature. Destruction of the Mind
exists in him as his very nature.)

@
c l cc c
||

O Taintless Rama!
When the mind is destroyed know that to be stupefied.
That which is known as the Destruction of the mind becomes existent then.

cc c
=H

||

This existent-state of the destruction of the mind Raaghava,
which is the natural quality of a JeevanMukta is known by some as the mind.


{There is no mind at all in a JeevanMukta. Through Knowledge he has killed the mind.
The No-Mind state in a JeevanMukta is alone called the Mind of a JeevanMukta.)


l H

cc

= H

=H

||

O Taintless Rama!
the mind of a JeevanMukta is filled with excellent Vaasanaas;
endowed with qualities like friendship etc;
and completely free of repeated births.


(The Destroyed Mind State is the Mind of a JeevanMukta.
Destroyed Mind State is the Mind-Existence of a JeevanMukta.
It is not the Mind-existence of the ignorant. That Vaasanaa-filled mind is dead and gone.
The Absence of the ignorant mind is his Mind-existence state now; the ghost-house with the ghost gone.
This Destroyed Mind State is known as SATTVA Pure Consciousness manifesting as Purity.)


c|

=Hc

ccc

||

This Mind existence (Existence of Destroyed mind) of a JeevanMukta
which is filled with (good) Vaasanaas and freed of repeated births,
is known as Sattva (pure).



{MIND WITH A FORM}

-9cccccc

cc-

+ =H

q ||

As it is a matter of direct experience,
and is accompanied by the Knowledge of the Self because of Self-realization,
this Mind-destruction is with a form
and belongs to the JeevanMukta.

l

j |
=H

||

Qualities like Friendship etc are pleasant and cooling lights like the moon.
When the Mind-destruction exists in a JeevanMukta,
they remain there always in all ways.


(These qualities are not binding qualities of ignorance. Like the flowers blossoming in the icy mountains,
these qualities bloom forth naturally in a Destroyed Mind of a JeevanMukta.)

=H

cc- l
= =

||

In the Mind-destruction of the JeevanMukta,
in the Himalayan Mountain of Sattva (purity),
the wealth of good quaities bloom forth like
clusters of flowers in spring.



{MIND WITHOUT A FORM}


+

H q

q *c ||

O Best among the Raghu clan!
What I mentioned as Formless exists in the state of Liberation bereft of the body
and is a state without any sort of division.

(After the destruction of the body, the liberated man is in the original state of Brahman. With whom should
he be friendly with? To whom should he show compassion? As the principle of Bliss itself, why he has to
keep smiling; to whom? What should he ignore as he is the only one existing? What meaning do virtues
have here?
There are no dividing lines at all in this state. He is the Unmanifest Brahman now.
As a JeevanMukta he was the Manifest Brahman and had to have these qualities as a part of his liberated
state. That state was the purest of the pure and called Sattva, Purity incarnate.
After the body is destroyed, even the Sattva dissolves off and he remains as the Chit without divisions.)

cc 9|
H

||

In the taintless supremely sacred state of VidehaMukti
even the appearance of the mind which acts as the support all the best qualities,
dissolves off.


H

=ccHc
c +t l= q ||


In the state of VidehaMukti,
where the pure mind-appearance also disappears,
in that state of Formless-Mind destruction,
nothing whatsoever exists. (as perceiver/perceived)

- ||
l== = l
l + ||

c c l c ||

There remain
no qualities or non-qualities;
no beauty or non-beauty;
no rising or setting;
no perception of joy or apprehension;
no luster or darkness;
no twilight; no day and nights;
no directions; no sky; no below; no meaningless forms;
no Vaasanaa; no creation; no desire or non-desire; no coloring of attachments;
no existence; no non-existence;
and that state is not-achieved!



{THE UNMANIFEST}

l @

--
- ||

For Those
who have crossed over the intellect and the panoramic scene of Samsaara,
that state is a wide extensive abode
like the sky is for the winds.






CHAPTER TWENTY



Rama spoke


{THE EVER-GROWING GRAPE VINE}

Hey Sage!
In the hollow of the Supreme Space-Mountain, rise the deep rooted trees of multifarious
universes;
The stars are the variegated flowers.
Demons and gods are the birds.
The directions are the branches.
Lightning is the bunch of flowers.
Dark and blue hued clouds are the green leaves.
It appears pretty and laughing as it were with the white smile of the moon and Sun
coming out of eclipses in all the seasons.
It is surrounded by seven wells.
It is beautiful with hundreds of lakes.
Countless beings of fourteen types are sheltered in it.

Entwining all over this World (Jagat) -Forest, this Grape wine of Mundane existence
is spreading without end.
Old age and death are the nodes.
Rows of fruits namely pain and pleasures adorn it.
It grows by the sprinkling of the waters of delusion and its roots are very thick and well-
grown.

l l

l l ||

What is the seed for this ever growing creeper of the world?
What is said to be the seed of that seed?
What is the seed for that also?
What else becomes the seed for that also?





(The Answer given by the Sage is like this.
a) Body is the seed of this ever-growing grapevine of worldly existence.
(Body -Subtle and causal bodies together with the gross body)

b) Seed of the body is mind.
c) Mind has two seeds- Praana and Vaasanaa.
d) These two proceed from the Perceiving Consciousness.
e) Pure consciousness is the seed of the Perceiving Consciousness.)

(Actually there are no two consciousnesses. Brahman alone is the Pure and perceiving Consciousness
simultaneously like a shining gem.
The Unmanifest Brahman is the Pure Consciousness bereft of perceptions.
Manifest Brahman is the Perceiving Consciousness which shines forth as the Seen Seer and
Seeing.)

(Actually there are no divisions anywhere.
The Unmanifest Brahman only shines forth as the Manifest Brahman.
Pure Consciousness alone shines forth as the Perceiving Consciousness.
Manifest Brahman is the manifestation of the Smritis or Unfulfilled Vaasanaas or possibilities of
experiences.
The vibration or the perturbation is the Praana which expresses as the mind-agitation.
Vaasanaa shines forth as the mind-perception to fulfill itself.)



*
Vasishta spoke




{BODY IS THE SEED OF THIS GRAPE-VINE}

=|-j


d|

| @ ||
9
| | =

||

Know the body as the seed for the ever-growing creeper of the world phenomenon
Raaghava!
It contains concealed within itself,
the huge sprout of the collection of all the good and bad occurrences.

Because of that seed only,
this creeper grows enormously;
spreads out densely with branches extending everywhere;
and gets filled with leaves and fruits
like the earth in the autumn season.



{MIND IS THE SEED OF THE BODY}

cq

| c
||

The seed for this body is the mind,
which is a slave of desires,
which is a store-house of all attainments and losses,
which is a casket holding the gem of suffering.

cl c

j
c -+*

||

This body with its web of limbs
with its past and future formations
raises up from the Mind.
This is experienced by all in the variety of dreams one has.

(Mind creates the body in the dream. In the waking state also mind alone projects the body.)

= c

||

Just like a city arises by the will of the Gandharvas (experts in all arts)
the body also arises from the mind
shining forth with a shape accompanied by windows.

l 7
+ lc

||

The entire world of experiences which is perceived like this,
is the extended form of the Mind,
similar to a variety of objects namely pot etc getting made from clay.










{TWO SEEDS OF THE MIND PRAANA AND VAASANAA}


q c

H cd

9= q 7 ||

There are two seeds for the tree of the mind,
which supports the creeper of thoughts.
One is the vibration of the Praana;
the other is intense Vaasanaa (intense desire for some experience).



{PRAANA GIVES RISE TO THE MIND}

9= 9 - q
- c

9 ||

When the Praana vibrates by the contact of the nerves,
then the Mind with cognitive nature gets produced.



{NO PRAANA; NO COGNITION; NO MIND}

= 9
-cc c= ||

When the Praana does not vibrate in the hollow made of nerve-routes,
the Mind also does not get produced
because of the non-cognition state.



{MIND IS THE WINDOW FOR PERCEPTIONS}

9= cq 7
= - cl|7 ||

The Vibrating Praana alone perceives something called the world like this,
through the door of the mind,
like the blueness perceived in the sky.


{MIND IS NON-FUNCTIONAL WHEN PRAANA -VIBRATION IS ABSENT}

9=

= =5 ||

That quietness where the Praana Vibration is asleep
is known as the Quiescent State.



{PRAANA-VIBRATION THROWS THE BALL OF COGNITION}

9=cq l ||

By the Vibration of the Praana,
the cognition starts moving like a ball getting thrown (by the hand).

c

9=9
Hj

l ||

The Cognition shines forth in the bodies,
prompted by the Vibration of the Praana,
like the ball thrown by the hand moves back and forth in a circular way
across the courtyard.

c9=

||

The all round cognition occurs because of the Vibration of the Praana,
like the streak of fragrance carried by the wind;
and is subtler than the subtlest in nature.


{CONTROL OF PRAANA IS THE CONTROL OF COGNIZING MIND}

c @
H H q ||

Raaghava! Know that complete success is attained
in the control of the Cognition (agitating mind),
when the cause (Praana) is brought under control.
The agitation does not occur then.


{THE REALITY SEEN IN THE PERCEIVED WORLD BRINGS PAIN}

-cl

-q
-=

||

When the Cognition rises, it instantly rushes towards perceptions.
Perceptions cause endless pains in the mind.


{THE REALIZATION OF THE SELF RESULTS IN BLISS}

=

c*
= = ||

When the Cognizing Consciousness remains asleep
aware of the inner Self only,
then the Faultless state to be attained becomes Attained.




{DO NOT SWELL UP THE MIND WITH DESIRES AND ATTACHMENTS}

c9=
c-

||

If you do not swell up the Perceiving Consciouness
with Praana Vibrations and the Vaasanaa forces,
then you are the Unborn.

- c @


||

Know the bloated up state of the Perceiving Consciousness
as the Mind.
This living populace is shattered and cut into pieces by untold sufferings
because of the widely spread out mind.






{PRACTICE OF PRAANAAYAAMA}


c=c =

9
9 9 H

||

Yogis stop the movement of Praana to quieten the mind
through the practice of Praanaayaama, meditation
and other methods as instructed.

c= -

- 9

||

Praana-control is said to result in the Composure of the Mind.
It causes supreme equanimity.
It is blissful.
It leads to the state of Self-Awareness.



{MIND IS ALIVE BECAUSE OF VAASANAAS}

7| 9l


ccc

||

Raaghava!
Now listen to the Supreme understanding of the minds production
where it revives by the Vaasanaas.
This has been directly experienced and revealed by the Knowers.


{WHAT IS A VAASANAA?}


(The well-rooted ideas of I and Mine of the past lives do not allow any space for proper analysis of any
action done by the individual. Because of this, Vaasanaa brings about the identity with the body to
reside in the mind.)


7 cH

9| ||

That is known as a Vaasanaa
where an object is sought for with intense longing
disregarding the prior cause and subsequent consequences of the act.

( 1 - Vaasanaa makes reality reside in the object.
cc makes the idea of identity with the body reside in the mind.)



{ANYTHING THE SELF WANTS, SELF BECOMES THAT PERCEPTION}

dc c
c

||

O Mighty armed Rama!
Whatever the Self intensely longs for,
it becomes that alone immediately,
disregarding other memories.


{SELF+VAASANAA+DELUSION= REALITY OF THE PERCEIVED WORLD}

7

c ccqc (

||

That Embodied Self of such a nature
is under the control of the Vaasanaa.
Whatever object he perceives,
he believes that to be real,
because of delusion.

c+ 9
+= 7*

l ||

Being dragged by the Vaasanaa helplessly,
the Self discards its true nature.
With a misconceived vision it perceives everything through delusion
as if intoxicated.





{IGNORANT MAN WITH INCORRECT UNDERSTANDING CONSUMES VAASANAA-POISON}

-7 c

||

Only the man with Incorrect understanding
gets afflicted by mental and physical ailments,
because of the Vaasanaa within,
like a man who has consumed poison.



{INCORRECT UNDERSTANDING IS THE MIND}

- c=c

c @ ||

This Incorrect understanding
by which one identifies with the non-Self; and sees unreal as real;
is known as the Mind (Chitta)
Raaghava!



{VAASANAA-FILLED MIND LEADS TO REPEATED BIRTHS}

7+
c = ||

The highly fickle natured mind
rises up as a cause for birth, aging and death
because of the intense repetition of the Vaasanaa for some one particular object.


{WHEN OBJECTS LOSE THE REALITY INTRODUCED BY VAASANAA, MIND DIES}

l=@ +
cHc c ||

After renouncing everything,
when nothing in the form of acceptance and rejection resides within,
then the mind does not get born.


{SILENCE PREVAILS}

cc

9 ||

When the mind does not produce thoughts continuously
because of the Vaasanaa being absent,
then rises the state of No-Mind
which bestows Supreme Quiescence.



{VAASANAA NO MORE CLOUDS THE CONSCIOUSNESS}

l== -c c+-

1 c= ||

When nothing rises forth in the Consciousness,
like a cloud darkening the sky,
then the mind does not get born
like a lotus cannot bloom in the sky.



{MIND MEANS THE BELIEF IN THE REALITY OF OBJECTS}

= = + c
| = c

||

Raaghava!
The inner-most belief
where one attributes reality and essence to the objects
is the Mind!
so I say Raaghava!


{NO CONCEPTION; NO MIND}

l=c 7
c

||

If one does not entertain the thought of an object
as fit to be conceived as a perception at all;
and is as pure as space within,
how can the mind ever rise in him?

H=

(- =

c 9 ||

If one does not think of any object in the world at all,
in that void space of the Heart,
how can the mind ever arise?


{NO-MIND STATE}

(When one has true understanding, the entire world phenomenon appears as unreal as a dream-world.
The knower no more wastes his time in thinking about objects. He knows that the objects are not real and
they do not have any essence. For him objects cease to exist as real.
This Non-existence of objects is the No-Mind state.
The objects do not disappear but lose their reality. The mirage is there but the wise man knows that the
water seen in the mirage is not real. He does not rush towards it and sink in the hot sand. He ignores the
mirage.)


q c

cc

||

Firmly established in non-thinking (of external objects)
when one has non-existence of objects only as his conception,
with the true understanding of everything,
then it is known as the No-Mind state.



{BURNT-MIND IS LIKE THE BURNT FORM OF A CLOTH}

= c=
c

c5(
||

After renouncing all desires and attachments inside,
when coolness prevails without any sort of agitation within,
though engaged in normal thought-processes,
then the mind is said to be non-existing.



{JEEVANMUKTAS}


{SATTVA (PURITY) STATE OR NON-MIND STATE}

5 q
ccc cc

||

If one has no attraction
towards the objects of the world which appear real
because of the false attribution by the Vaasanaa,
his mind is said to have attained the state of Non-mind
and is known as Sattva.



{POTTERS WHEEL JUST ROTATES AND DOES ITS WORK}

=H

cH+ ||

He who does not act forced by dense Vaasanaas which result in repeated births,
is a JeevanMukta.
He is established in the Reality.
He remains in the world like the rotating potters wheel.



{CRUSHED SEED NEVER SPROUTS AGAIN}

+*

| =H

l ||

Those who live in this world freed of
the lingering taste of pleasures superimposed on the objects by Vaasanaas;
who will never have repeated births again like crushed seeds;
they remain here as JeevanMuktas.

cc+9c 7
c = = + ||

Their minds have completely attained the nature of the Self.
They have reached the state beyond knowledge.
They are said to have No-minds.
At the fall of the body (Praarabdha residue) they continue to remain
as the Supreme space of Brahman.


(The JeevanMuktas are completely identified with their true nature of the Self. There is nothing to know
anymore. They are fulfilled and complete. The Vaasanaa superimposes reality in the objects and creates the
agitation called mind to go after objects.
Since these knowers have no more Vaasanaa influence, they do not run after the objects and the agitation
called mind is also absent. There is no mind at all.
They continue to do actions of the world which suits them, till the body falls.
The body is a shape seen by the others. The knower uses it only as a tool of action. He is not identified with
it like the ignorant.
When the body falls, the ignorant around him attribute the name of death to it. But from the point of a
JeevanMukta no change happens to him. With or without the body he is the same Self.
After the so called death of the body he remains as the Self. That is all.
The ignorant can name it as VidehaMukti.)



CHAPTER TWENTY ONE



{TWO SEEDS OF THE MIND - VAASANAA AND PRAANA}

*
Vasishta spoke

q c 9=
= H H9 q ||

Rama! Two seeds are there for the mind; Vibration of the Praana and Vaasanaa.
Even if one gets destroyed, both perish immediately.

l =
j ||

They both together act as seeds for the birth of the mind O Rama,
like the waterfall and the pot both are necessary in bringing the water.

l - |
c jHH

cc -c |
9=5==

ccl |
*

c ||
9=
c jH

||

In him who has no dense Vaasanaa which results in repeated births,
these two remain concealed within,
like the seed with the sprout, like the oil-seed with the oil.
waiting always only for a suitable time for manifesting,
They both produce everything including the Mind with its cognizing nature.

The Vaasanaa for pleasures and the Praana together produce the Mind.
staying together like the fragrance and the flower, like the oil and the oil-seed.

Because of the Vaasanaa, Praana vibration occurs.
Because of the vibration of the Praana, Vaasanaa manifests.

Thus the seed-sprouting process begins in the Mind-seed.

cccc9H
9= c 9 ||

By the surfacing of the Vaasanaa,
the cognizing consciousness starts the agitation,
which results in the vibration of the Praana;
and the mind gets produced.

l 9= q
H qc ||

In this manner,
Vaasanaa and the Vibration of thePraana together become the cause of the Mind.
If one of them perishes, both will get destroyed along with the mind.




CHAPTER TWENTY TWO



{PERCEIVING CONSCIOUSNESS}


*
Vasishta spoke


9=q
q cH

||

Wherever the Vaasanaa and the Vibration of the Praana wind manifest,
the (Perceiving, feeling,) Consciousness is said to be their seed.


(l -q 9=
c-q ||

The Vibrating Praana and the Vaasanaa
shine forth only when the cognizing state arises in the Heart (Pure Consciousness).
That is why this cognizing consciousness is said to be the seed for these two.

-qcc9=

H9

l 5

||

By renouncing the perceiving state of the consciousness,
both the Vibrating Praana and the Vaasanaa immediately perish
along with their root,
like the tree cut at its root (never to sprout again).

- @ -q
- -q |
l= l=cq q

||


Pure Consciousness is the seed for the Cognizing Consciousness.
This Cognizing Consciousness does not sprout unless there is the idea of division,
like oil cannot be there in oil-less seed.

Nothing exists as a separate Cognizing Consciousness outside or inside.

c=

cq
c = ||
c q
c ||

The Pure Consciousness shining forth as the Cognizing Principle
perceives the world phenomenon by its own conception.

Like seeing ones own death in the dream or like visiting another country,
by its own magic the Consciousness perceives the world.

Where the discrimination rises,
there the Self-realization also rises because of its own conception
(as in a dream).

(Discrimination, Realization etc are not in the non-dual principle.)

= l =

|c
5c

q - ||

O Joy of Raghu dynasty!
This entire perceived phenomenon of the world shines forth like this
like a ghost seen by the child becoming real because of his own imagination.

The man seen in a pillar is another misconceived perception.
The perceived world rises in the same way from the Pure Consciousness.

= l 7

-7c|
== jc

q=c

Hl ||

This is a misconceived understanding.
By the correct understanding it disappears,
like the snake in a rope (due to improper light)
or the two-moon perception (due to infection of the eye)
disappears by proper sight.

@

ccq =c
c= + -7

||

Pure Consciousness alone is the Perceiving consciousness of the tri-worlds.
There is nothing else other than That.
When this becomes ascertained within,
it is known as Correct understanding by the wise.

7*7* 9
c9c ||

Whether previously perceived or not,
whatever perception manifests in the present,
should be erased with effort by the wise person.

l
c9

H c

||

The non-erasing of it alone
is known as
the rise of this great ocean of Samsaara.
The erasing of it is indeed experienced as liberation.

=

c
cq c

||

The perception leads to countless pains of many births.
The non-perception remaining as the non-inert (not identified with the body, mind etc)
leads to the bliss freed of all the repeated births.

=cH
9@c

c q

||

Remaining as the non-inert (Self) (Consciousness) and the complete form of bliss,
renounce the perceiving nature of the Consciousness.
That which does not perceive and exists as enlightenment only
is the real You (Self),
O Best of the Raghu dynasty!



CHAPTER TWENTY THREE



Rama spoke

c |7 9
c q c ||

Lord!
How will it be to be non-inert yet non-perceiving?
How can the inertness be removed from the non-perceiving consciousness?


(The Perceiving Consciousness and the inert body together shine forth as this world phenomenon.
If the inertness is removed, Perceiving Consciousness will be left back.
If the Perceiving Consciousness is removed, inertness will be left back.
How can there be both non-inertness and non-perceiving consciousness at the same time?
This is Ramas doubt.)


*
Vasishta spoke


{NON-INERT YET NON-PERCEIVING}


(A JeevanMukta is non-perceiving and unaffected by the changing world patterns similar to a log of wood
or a clump of mud. But he is not inert like the log of wood or clump of mud, as he is the self-shining
principle of Consciousness. He remains absorbed in the Self; has no attachments or attractions for the world
objects; and has nothing more to achieve.)

=

= l= l ||

That Jeeva who is completely bereft of attachment everywhere
and does not rest his mind anywhere;
and who does not attain anything whatsoever,
is non-perceiving and non-inert.


q7-

q
9H = =

||

He who is not dependent (for his happiness) on the perceived world of objects,
is said to be non-perceiving and non-inert,
though doing hundreds of actions.

q (
==H

||

He, whose Heart-space (intellect)
is not tainted by the perceived phenomenon in the least
is said to be a JeevanMukta and non-inert, non-perceiving.

l==c
l7

||
q H

97 |

||

When he does not conceive anything because of the absence of Vaasanaas,
like a child or a dumb (non-thinking) person looking at the world;
and remains stable in the mind;
then he becomes the abode of Pure Consciousness completely freed of the inertness
and never again he gets tainted.

c
c c = -9 ||

When one has renounced all the Vaasanaaas,
bliss alone shines forth from the Unperturbed state of Composure,
like the blueness from the sky.

*=
=cq= = | ||

=*==

=cH

||


Yogis remain in that state
of eternal consciousness (of the Self) and non-consciousness (of the perceived).
That also dissolves off in the end.

That is why,
being absorbed in That, even as he moves, stays, touches, smells,
he is said to be non-inert, melting in bliss,
and happy by renouncing the perception.

**+

* c *
-

||

Attaining such a vision by doing effort unmindful of difficulties,
cross over the ocean of sufferings,
O Rama the ocean of all virtues!

q

H
cqc
||

Just as the tree comes out of the seed and spreads over a large space in course of time,
similarly,
this unreal perceived phenomenon rises by ones own conception.

c =

= ||

When the Consciousness conceives and conceives and gets a body by its own will,
then it alone becomes the seed-state of this network of births.

ccc c

H c= c ||

Producing itself (with limitations) by itself,
deluding itself again and again,
the Consciousness by itself takes itself towards liberation,
O Raaghava!

c H
|

||


Whatever it thinks, it becomes that instantly.
But, when you are out of the stage (of attachment etc)
it never takes a body again.

H H l l=
cq= =g 9c

||

It is not
a divinity, or god, or demon, or supernatural being;
or Kinnara or whatever.
Self alone dances this dance of the world with its enticing partner Maayaa from ever.

qqc 5lc

c c ||

Binding one self and suffering like the silk worm,
(or like an actor on the stage)
the Consciousness attains a wretched state by itself by its very nature
for a long span of time.

= =
lHH

l5 ||

This Consciousness alone,
becomes a tainted consciousness like the salted water
and fills the entire ocean of the world;
shines as the wondrous sphere of directions (space);
becomes (solid) objects like the Mountain etc.

q H

l
c 9H c= ||

Sky, Earth, wind, space, Mountains, rivers, directions;
all these are said to be
the waves of this ever moving waters of the Consciousness.

= c q
c -7 q = ||



Consciousness alone is the entire world.
There is not ever another conceived second principle.
By this correct knowledge, the Consciousness attains
the (non-dual) state where nothing else exists.





CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR


{TWO NATURES OF PURE CONSCIOUSNESS}

*
Vasishta spoke


=

c 9 ||

Pure Consciousness alone is the seed of this Perceiving Consciousness Rama!
This rises from the Pure Consciousness like the light from the fire.

q + c

q+

||

There are two natures for this Pure Consciousness.
One exists as varied shapes.
The second is of one form only.
Listen to their differences.

cc c
c+ c=

||

What is denoted by the names of pot cloth etc and you and me etc
by making divisions in the manifested reality
is what stays as varied shapes.

c= cc
= c +(
||

Discarding away the divisions (as unreal),
That which exists as the single principle of existence
and as the common essence of all
is the single form of the Pure Consciousness.

c= =
+ + cc

||

That state of the Pure Consciousness which is one and gigantic
which is Existence alone without any divisions of particularities
is said to be the state of the Reality.

+ c

c
q -
||

The Consciousness which takes on many forms can never stop perceiving;
so it is not real.

+

c c
q

||

That consciousness which is of one single form,
and completely taintless in essence,
never perishes, never forgets its true nature.

c c cc

cHc = ||

Renouncing the misconceived idea of divisions like
the reality of Time, parts and qualities,
be absorbed in the Self only.

(Present alone is the reality as it includes past and future also; so state some.
Parts alone collect together and become the supremely subtle Reality; so state some.
Divisions or qualities alone are the true state of Reality- so state some.)

(When these divisions of the perceived phenomenon are removed, then the Pure Consciousness alone is left
back. So they do not have any reality as they undergo changes based on manifoldness.)

c= c

=|

*l ||

The Sattaa Saamaanya (Common principle of existence in all) alone
conceives all these forms.
Remain completely filling all the quarters
as the overflowing state of complete bliss.


{THE BASIC SEED OF ALL}

c= l
9 ||

O Best among the skilful!
The extreme reach of the SattaSaamaanya alone has become the seed for this.
That alone extends as all this.

c= = cc
qq= q ||

There is no seed for this Foremost state without beginning or end
which is without the perceived phenomenon
in the extreme reach of SattaaSaamaanya.
(whatever possible states are there)

c *

=
||

Man is said to have attained the Highest, when he reaches that state
where even the Reality dissolves off,
where there is no change of any sort,
where one never wallows in pain again.

(MAN or PUMAAN alone has fulfilled the goal of human existence. Rest all are only women i.e. identified
with matter and undergo sufferings in various births.
In Scriptures, the word Stree always refers to the ignorant identified with the inert matter of the body and
the word Pumaan or Purusha to the Self unconnected to the inert matter.
These words do not denote the biological species of the earth.)

@

q
c q ||

It is the cause of all causes. It has no cause as such.
It is the true essence of all essences. Therefore it is without essence.


=7 7*

9-= 5

||

In that extensive Chit-Mirror all these perceived objects are reflected
similar to trees on the bank getting reflected in the river waters.

=

] ( 9c 9= ||

All these objects gain the taste in that ocean of taste
and get revealed like the six tastes in the tongue.

||

Therefore though the state of the Chit-space is extremely pure,
it is the state of abundant taste of all that is tasted.

*= = j ||

Dear Rama!
All the various groups of worlds
get born, remain, evolve, are experienced, stay, dissolve in that state.

cq5

* c

cc

* ||

* = =
c=* = ||

c c

lj lH ||

= l= l= c
c77 c ||


It is heavier than the heaviest; it is lighter than the lightest.
It is huger than the hugest; it is subtler than the subtlest.
It is farther than the farthest; it is nearer than the nearest.
It is smaller than the smallest; it is higher than the highest.
It is brighter than the brightest; it is darker than the darkest.
It is real object among all objects; it is the Supreme direction among all directions.
It is not anything. It is something. It is and not is also.
It is perceived and not perceived.
I am not that and I am that.

9c =

||

Rama the Taintless!
Somehow get established in the Supremely Sacred State
making utmost effort that is possible.




CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE


{HOW TO ATTAIN THAT STATE}


Rama spoke

9H c
9 c9 ||

You have explained in detail about the seeds O Honor-Giving Sage!
What practice will quickly make one attain that state?

*
Vasishta spoke


9H q=c
9 q ||

Whatever remedies I have suggested when discussing the topic of the seeds,
by practising those methods,
one can quickly attain that state.

(The moment you realize, you are THAT.
It could be this very moment!)

c=l 5c l
5 9c cc= ||
cc7 HHc
H= c

c ||

You know the truth already Rama!
Even for a second if you can remain bound to that Changeless state
which is the extremely common essence of all,
as quickly as possible,
forcefully renouncing the Vaasanaas by manly effort,
then in this very moment you will be in that auspicious state!


(Contemplate on the Self as the essence of all. Again, contemplate on the Self as the pure awareness.)


c=+ j
c= c c ||

If you can stay in that state of Sattaa Saamaanyataa my dear Rama,
a little more effort and you will attain that Supreme state.


-ccc

l *
qc c ||

If you remain contemplating on the principle of Consciouness, O Taintless Rama,
a little more effort to go higher and you will attain that state.

(Not just hourly meditation; but attain the realization that Self is your very nature at all times.)

q
- c ||

Just doing meditation is not the state of the Consciousness Raaghava!
As it is everywhere, it is always the Consciousness.

= q c*
-c ||

Whatever you think, wherever you move, wherever you sit, whatever you do,
there and all Consciousness alone is there;
Consciousness alone is all that.

(First, get rid of the Vaasanaas.)

c l c
c = H ||

If you do effort and renounce the Vaasanaas,
at that very moment all the physical and mental afflictions will vanish away.

|H+

9c+ l

c +=

||

This method is said to be more difficult than the others.
The renouncement of Vaasanaas is more difficult than uprooting the Meru Mountain.

(To get rid of the Vaasanaa, mind has to be killed.
To kill the mind, Vaasanaa has to be destroyed.)

q| q H
H c = - ||

As long as the mind has not dissolved away,
till then the Vaasanaa-destruction cannot happen.
As long as the Vaasanaas do not perish,
till then the mind does not get subdued.


(To subdue the mind, Truth has to be understood.
To understand the Truth, mind has to be subdued.)

= cc7 c

= c ccc ||

As long as the truth has not been understood,
how can the mind get subdued till then?
As long as the mind is not subdued,
the truth can never be understood.

(Only when the Vaasanaa is gone, Truth gets realized.
Truth can be realized, only if the Vaasanaa is gone.)

= ccc

= cc9 qH ||

As long as Vaasanaas are not destroyed, how can the Truth be understood?
As long as the Truth is not understood, how can the Vaasanaas be destroyed?



{ALL THREE MUST BE PRACTICED SIMULTANEOUSLY}

cc7 H
c

= ||

Since the Knowledge of the Self, Mind-destruction, Vaasanaa Destruction,
all co-exist as causes for each other,
they are difficult to practice.

5 c 5 l
cHc

c ||

Therefore Raaghava,
a man of discrimination should make manly effort
and throw far the desire for pleasures;
and practice these three methods.

= +



= -9 c ||

As long as all these three are not practiced simultaneously again and again,
the Supreme state cannot be attained even in hundred years.

H7
+ =

||

O Ascetic! O wise Rama!
The Knowledge of the Self, Mind-destruction, Vaasanaa Destruction,
give fruit only when practiced simultaneously for long.

=
= @ 9= = | ||

Even if one practices each method separately for long,
they will not fructify like the magical chants failing when hindered (by death or faint).

H ||

Just like individual soldiers cannot face the enemy
even if they are cajoled into service;
and even if they are talented;
a single method cannot lead to the Supreme state
even if well practiced with all sincerity.

q

= l
-= ==

=l5 ||

If all these three are employed together by the intelligent aspirant, O Good one,
they will eat away the ocean of the Samsaara
like the waters eating away the mountain bases.

H7 9c
||

The Knowledge of the Self, Mind-destruction, Vaasanaa Destruction,
are to be practiced simultaneously with effort for long Dear Rama;
then you will no more be tainted by the Non-self.

+(= 7
g=

||

By practicing these three methods for long,
the strong knots of the heart (ego etc) will break off completely,
like breaking a lotus destroys the stalk.


==+
+ H H ||

The worldly existence one experiences
is the result of the habits of many many births.
Unless one practices for long, it cannot perish ever.

===

*c=
+= ||

As you walk, as you hear, as you touch, as you smell,
as you stand, as you wake up, as you sleep,
practice all these three methods to attain the Highest Good.


(Praanaayaama also helps inVaasanaa-destruction.)

c 9
ccc

||

The Control of Praana is said to be equal to Vaasanaa-destruction by the knowers.
Therefore that also can be put into practice.

cc cc
9= 5

||

By the complete renunciation of the Vaasanaa through the Praana-Control also,
the Mind attains the Non-Mind state.
Do whatever you feel inclined to.

9+ Hc

c
9= 5 ||

The Vibration of the Praana can be stopped
by the prolonged practice of Praanaayaama properly under the guidance of a Guru
along with expertise in postures and dietary etc.






CHAPTER TWENTY SIX


*
Vasishta spoke


cq

9
= l

c
+ 7 7 H ||

Vaasanaa will not manifest, if one has the Correct Knowledge of what is there.

Knowledge
is the realization of the true nature of the objects from the beginning till end
which is not contradictory to the Reality.

Vaasanaa gets destroyed by that Knowledge.

jc|
| cq 9 ||

When one acts in the world without attachment;
is free of the thoughts of the world;
and understands the ephemeral nature of the body;
Vaasanaa will not manifest.

* c 9
= = -

||
9=c= l
= = -l ||

If the Praana-wind is quietened like the dust settling in the sky,
the Vaasanaa gets destroyed and the Mind acts no more.
The Praana vibration alone is the Mind-Vibration.
That is why people rise up in the world like dust from a dust bin.



9= c
c


||

The wise man should try his best to control the Praana,
again and again practicing the postures with single-mindedness.

H cHc cH
c

||

Or ignoring that (Praanaayaama) method,
if you are interested in the mind-control only,
even then you will reach the Supreme state in course of time.

H

H=

j

c *
j ||

It is not possible to conquer the mind without perfect practice,
like you cannot control the intoxicated rogue of an elephant without a goad.




CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN


{HATHA YOGA PRACTICES}

(Here Hatha means force.
Even though controlling the mind or Praana need some force, the word Hatha here means practices which
are not prescribed in the Knowledge Scriptures like making the body suffer through some torturous
postures of sitting, lying down; hurting the body through weird practices; using the methods of Mantra,
Tantra etc; practicing contemplation in cremation grounds; using corpses for Saadhana and so on. Such
unnecessary torturous and abnormal practices are to be avoided.
Instead of seeking Knowledge or following the paths of dispassion and discrimination, these Hatha Yoga
practioners are concerned with the body-based methods only.)




*
Vasishta spoke

cq j

c 9=
H

= c l ||

H*

==
|c=

= ||

Study of spiritual texts, Company of the knowers,
Renunciation of Vaasanaas, Control of Praana Vibrations;
these perfect methods are already there for bringing the mind under control.
When these methods are already there,
those who practice Hatha Yoga (forced control) to control the mind
are trying to destroy the darkness with dark soot discarding the lamps.

qH


- =5=c
=

||

These senseless fools who are trying to conquer the mind through Hatha Yoga
are trying to bind the mighty elephant-chief with lotus stalks.

c c

|
= c=

H

==

||

Those who try to control their minds
by controlling the bodies which stay close to the mind,
leaving out the other methods,
are known as Hatha Yoga practitioners.

|

= HcH d=

= ||

They suffer fear after fear.
They get agony after agony.
They never attain a secure restful place
like the unfortunate animals lost in the forest.

+=

||

They wander among the rocks of the hills
eating fruits and leaves as food
like the wretched ignorant stupid frightened deer.

j

| j
Hq

||

Their minds lose trust in all,
like the female deer which while straying into the village,
gets trapped; gets wounded by the stake;
and withers away pale and frightened.

l
9( 97

|* ||

Their confused minds are carried away
as if caught in dangerous floods
and thrown far off like a straw caught in the Mountain Rivers.

7 +
H=

||

Engaged in incorrect practices like
Sacrificial rites, austerities, pilgrimages, and worship of deities;
suffering with innumerable afflictions;
they waste their time like animals.

ccc cc

= = ||

By the random act of fate,
sometime in their life,
someone burning in the fire of agonies untold,
may accidentally come across Self-knowledge; or may not also.

c

c H= =

||
=
c =

j ||

Always stuck to ephemeral states,
unstable in any state for long,
residing in hell or heaven with different bodies,
falling and climbing repeatedly,
they wither away like balls.

Here itself they attain the states of hell (suffering as insect lives etc).
Here itself they experience heaven (sometimes born in higher births).
They go through repeated births like the waves of a lake.

c= 7*

-c ||

O Joy of Raghu dynasty!
Throw away these misconceived practices (like Hatha Yoga).
Take shelter in the Pure Consciousness.
Be free of attachments.
Be stabilized in the Self-state.

7 7

7 ==7 ||

Only a man with Knowledge is blissful.
Only a man with Knowledge lives truly.
Only a man with Knowledge is strong.
Therefore be filled with Knowledge alone.



CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

*
Vasishta spoke

= ||

Just with the least of the enquiry,
if one controls the mind even in the least,
he has attained the fulfillment of his birth.

(l

+ 9 ||

Even if a tiny amount of enquiry rises in the heart vaguely,
it will grow into many branches with just a little practice.

lc9

||

If a man practices enquiry with maturity,
accompanied by dispassion,
all the noble qualities will take shelter in him
like swans seeking the water-filled lake.

- 97 l

=c q

||

The products of ignorance never touch a man who has correct understanding
and who sees the world as it is (Self).

*

||

A man is said to be dead
if his mind is not engaged in enquiry,
as he moves or stands, as he sleeps or is awake.

l =c 7c
c7 = ||

What is this world? What is this body?
In this way ponder continuously, slowly,
attempting to know the Self,
alone in solitude or in the company of the good ones.

7

7 9 7 c
||

Through Knowledge all sufferings come to an end.
Through Knowledge the Changeless Self gets revealed for sure.

cc7 7j


7 =

||

Dear Rama!
This Self-understanding which is the result of enquiry alone
is known as Knowledge.
The Knowable (Brahman) is hidden in Knowledge only
like the sweetness in milk.

-7 7

c ||

The man who has attained the true knowledge of the Self
is the principle of Knowledge itself.
He will be blissful always as if heavily drunk.

+ 7 d(

7 c 9 ||

That which is equally in all, which is taintless, which is to be known,
is known as the Supreme Brahman.
Only by the attainment of Knowledge, it reveals itself.

7l=

Hc=
=H

j c * ||

A man of knowledge who is blissful within never ever drowns.
He remains liberated while living. He is completely without attachments.
He lives as the Emperor-Self.

= c

||

Those who staying at the home (Self)
keep their minds in other countries (world)
have experiences equaling dumb children and foolish animals (understand nothing).

j j
j j ||

Attachment is the cause of objects.
Attachment is the cause of this worldly existence.
Attachment is the cause of all desires.
Attachment is the cause of all dangers.

jc |

H jc=
j c c =H

||

Renunciation of attachment is known as Liberation.
By renunciation of attachment one is freed from births.
You renounce the attachment to objects, O Taintless Rama!
Become a JeevanMukta.



CHAPTER TWENTY NINE



Rama spoke

=5

j l

dl

9 ||

Hey Sage!
You are the wind of the autumn clearing the mist of doubts!
What is attachment?
Tell me in brief!

*
Vasishta spoke


j ||

When reactions like joy or irritation rise up
in the presence or absence of the objects,
that filthy Vaasanaa is known as attachment.


=H| =


H

+ @

||
j @ 7
cH q=

||

In those JeevanMuktas who still have the bodies here,
the Vaasanaa is pure, free of joy and apprehension,
and will no more cause repeated births.
Know that to be named as Asamga (Non-attachment).
It will be there as long as the body remains.
Whatever action is done through it, it will not bind again.

=H+

H +

= ||

For those who are not liberated while living,
who lead a pathetic life, who have ignorant minds,
who always react with anger and anxiety,
the Vaasanaa becomes binding.

H j=

cH c= ||

That alone is denoted by the word Samga (Attachment).
It causes repeated births.
Whatever action is done through it, it results in bondage only.

+ c= j c
l * =

||

Discarding such a nature of attachment
which makes you react in different ways,
if you remain undisturbed (in the Self-state),
then whatever action you do, you will not be tainted.

+ l =
Hj ||

If you do not identify with the joy, irritation, grief
and are free of desire, anxiety and anger,
then Raaghava, you are Unattached!

l (*

c=

j ||

If you do not grieve when met with sorrows,
if you do not get excited when met with joyous occasions,
by never getting controlled by desires,
then Raaghava, you are Unattached!

=

c- j ||

If you do not lose your equanimity
when dealing with the affairs of the world,
or in happy and sad occasions,
then Raaghava, you are Unattached!

q l c l
9|

j ||

When the perceived phenomenon of the world and the Self are understood
and observed as the same (principle of Self);
when you do actions that fall to your lot only;
then Raaghava, you are Unattached!

j==H

-= ||

O Taintless Rama!
Established with ease
in the stable state of JeevanMukti which is a state free of attachments,
remain without attractions, be equal-minded; and
be rooted firmly in the Self-state.

=Hl

|=5

c * = ||

The noble one whose intellect is stabilized in JeevanMukti;
who is silent (in the mind);
whose senses are under control;
who is not given to egotism, arrogance, and envious nature;
remains freed of the fever (of Samsaara).





PART TEN OF
SECTION FIVE - UPASHAMA PRAKARANAM
COMPLETE


















About the Author:

Maa Tejasvini

The author spent many years doing research on ancient Sanskrit texts in the Himalayan
region. She was exposed to many unique spiritual experiences which are beyond human
comprehension.
Her mission in life was to translate all renowned spiritual texts and literature of Sanskrit
and bring them to the light of the public.