YOGA

VAASISHTA

A PHILOSOPHICAL TREATISE

COMPOSED BY

VAALMIKI MAHARSHI

qF 9*




ESSENCE OF YOGAVAASISHTA
Compiled by

Tejasvini









F9

SECTION FIVE QUIESCENCE

PART NINE


INTRODUCTION

In this part Rama clears some of his lingering doubts. Sage Vasishta gives him detailed
instruction about topics like-
Attachment; Detachment; Turyaa; State beyond Turyaa; Names and definitions used
in scriptures; Meaning of the word Heart; Hatha-Yoga Methods; Knowledge Method;
Enquiry process etc.


OM TAT SAT


















CHAPTER ONE



Rama spoke

|7 =j =

H lc ||

O Lord! What is attachment like?
How does it cause the bondage in men?
How to treat it? What should be done to attain liberation?

*
Vasishta spoke


{IDENTIFICATION WITH THE BODY}


lc

j = ||

Completely renouncing the difference between
the embodied Self and the body (Kshetrajna-Kshetra)
in the understanding,
when one trusts the body only (inert) as real,
such attachment brings about bondage.

=ccc =c
c c=

j = ||

When one has desires for pleasures (of sense objects) in the mind,
with the ascertained idea of the limitation of the limitless principle of Self,
such attachment brings about bondage.




{NON-ATTACHMENT}


c l c l
cj @ =H

||

All this is the Self! What shall I want? What shall I reject?
Know that this state of non-attachment
is the state of the one who is liberated while living.

=s =

=H

c= Hj

||

I (limited ego) am not there. There is no other person also.
Let the (unreal) pleasures be there or not there!
He who is detached in his mind, in this manner,
is said to be a man fit for liberation.

= *- =

c sH

||

He does not seek renunciation of all actions;
nor does he get attached to actions.
He is equanimous at all times.
He renounces the (pain or pleasure of) results.
He is known as an unattached man.

ccc*
cHs =H

||

He is absorbed only in the Self-state;
his mind is not given to excitements and frictions;
he is known as a JeevanMukta.

|

c s-H

||

He who has completely renounced all the results (pains and pleasures) of the actions
by his mind, and not by action;
is known as an unattached man.

j * -

lc = = ||

Through non-attachment,
all (selfish) actions expressed in various ways (desiring pleasures) become treated
and bring about the highest good.


CHAPTER TWO


{SAMSAKTI / INTENSE ATTACHMENT}


H

9= c +H

||

Because of intense attachment,
the entire heap of pains that are spread out in the world,
grow into hundreds of branches,
like the thorny tree growing in a hole.

(All the objects that are perceived around us as the world are there because of intense attachment only.
Every animal, plant and object is some result-state experience of the intense attachment of some Jeeva.)


{VARIOUS EXAMPLES OF INTENSE ATTACHMENT RESULTS}

=* qc


c c H-

||

The frightened donkey carries the load on its back,
with its nose pulled by the thick rope.
That is the manifestation (result) of Intense attachment.

H
5 c= cH-

||

The tree carries the weight of its tube-shaped body,
stuck to one place bearing the brunt of cold winds and hot sun.
That is the manifestation (result) of Intense attachment.

c|: lj
H cH-

||

The worm sunk under the hole of the ground,
its body aching all over,
passes it life with an imperfect body.
That is the manifestation (result) of Intense attachment.

HcH

Hc

5
H H

cH-

||

The bird resting on the branch of the tree
with a hungry belly
passes its life,
always in fear of getting killed.
That is the manifestation (result) of Intense attachment.

l
=

c H-

||

The deer eating sprouts of Doorva sprouts and grass
discards its body (dies), hit by the arrow of the hunter.
That is the manifestation (result) of Intense attachment.

|

c=

l cH-

||

These worn out (ignorant) people
are born again and again
and attain the states of worms and insects.
That is the manifestation (result) of Intense attachment.

cccc |= j j

= c H-

||

Countless beings rise up again and again like waves
only to dissolve back into the river.
That is the manifestation (result) of Intense attachment.

5c

= c


cH-

||

The men who attain the states of creepers and grass
having lost the ability to move,
die again and again.
That is the manifestation (result) of Intense attachment.

c

= cH

- ||

The grass, the shrubs and creepers absorb the essence below the earth,
and take on various shapes.
That is the manifestation (result) of Intense attachment.

=

c| c c H-

||

The madly rushing river of Samsaara,
teeming with hundreds of objects causing a succession of harm to itself
is the manifestation (result) of Intense attachment.

l

d(-

c ||
= = =cc=

= j j
cccc |= cH-

||

Gods in the heavens, humans in the earth, serpents and demons in the nether world,
hover around the Udumbara fruit of the Cosmic egg like tiny mosquitoes.
They get born, die, fall, and rise up again.
Countless beings rise up again and again like waves
only to dissolve back into the river.
That is the manifestation (result) of Intense attachment.







CHAPTER THREE


{TYPES OF SAMSAKTI}


Hq 9H =q =
=

=q cc ||

Intense Attachment is of two types; adorable and barren O Raaghava.
Barren belongs to the ignorant fools everywhere.
Adorable belongs innately to the knowers of Brahman.

ccc | l

H 7 = ||

That firm attachment is known as Barren
where there is no Self-Knowledge, and
where objects like body etc rise up again.

ccc c

=q l H

||

That attachment is known as Adorable
where the truth is realized through discrimination, by the rise of Self-Knowledge,
and which will not produce the worldly existence once again.













CHAPTER FOUR


{ADORABLE (VANDYAA) SAMSAKTI}



Lord Vishnu holding the conch, discus and mace takes care of the three worlds in various
ways;
the Sun treads the path of the sky without a break;
Brahma takes on a form to conceive the worlds after the Kalpa;
Shankaras form covered with ashes remains tied to the stake namely his spouse with
ease;
the Siddhas who know everything and the guardians of the quarters remain in existence;
all those who belong to the auspicious world freed of death and old age maintain their
identities;
because of taking recourse to Adorable Attachment.



CHAPTER FIVE


{ATTACHED MIND}



||
jj =

- =
l cc ||

Raaghava! Observe this amazing factor!
This picture (of the world) has been painted by someone in the Supreme space
just because of Vaasanaa.

This picture of the world which has been painted
using just the color of mind-attachment in the empty sky
is not at all real!




H=
c *

= ||

The thirst for pleasures consumes the bodies
of those who act in the world with attachment in the mind,
like flames of fire consuming grass.

c==
H c ||

The entire network of suffering whatsoever is seen in the world,
is conceived to the maximum,
for those with attached minds.

=jjj @
=jj @ ||

Raaghava! Understand that the inner attachment maintained within
is burning charcoal.
Rama! Understand that not having inner attachment
is the sweet nectar.



CHAPTER SIX


{ASLEEP WHEN AWAKE}


j+

c
=| ||

Those great ones
who have matured in maintaining the bliss of detachment and expanded their minds,
remain without anxiety and fear,
even though they are engaged in the actions connected to the world.

c c 9

@
l =5 ||

These great ones experience the bliss of the Self;
are enlightened;
have reached the Supreme state;
appear soft-natured to the outside world like the tip of the feather;
but are immovable within like the Meru Mountain.

cs 9 c
H

H ||

He who is always absorbed in the contemplation of the Self;
who is always in the enlightened state of the Supreme though not contemplating;
and who is freed of all the faults of ignorance;
is known as Self-attached.


(One who has reached maturity in Detachment does not need the practice of regular hours of
contemplation. He has reached the Highest state of the Supreme and is always in the Self-contemplation
state or Nirvikalpa Samaadhi, though performing actions like the rest of the people. As he has no identity
with the body, it does not matter to him what his organs of action or organs of knowledge are doing. His
mind is dead because of detachment.)


c cj
c7 j

= ||

The Jeeva attains Non-attachment in this world
because of the bliss experienced in the Self.
The Attachment diminishes only by attaining Self-Knowledge; not otherwise.

c


7 sq= c ||

Raaghava! The Jeeva then is in deep sleep,
though remaining in the wakeful state.
He who has attained such a state maintains no dualities like likes and dislikes.
His mind is in a composed state without setting or rising.

(The knower is unaffected by the perceived phenomenon as if in deep sleep.)


c c| H
= c

||

That state of those knowers whose minds are dead,
where the mind no more acts like the mind,
where all agitations are quietened,
that state is the deep-sleep state in the wakeful state.

c ==

* ||

After attaining that deep sleep state,
the realized Jeeva though living as an embodied person,
though performing all the actions of the world,
does not ever get pulled by the straps of pain and pleasure.

c

cH
=

7
||

The states of sorrow and happiness do not enter him
who performs the actions of the world
remaining in the state of deep sleep while awake,
as if he is a mechanically moving doll.

@

=H

||

The Jeeva whose intellect is sleeping while awake,
performs actions as before yet treating them as of not much importance.
He does not get bound as he is in the state of JeevanMukti.

c 5

||

Taking recourse to the state of Deep-sleep while awake Raaghava,
you can do actions or not do also.
Action is a process belonging to the nature
(of the body or mind or station in life) (inert).
It rises as a process which fructifies because of previous actions.


c 7
*=cc 9

||

Acceptance or complete rejection of actions is not the disposition of the knower.
The realized ones remain doing whatever actions belong to their lot.

lc= =

==5

||

A child moves in the cradle without any particular purpose.
Raaghava! Perform actions without feeling involvement in the results.

| ||

Being in the state of Deep sleep while awake,
being rid of all dirt (caused by ignorance),
kill the body immediately; or hold it for long like a mountain.

(Since the knower has no connection to the body except as a perceiving tool to be used, he can continue to
maintain it engaged in the actions of the family and society like Vyaasa or get rid of it like Shuka, his son.)

+
9

cc ||

Rama! This is the deep-sleep state which when perfected by continuous practice,
is known as the Turyaa (transcendental) state by the Knowers of the Reality.

==s l
H

||

Even after that,
the Yogi who has transcended the divisions of
No-bliss (the three states of Jaagrat/Svapna/ Sushupti) and
Great bliss (Turyaa state)
is known as the Liberated one
as he crosses over the Turyaa state also.

(Turyaa state is the blissful state of Samaadhi experienced when one is a JeevanMukta. When the body
falls, the Yogi transcends that state also and remains as Brahman and is known as Mukta.)


CHAPTER SEVEN


{BEYOND TURYAA STATE}


INTRODUCTION

By analyzing the three states of ignorance waking, dream and deep sleep, a Yogi attains
the witness state and remains absorbed in the Self, the rest of his embodied existence.
This state is known as Turyaa where the knower remains untouched by the perceived
phenomena as if in deep sleep. He remains asleep while awake.
When the body is discarded, he reaches the state beyond Turyaa and becomes Fully
liberated. The divided state of ignorance and knowledge no more exists for him.

*
Vasishta spoke


As long as Turyaa state is discussed, it is just the state which remains after the faults of
the three states of ignorance are removed. That is the state of JeevanMukti and is the
subject dealt with in the scriptures.
O Mighty armed Rama! The state of those who have discarded their body and have
become liberated fully, cannot be described in words, like the space etc gets analyzed by
men.

(Because, the mind is not there in that Supreme state; and words have to be formulated only by the mind.)

l = +

s
- H

||

That is the Supreme state of rest further than the farthest
which has to be reached by those liberated devoid of body,
like the wind has to flow in the sky region.

c Hc

||


After remaining in the Sushupti state
and experiencing the world for some time,
he reaches the Turyaa state (at the perfection of Sushupti state);
then follows the rolling in the Supreme bliss.

=7 =cc
q =q

||

Hey up-lifter of Raghu dynasty!
Just like the knowers of the Self who know the Truth,
cross over beyond the Turyaa state;
you also reach the state bereft of duality.

-
= Hq= ||

Rama! Remain in the Sushupti state and perform well,
all actions connected to the world.
Hey Conqueror of enemies!
Waxing and waning (Death and fear)
are not there for the painted picture of the moon; so for you also.

| H

+ ( | -

||

Do not have the idea of the destruction or stability of the Consciousness
as connected to the bodys situations (of death and life).
Delusion alone projects as this body.

s s
c 9

*c ||

What matters to you if the body dies?
What matters to you if the body stays alive?
Be engaged only in the attainment of the Self-state.
Let the body remain as it is.





CHAPTER EIGHT


*
Vasishta spoke


7 t

= ||


= c cl ||

The wise state that non-enquiry
is ignorance; is foolishness;
is the essence of this ever changing mundane existence;
is the cause of the inner-faculty.

The mind itself should analyze
the cause of this Samsaara and
the terms like Jeeva, Inner faculty, cognizing faulty, mind, and perceived phenomenon.



{NAMES AND DEFINITIONS}


Rama spoke

7 9 d(= +l
c @ ||

Lord! Sage! Modest one!
How these terminologies came to be in the mind?
Tell me for my own progress in the path towards realization.





*
Vasishta spoke

cccc+
ccj ||

All these objects always have Self alone as their essence;
they rise from the mind,
like various wavelets rising from the same water source.

Hc
s7 7 ||
7=c

||

In the world, in all the bodies,
the Supreme power of the Self (Brahman)
manifests the principle of ignorance.
That is how ignorance (absence of knowledge) came to be here.
This ignorance with the essence of the eternal Self is known as Jeeva.
He (Jeeva) is an elephant
trapped in the cage of the great delusion of Maayaa.

= cH

s- cc-
@ c

= ||
9

c l
9

cc ||
7 cc c
c =7 ||

By living, it is called Jeeva. By the idea of I, it remains as the ego.
By decision making, it is the Intellect. By conceiving, it is called the Mind.
It is Prakriti (Primordial Matter) by becoming matter.
It stays as the body through wretchedness.
It is inert, when it is matter. It is conscious, being in its own state.

That Principle which is in between the perceptions of inert and conscious,
is the state of the Supreme Self.
That alone exists as all the manifoldness, bearing various terms accordingly.

7c

9 ||

Meaningless adherence to these terms have been conceived
by the logicians who stick to dry logic and are ignorant of the truth;
and they argue using misleading logic
only to bring about confusion.

||

O Mighty armed Rama!
That is how Jeeva is considered as the cause of the mundane existence.
What can this pitiable worthless inert body do anything here?
(Body is not the cause of this existence)

= *
|l c * ||

In the case of the support and the supported,
if one (supported) perishes the other (support) does not perish.
If the body etc dies, nothing happens to the Self.

*c s+

c = c ||

For the idiot who has the delusion- I perish if the body dies,
I should say that ghost will rise from his mothers breast even!

(c= l

c l c H ||

He who is completely destroyed (Jeeva-hood is destroyed by Self-knowledge),
is known as truly risen.
The destruction of the mind is the true destruction.
That alone is known as liberation.

* 9H =

(
= c

c

||

The statement This person is dead; is lost forever is a lie, is an untruth; so I say.
That person (who is said to be dead)
will experience life again and again in other space/time modes.

c

c=

|
5 cHc = ||

c= = H
== s== ||

The Jeeva being under the control of the Vaasanaa
discards the body and moves away
like the monkey jumping from one forest tree to the other.

Then he discards that also and goes to another in a second,
in another expansive space in another time-mode, Raaghava.

=
= c

||

=

H


=c

||

The Jeevas are dragged here and there
by their own Vaasanaa, for long,
like the children kidnapped by the evil selfish nurse-maid.

These Jeevas holding on to other Jeevas for support,
bound by the Vaasanaa rope,
wasting away inside the caves of the mountain
live a very miserable life and age away.


l5
Vaalmiki spoke

As the Sage was speaking words profound with knowledge, the day ended; the people in
the court saluted the Sage and left to attend to their evening duties of bath etc; they
returned again with the Suns rays.



CHAPTER NINE


{BODY AND THE EMBODIED ONE}

s *
cc=jc ||

If the body is born, you are not born.
If the body dies, you do not die.
You are in essence the pure Self.
You do not have a body ever.


{BODY DIES; THE CONSCIOUS BEING DOES NOT DIE}

* s=
| c= ||

If the body which by nature is prone to destruction,
perishes and attains its natural state,
and if any one suffers thinking I am dying;
fie on that fellow with the blinded mind.

7s
9 7 l ||

Just like the affection and grief at the meeting and separation of the travelers
is not relevant,
so it is with the body and the embodied.

{ATTACHMENT FELT FOR OTHERS}

||

Just like the fears and apprehensions felt
at the actions of a ghost which is just an imagination of the mind,
are falsely imagined,
the affection and the happiness between one another are also baseless and
imagined by the mind.


{ALL OBJECTS AND PEOPLE ARE SHAPES MADE OF ELEMENTS}

||

All the people are just differently made
by the joining of the five elements in a heap,
like various types dolls are made from the same tree.

* c* l=== 7

l=== 7 ||

In a bundle of wooden sticks,
the sticks do not look different from each other.
Similarly in the bodies made of elements, no differences are seen.

Hc


l = ||

Hey people! When the five elements break up; perish or rise again,
why do you helplessly fall into the states of happiness, irritation or sadness?

-=-

9|

||

What an amazing thing it is,
that men flying up (like butterflies in thoughts of lust and attraction)
fall into the worthless heap of elements named woman or some other thing!

7 *

=7

||

Only the ignorant feel happy with
the varieties of shapes that rise out of random assemblage of elements.
For the knowers, the shapes are just what they are; an assemblage of elements.




* c| ||

Between two stone statues,
made of the same rock even (like brothers born of the same mother),
though joint together,
there is no attachment for each other.
So are the mind and the body.

c-

7s==: j
@=5c

j 7s

||

What sort of reaction will be among mud-dolls when they meet,
you do also react in the same way when you meet
the combination of intellect, senses, Self and mind. (Individual-bodies)

===

=5c9 ||

The statues made of stones have no feeling of connection to each other.
Similarly so the body, senses, Self and the Praanaas.
What is there to grieve about?!

=c
j

7 ||

Embodied one! The waves and various plant-forms like grass etc
born in different places join together well enough;
so do all the beings (and all the elements).

==

==

==
H=

=c

||

Various plant-forms join together and separate out in the ocean waters,
without any agitation inside;
all beings (sons or wives or animals or birds) do the same,
when joining the (Kaarmic) body and the Self.

c c =

=cc=cH=

||

The Self remains joining together the body and the beings through the mind,
like the ocean embraces together various grass plants,
by overflowing with a circular form.


{ENLIGHTENED KNOWER}

9 c cHc dccc
= cHcc ||

By enlightenment, discarding the mind-state, the Self reverts back to being itself;
like the water by its own movement discards the dirtiness and attains the pure state.

*

9
=

=

||

At the time of enlightenment, the person sees his body
as a disjoint-collection of elements,
like seeing the earth-surface from a vehicle travelling along the sky.

7*g c
9

= ||

ccc =
H

H=

||

Observing the elements,
he transcends the body and sees the separate elements that made his body;
and becomes the Unborn (Self-state).
He attains supreme luster like the Sun-shine in the day time.

Contemplating on the Self-consciousness within,
feeling like a drunkard coming out of stupor,
he knows then the Self as thrown out of the state of measuring and measurable.

c = l

j=-=-

||

Self alone moves the world which appears as if made of solid objects,
like the ocean with countless water drops looks as if made of rising wavelets.

9
=H=

cc ||

Such men of great enlightenment do not get attracted by anything.
They are sinless.
These JeevanMuktas wander here after attaining the Highest state of Brahman.

= c :
c c ||

These excellent men carry out various functions in the world
with minds emptied of Vaasanaas
like the huge waves carrying varieties of precious stones.
(unaffected by the gems)

+ :
q
c ||
= l=c
c=

cc

||

The ocean has no attraction or repulsion towards the objects that enter it,
whether they are clean, or moving constantly, or dirty or inert,
or objects which have gone from it or joining it now.
Similarly a realized man has no attraction or repulsion towards sense pleasures
which are clean yet unstable, which are dirty yet inert,
which have gone or which are coming.
Because, the knowers know that
whatever is there in the world as a thought in the mind,
is only a wanton expression of the mental state turned towards the cognition.


{WORLD IS ONLY SEEN AND SEEING}

l

7 = q

- ||

That which is perceived as the I; all these beings; in all the three modes of time;
shine forth because of the expanded state of the Seen and Seeing.

7 cq 7*

=cc @ 7

||
cc l c c l
ccq@ l

||

Whatever perception (Seen) is there,
whether it is real or unreal,
it is dependent on the Seeing only (of the Seer).


(The world we see around us is just sensory perceptions colored by the minds narratives.
And we can ask, is all that real or unreal?
Whatever it is, it exists only when we see i.e., when we perceive through the mind along with the senses.
Is the world still out there when we do not see it?
How can we ever know? When we turn around and look, the world is there for sure.
The mind creates perceptions every moment through the senses.
The skin creates touch sensation; the eye creates sight sensation; nose creates smell sensation; ear creates
sound sensation; tongue creates taste sensation.
If we lack any one sense also, we will miss one part of the world.
If more senses are there, may be the world would be a different one.
If we do not have any senses at all, what the world outside would be like, we can not know.
We are but brains (minds) projecting colors and sounds through the mind controlled by Vaasanaas.
Seen (world) depends on the Seeing (perceiving capacity of the mind).)


Another fact is,
the Seen is untainting (is not connected to the Self).
Therefore why should there be happiness and sadness connected to the Seen?

The unreal is unreal only.
The real is always the real only.
The differentiation of real and unreal is unreal only.
Why do you get deluded by that?


(Self is real. Perceived world is unreal.
Self is not tainted by the perceptions.
Real cannot become unreal. Unreal cannot become real.
When unreal is not there at all, why even use the word real?
There is only Brahman.
There is only the Self.
There is no question of any unreal mind or world existing as a secondary principle.
So why even bother about what does not exist?
Why analyze the actions of a ghost which never was, is or will be?)


cHc H

H=(

9: ||

O Rama of beautiful eyes!
Discard the improper vision and see everything properly.
A mature person with proper vision never ever gets deluded here.

{THE BLISS CONNECTED TO THE SEEN AND THE SEEING}


(Whatever is perceived by the mind through the senses is the entire world phenomenon.
It is better defined as Seen and the Seeing (Perceived and the Perceiving).
So, what happens when the Seeing and Seen are there?
What happens when you experience the world through senses and mind?
Sometimes some sort of happiness seems to rise when a desire gets satisfied! Mind remains silent or dead
and there is a glimpse of the bliss.
From where does this happiness or bliss arise?
It is already there in you as your true nature!
Now and then when the blindness of Seeing and Seen is absent by a Vaasanaa fulfillment, a miniscule
amount happiness is experienced. That happy state is the Self-state.
Happiness is not in the objects experienced by the senses. Happiness is the Self.)

{BLISS OUTSIDE IS THE BLISS OF THE SELF}

7 = q

-
7 = c

c ||

c d( ||

That bliss which is experienced in the state of Seen and Seeing
which shines forth because of the expanded state of the Seen and Seeing,
belongs to the Supreme state of the Self.
The awareness of the bliss which is found in the state of the Seen and Seeing,
is the most excellent; is the essence of the experience.
Therefore it is known as Brahman.

7 =

c7 7 H ||

The bliss which arises at the state of Seen and Seeing is the nature of the Self.
It gives world-existence to the ignorant.
It bestows never-setting liberation to the Knower.

7 =

c

||
7 ==H

H5

||

The Self-realized
experience the bliss glimpsed in the contact of the Seen and the Seeing.
Therefore, the enveloping of the Seen is known as bondage;
freedom from it is known as liberation.


7 =

HH

c=H

If the bliss that arises as related to Seen and Seeing,
is without defects (does not give ill-effects); and does not have the deterioration quality,
then it is called as Liberation.

7 =


7 H

= ||

Taking shelter in the experience of bliss as related to the Seen and Seeing
which is self-expressive; which is independent of the Seen and Seeing;
be the Unborn.


(Withdrawing the mind from the outside world, contemplate on the Self. What happiness you were trying
to attain through sense objects is actually the bliss of the Self which is experienced as if from outside.
Sense pleasures give you countless physical and mental ailments. The happiness does not last for long also.
But when you realize the Self, the bliss is never ending; has no ill effects and never ever disappears.)

7* l c 9
c

||

The deep sleep vision alone shines forth like this.
In this manner alone one reaches the Turyaa state.
This alone is known as Liberation.

{TURYAA STATE}


(As this bliss never ends, it is known as Liberation by the wise. This experience of the bliss shines forth
by itself. When the Knower experiences it without the taint of Seeing and Seen, it is equal to being awake
in deep sleep state. It is known as Turyaa state (Transcendental state).)

7 H

|
7 =

|
c

9cH |
= = |
= |
+

|
9 9 | |
| | c ||

Raaghava!
When one is freed from the binding of the Seen and the Seen
(knows the world as a Vaasanaa projected phenomenon);
when one is endowed with the Supreme Knowledge;
when one is in the conscious state as connected to the Seen and the Seeing
(in the JeevanMukti state);
the Self is-
not gross, nor subtle;
neither direct, nor seen through any other means of knowledge;
not conscious, nor inert;
not existent, nor non-existent;
not I, nor the other;
not one (not numbered), nor many, nor owns many;
not near, nor far;
not is, nor not is;
not to be attained, nor not attained;
not all, nor in all;
not an object, nor not an object;
not made of five elements, nor the five elements;

l 7 9 * =5
cc= l=

7 ||

That which appears as the Seen perceived through the mind and senses
is the state which transcends everything.
It is not anything that is experienced here (by senses).
For the person who has proper vision, the world appears as it is (Self).

(Since the mind paints its own pictures of Vaasanaa fulfillments on the canvas of the Self, the canvas is not
seen at all. Only the pictures colored by the senses are seen by the ignorant. Only the knower can see
through the pictures and be aware of the canvas which is covered by pictures (sense perceptions).)

c cc H
l=5=
c


||

The entire world is the shine of the Self.
There is nothing that is not the Self.
In all the perceptions of hardness, fluidity, quivering, space, and brightness,
Self alone is everything, everywhere in the earth, water, air, sky and fire.

c

H s @ 9=c ||

Rama! The objects have no existence without the Chit.
Therefore know that the statement I am different from the world
is the prattle of the insane.



CHAPTER TEN


*
Vasishta spoke


7*g qc
9 =7=7= ||

With such an understanding by the renouncement of the duality O Raaghava,
the true nature (liberation state) is realized by the Knowers,
like the Chintaamani (wish-fulfilling Gem) attained by the Gods
who have the knowledge of that gem.

7*


7c * l7 ||

Listen to this Supreme instruction Rama, by which
you will realize the state of the Self and have the divine vision.


{SELF ALONE IS THERE}

lc ls
c ||
s+

5l

c c ||
c s c l
s l=7l qc |7 ||
= c

||

I am the sky. I am the Sun.
I am all the quarters.
I am below also.
I am the demons. I am the Gods.
I am the worlds.
I am the light of Moon etc.
I am the darkness.
I am the clouds.
I am the Earth, the ocean etc.
I am the dust.
I am the wind.
I am also the Fire.
I am this entire world.
I am everywhere in all the three worlds.
I am the Self (essence) of all.
Who am I? What is the other?
How can one be two?

Ascertained within in this manner, see the world as the Self.
You will not be humiliated by the happiness and sadness
like a slave.

= s= c s
lc l c H ||

O Taintless one! O Lotus eyed Rama!
When the entire world is only the Self,
what is ones own, what belongs to the other, tell me!

l =7 q

7 = ||

Whatever is attained, be it happiness or be it sadness,
what can exist as different from the Knower of the Self?!
(It is also the Self.)
If the knower is grieved, then he is filled with the world only (not the Self.)






CHAPTER ELEVEN

*
Vasishta spoke


{EGOS}


7 c q s
cc79 H ||

Two types of egos are of Saatvic nature and extremely pure.
They help increase the knowledge of the Self; they bestow liberation;
they lead to the Highest state.


{EITHER THINK SELF IS NOT ALL THIS OR SELF IS ALL}


s

: +s c

9 c=H q

||

I am subtle. I transcend all. This ego is the first one.
I am everything is the other one O Rama!

7=

q
@

= ||

O Taintless one! There is another type of ego.
I am the body.
This ego leads only to suffering and not to a peaceful state.

c cHc @

-= **=c ||

You renounce all these three egos if you want the Supreme state of Brahman.
Whatever state is left back, hold on to that.



CHAPTER TWELVE


*
Vasishta spoke


{THE NATURE OF THE SELF}


+s cs
cc c

9 ||
c

l
(= c cc- ||

Though transcending everything and though the essence of everything,
the Self reveals the world manifesting as the unreal.
See the Self as your own experience.
(not remaining stuck to Scriptures and the Gurus words).

Self is always shining forth.
O Best among Knowers!
Renounce the knot of the heart filled with Vaasanaas.

cc

l
9cHs

||

Self cannot be inferred Rama,
nor can it be explained in words by any knower.
Always, at all times it has to be experienced directly.


(Here, the Sage explains that Self is a state beyond explanation. Whatever definitions he had given for the
Self previously, he out rightly denies them all now. According to him there are no words which can
explain the Principle of Self. Self cannot be understood through any means of knowledge like inference.
Self cannot be understood by studying Upanishads or any other scripture.
As it is everything, how can anything be up to its explanation? How can any reflection explain the mirror?)

l = l=qcq
c c 7 ||

Whatever can be touched here, whatever vibrates, whatever is perceived,
all that is the Self;
the Lord bereft of the Seen and the Seeing.

==

7 ||

The Lord does not exist (like an object).
He does not not exist (not void).
He is neither subtle nor gross;
not even the in-between state between these two.
He is all this.

H

=l c ||

Self alone is the speech produced by the organs of action.
He cannot be described by that speech also.
He is not all these words and meanings thereof.
Rama! Know the Self as faultless.

cc 7
Hc c ||

This is the Self This is not the Self
Such varied definitions were conceived by the Self itself,
in the Self,
by its power to be anything.



{IF SELF ALONE IS THERE, HOW TO ACT IN THE WORLD?}


q cHc H=c

= c ||

Getting rid of both the notions of bondage and liberation,
the wise man should remain silent as the Self,
as if watching a machine doing its work.



{LIBERATION IS A MYTH}


H *

H l -7 ||

There is no liberation which can be had above in the sky,
or in the netherworld or in the earth!
Liberation is just the taintless state of the mind
which rises by the Correct Knowledge.

H c H
H- cc7c ||

By not getting attached to desires and desired objects, when the mind dies by itself,
that alone is called the state of liberation
by the wise ones who have realized the Self.

c9 l
t7 Hc Hs ||

As long as enlightenment has not risen,
till then only a man will strive for liberation devotedly and pathetically
because of foolishness.

9q c ccc
H =U= l

l H ||

When one attains the Supreme knowledge,
when his mind has reverted back to the state of the Self,
the knower will not even strive for ten liberation-states
(other than the Self)!
Why will he go after that one single state of liberation?!


{YOU ARE THE VERY STATE OF LIBERATION!
WHAT IS THERE OTHER THAN YOU?}

Hc =
c= c c ||

Discarding the notions of this is liberation this is bondage
as worthless imaginations of the mind,
be in the state of Supreme renunciation.
Hey Abhava (one who does not come into existence)!
Be (Bhava) that only!



CHAPTER THIRTEEN


{TERMS USED IN SCRIPTURES}


*
Vasishta spoke


{CAN ONE NAME THE WATER-DROPS OF THE OCEAN?}


@

=5
j cc=

||

The Self-ocean shines with the water drops
named variously as
Mind, Intellect, Ego, Vaasanaa, Senses etc.

c-q c

c (- s- l ||

The difference between the mind and the ego are in words, not in reality.
What is known as the mind is the ego.
What is known as the ego is the mind.

H lUH

c- ||

Just like the difference conceived between
the white color of the snow and the snow (in words),
the difference between mind and ego also is wastefully conceived.

=q H
H q l H H ||

Even if one of the two namely mind and ego
perishes,
both perish once for all;
like both whiteness and the cloth get destroyed,
when the cloth is destroyed.

H cHc =@

+ H = ||

Getting rid of the notion of liberation, the notion of bondage,
and the chase after liberation,
one should destroy the mind by developing discrimination and dispassion.

H sc == c

c |

||

I should get liberation
if such a thought rises within,
then instantly mind becomes alive.
If the mind rises up,
mind alone projects itself as the body and gets into troubles.

c= c

s
= H

||

When the Self transcends all, or even pervades all,
what is bondage, what is liberation?
Destroy the agitating thoughts.









CHAPTER FOURTEEN

*
Vasishta spoke

-c |
c =H

||

He is known as a JeevanMukta,
who has renounced all the undertakings (in self-interest);
who has freed himself of all misconceptions;
who has completely annihilated all desires.

* *c

||

Hosts of pleasures and pains are no more there for him;
and he remains without the mental agitations
even in worst hardships brought about by the destiny (Karma-results of the past);
whether he lives in a palace in an excellent city
or in a wide hill or wilderness or in a hermitage.


Janaka ruled the kingdom attending to all his royal duties, yet without the fever of
ignorance and with an un-agitated mind.
Your grandfather Dileepa was engaged in so many enterprises, yet took care of the
kingdom with a dispassionate mind.
Manu ruled the kingdom and took care of the subjects for long, without ever getting
tainted by desires. He was an enlightened JeevanMukta.
Maandhaataa who took part in various types of mighty wars attained the Supreme state
and remained as a king for long.
Bali was the ruler of the nether world. He was in the state of the Self always. He had
renounced everything and was disinterested in all the pleasures of the world.
Namuchi the king of the demons, though fighting the gods always, never was agitated by
the events of his life.
The king of the netherworlds Prahlaada, though attending to his duties as a demon king
attained the never diminishing, indescribable bliss of the Supreme.
{So were Vritra, Shambara and others.
Brihaspati, Shukra, the Trinities all attend to their duties remaining in the knowledge of
their true nature as Self.}



CHAPTER FIFTEEN



Rama spoke

7*ccc

c=

||

Sage! Tell me more about those who have realized the Self while living.
Who can have enough of your speech!

*
Vasishta spoke

=H

s c

||

I have already explained to you the characteristics of a JeevanMukta.
O Mighty armed! Listen again to more of the same.

l

c c
5

H c ||

A JeevanMukta has no desires to strive for;
always sees this world as if unreal and without any interest,
as if remaining in deep sleep.
He is in the Self state everywhere.

=

H
=| 7*g = = ||

The realized man with his mind established in the quiescent state;
with his mind turned towards the Self;
sees the ways of the world as a puppet show,
and laughs!



H * *
c ||

He does not wait for the future events.
He does not get attached to the present.
He never broods on the past.
Yet he does all the actions in the proper manner.

9@

9@

c= l ||

He is asleep (unaffected by the world); yet awake (to the Self state).
He is awake (to the duties of the world); yet asleep (to the fruits of actions).
He performs all actions; yet does nothing within (mind).

*=
lHH
+

l (

||

Though engaged in actions as suited to the place and time,
he does not get affected in the least
by the pleasure or pain arising from the actions.

H

q ||

He ignores the painful states; he does not run after happiness.
Success of an enterprise does not excite him.
Failure of an enterprise does not hurt him.

5

s=

9c s ||

Even if the Sun turns cool,
even if the lunar sphere catches fire,
even if fire burns downwards,
he does not get surprised.

=c H

==c

=c ||

He does not act pathetic and seek compassion (act weak).
nor does he act cruel (with arrogance).
He does not act embarrassed (in doing the right things)
nor does he act shameless (and do wrong actions).

9= j

||

Like the fresh sprouts do not appear in the sky,
anger etc does not rise in his mind
which extends like the taintless autumn sky.

=

=H
H H ||

@

@

*

||

When he has to deal with any one,
this knower with the detached mind,
talks to a devotee about devotion;
is a rascal (cautious) with a rascal;
is a child with children;
acts mature with old men;
acts courageous with the brave;
young (playful) with the youth;
sympathetic with the suffering.

9

=| *c7 ||

The Self- realized one remains
as if his mind is lost in deep sleep;
as if he has reached the fulfillment;
as if moving to and fro in sleep.

(A man who is sleeping is happy; his limbs move now and then, though he is asleep; he is in a highly
satisfying slumber as if he has reached the fulfillment of his life.
A realized man moves his limbs when doing regular actions; his mind is asleep and not bothered about the
outside world; he is happy within in the bliss of the Self.)





CHAPTER SIXTEEN



Rama spoke

9= c =
qd(=dl

lc l ||

What causes the mind to vibrate?
What makes it stop vibrating?
Tell me O Sage, how it should be dealt with.

*
Vasishta spoke

Hl


= * ||
- c= l
= ||

Like the whiteness and snow;
like the oil-seed and oil;
like the fragrance and the flower;
like the heat and the fire;
the mind and vibration are attached to each other.
They both are not different.
The difference between them is a misconception.

cc=H H


c q ||

Between the Mind and its movement,
if one perishes,
both will die as they are connected as the object and its quality.
There is no doubt about it.


q H c 7
qc

l 7 H ||

Raaghava! There are two methods for destroying the mind; Yoga and Knowledge.
Yoga (PRAANAAPAANA NIRODHA) is cessation of thoughts.
Knowledge is the correct vision of the Truth.



CHAPTER SEVENTEEN



Rama spoke

|7H Hc

9=
-= =c=9

||

Through the method of control of Praana and Apaana known as Yoga,
the mind is said to attain the peaceful state which bestows endless bliss.
What sort of practice? How long should it be practiced?

*
Vasishta spoke

s=

s
= *

9 | ||

In this body,
the wind-
which moves around all over, through the nerves in the body,
like water flowing into all movable areas,
-is called Praana.

( q!q! 9 P~c Shrutis)


== lH

| c

||

The wise ones have conceived names like Apaana etc
to differentiate the functions that occur within the body
because of its vibration.

*

H l

c= ||

What is the flower to the fragrance, what is the snow to the whiteness,
Praana similarly is the essence that acts as the support for the Mind
and is identical with it.

=9=c =

c= c @ ||

Raaghava! Because of the vibration of the Praana within the body,
the cognition arises of the nature of conception.
Know that to be the Mind.

9=c=c=
H = =l ||

Vibration of the Praana leads to the Vibration of the Mind;
that vibration again causes the Cognition;
like the waves creating circular patterns because of the vibration of the water.

c 9=

= =

= ||

Those well versed in Scriptures call the Mind as the vibration of the Praana.
If that (Praana) is restrained, the mind will also get subdued.

==c 9|
==

( ||

By the subduing of the mind-vibration, the worldly existence melts off;
as when the sunlight is not there, the activities also become nil.



CHAPTER EIGHTEEN



Rama spoke


9| =

||

How can you stop the all-round vibration of the Praana-winds,
which move out to the outside-sky through the nose, mouth etc,
and which move about in the body-house continuously?

*
Vasishta spoke


{PRAANA-CONTROL METHODS}


= +

c

||
l
cc+c9= 5q ||

The vibration of the Praana can be stopped by-
seeking the company of the noble; study of scriptures; practice of dispassion;
completely renouncing
the attachment towards the previously enacted affairs of the world;
by practicing meditation for long on whatever one is interested in and
developing single-minded concentration;
by the intense practice of contemplation of the Self.


l

7+
=c9= 5q ||

The Praana-vibration can be stopped by
the intense practice of
Praanaayaama methods like Pooraka etc with ease and without strain;
and the practice of meditation in solitude.

-9==cc

9= 5q ||

The Praana-vibration can be stopped by
experiencing the sound-principle (Transcending state of Turyaa)
in the sound of the loudly recited Pranava;
and attaining the state of the cognition
as if in deep sleep (complete cessation of outside perceptions).

+

=cj= 9= 5q ||

The Praana-vibration can be stopped by
regularly practicing Rechaka,
where the Praana goes to the outer sky and
does not contact the pores of the nose.

9 9= 9= 5q ||

The Praana-vibration can be stopped by
regularly practicing Pooraka
where the Praanas filling the inside are
like fat clouds (filled with water) sitting on the hill-top (still and unmoving);
and the movement of the Praanas are quietened.

-

c= *
+c 9 9= 5q ||

The Praana-vibration can be stopped
when the Praanas are stilled within by practice of Kumbhaka.
Then the Time remains endless as if trapped in a pot.



(1~ 9 9 Patanjali Yoga Shaastra
After the Aasana has been perfected, stretching of the outward air is Shvaasa (inhalation); expelling the air
out of the lungs Prashvaasa (exhaling); when their flows are cut off i.e., when both flows are stopped, it is
called Praanaayaama.)

([+~1+c

E T | - Patanjali Yoga Shaastra

Prashvaasa-practice is Baahya External
Shvaasa-Practice is Abhyantara-Internal
StambhaVritti is holding it still the absence of both inhalation and exhalation; is possible through intense
practice; the water thrown on the hot stone dries up simultaneously from all around; similarly the two
processes are stopped simultaneously;
All these three processes along with place, time and number (Desha/Kaala/Sankhyaa) must be regulated for a
long time.
Desha- outside movements of even minute movements as that of cotton, internal movements as that of
navel etc
Kaala- moment-measure
Samkhyaa (Number) is the count of Shvaasa and Prashvaasa; mild or middle or intense

Such a practice leads to Praana-flow becoming subtle and long (Sookshma and Deergha) like a slowly
stretched lotus-stalk.

When the Praanas are stilled within by practice includes all the four stages of the practice

[+~ Patanjali; by mastering the first two processes, the Praanaas get arrested
through opposite actions
9 Patanjali; then the covering of the light gets removed
and the mind becomes qualified to concentrate
9c J |! =1 Bhaashya; there is no greater penance than
Praanaayaama which leads to the cleansing of all taints, which results in the rise of knowledge.)

c=(H-
= 9 9= 5q ||

The Praana-vibration can be stopped
when the Praana moves to the hole above
by the tongue crossing over to the soft palate (uvula)
at the root of the palate
with effort.

(Uvula -a small fleshy "V"-shaped extension of the soft palate that hangs above the tongue at the entrance
to the throat)
(~ 1 + ~5 Indra-yoni- means when the tongue touches the
soft palate, it is elongated and looks like a breast)
(Prolonged practice under a knowers guidance is necessary for all Yoga practices; the Praana in this case
enters the Brahma-Randhra at the top of the head and is made to stay there (Nabho-Dhaarana); Death can be
conquered through this practice according to Skanda)


=H

l==

cl | 9= 5q ||

The Praana-vibration can be stopped when
through meditation,
all the agitations are completely destroyed
and the mind is absorbed in the subtle indefinable state.
(Nirvikalpa Samaadhi)

qj

=
7 9-=c 9= 5q ||

The Praana-vibration can be stopped
when the cognizing mind is restrained within the twelve inch of the taintless space
at the end of the nose.

+

q=
9 c 9=

5q ||

The Praana-vibration can be stopped
when the Praana remains dissolved in the space of the Brahma-Randhra
by making it flow above the palate through the hole above,
by intense practice.

+

==

@ 9=

5q ||

The Praana-vibration can be stopped
when the gaze is fixed unmoving in-between the eyebrows
and the intellect is absorbed in the Self.

lc |

7 7
* 9= 5q ||

The Praana-vibration can be stopped
when one is intensely analyzing about the Truth,
and the knowledge suddenly bursts forth,
with all the faults of the mind completely annihilated.

( ==

=c9= 5q ||

O Good one! The Praana-vibration can be stopped by
the realization of the subtle blissful space (Self)
through the contemplation in the mind which is bereft of Vaasanaas.




CHAPTER NINETEEN



Rama spoke

d(

( c

=c9- ||

Sage! What is known as the Heart in these beings of the world,
in which all this perceived phenomenon gets reflected as in a huge mirror?

*
Vasishta spoke


{HRIDAYAM-HEART}

( q

s

||

O Good one!
In this world, the heart of these beings is said to be of two types.
One is to be accepted; the other is to be rejected.

c = qHs=
@ @ ||


Know that as the rejected (ordinary) heart
which is situated in one corner of the body;
which is inside the chest-region;
in the so-called division of the gross body.

=

= ( ( = ||

Consciousness alone is known as the Heart which has to be accepted (as real).
It is inside and outside. It is not inside also and not outside also.
(Manifests as all; yet is the Unmanifest)

c

9 (
c ||

That alone is the principal heart.
In That only, this exists.
That alone is the mirror which reflects all the objects.
That is the chest of all treasures.

(1~q

~ Shruti)

=

| ||

For all beings, Consciousness alone is said to be the Heart;
not the limb acting as a part of the body,
which is like an inert rotting stone.

c= q@

( (:
= c 9= 5 ||

Therefore, if the mind is forced towards the pure heart which is consciousness in essence,
all Vaasanaas get destroyed
and the Praana-vibration is made to stop.

: H=
H 9= 5 ||

The Praana-vibration can be stopped by these methods mentioned so far,
and other methods invented by many others;
and taught by many other teachers.

+ H

= ||

These Yoga methods are to be practiced for long to avoid any harm,
and will act as a means to break down the worldly existence and reach the Highest state.

(One cannot hurry through these Yoga practices as they may lead to illnesses or other bodily damages.
Patience is very necessary for these practices to become fruitful. Prolonged practice under a proper guide
alone can lead towards the required goal.)

+7
9

||

The Praana-control will become fruitful,
when the practice is very intense characterized by dispassion,
and as per the Vaasanaa-content of the person.

(If worldly Vaasanaas are there, one has to get rid of them through these Yogic practices one by one as they
arise. If Vaasanaas are gone, then the maintaining of Liberation-Vaasanaa will lead towards the goal as
willed. But if dispassion is not perfected along with the Yoga practices, liberation will not be possible.
Anyhow it is a prolonged struggle and the practice has to be perfected well before results can be expected.
Arrogance or ego in a Yogi will lead to his downfall and end up in contradictory results. )


+

qj

+- 9

| ||

In the Yogic practices connected to the eye-brow, palate, twelve inch boundary etc,
the Praana gets controlled by prolonged practice,
like a mountain river reaches its end far away at a long distance.

(Each variety of Yoga practice leads to different levels of control according to Patanjali.
Concentration levels also vary. Results also vary according to the persons capability.)


+=(9=

9 c ||

Only when one learns to touch the soft palate with his tongue
by practicing again and again
that the Praana can be made to move upwards (to Brahma Randhra).

c

9=c ||

Though these practices contain many hardships and apprehensions,
through practice, they can be overcome,
and one is led towards the quiescent state
where there rise no more agitations.

c c=

+ =c+= ||

The Yogi who has perfected the practice gradually
gets absorbed in the Self;
is freed of all sufferings;
and experiences the inner bliss.
This is possible only through intense practice and not otherwise.
So if you desire to follow these methods,
be regular in practice.

+ = 9 H
9 * ||

If by thorough practice,
the all-round vibrations of Praanaas are stopped,
then the mind also gets subdued
and only the state of liberation (Self-state) remains left back.











CHAPTER TWENTY


*
Vasishta spoke


{MIND-CONTROL LEADS TO PRAANA-CONTROL}


= H
9 (

||

Birth is forced by Vaasanaas.
Mind freed of Vaasanaas is liberation.
It (Mind) holds on to the Praana (to fulfill the Vaasanaas), Rama.
You now choose the method you like to follow.

9= + c

+
= | =

||

The vibration of the Praana is the form of the mind.
That is why the delusion of the perceived world is there.
If that (Mind) gets controlled,
the fever of the delusion namely the mundane existence can be cured.

H== *
= = ||

c
= 7 ||

By the destruction of all agitations,
there remains only the Self-state for the aspirant,
the state from which words which arise with so many meanings and descriptions
return unable to describe it;

where everything (all this perceived phenomenon) is;
from which everything arises;
which is everything;
what rises from everywhere;
(World depends on and is supported by Brahman)

where this (perceived phenomenon) is not there;
(not as a support of Brahman)

from which this does not arise;
(not willfully desired by Brahman)

what is not this and not this type of world.
(Brahman and the world are in no way comparable)

cqcq

c=

c
7 7* 7*= l ||

There is nothing whatsoever that is seen as a comparable object to the Self
which is without any qualities;
as all objects perish; change; and have qualities.

c ==
=7 =H

||

That wise one
who holds on to that state which is the boundary for all experiences;
who is of a stable intellect;
who has realized the Self;
is known as a JeevanMukta.













CHAPTER TWENTY ONE



Rama spoke

H

c +
-7 c9

||

You have explained O Lord,
the quiescence of the mind
that is to be achieved by the one who practices the Yoga method.
Be kind and tell me now
about the method of achieving proper knowledge (the other method).

(q d c1 =
Two methods are there for killing the mind, O Rama; Yoga and Knowledge. Sage Vasishta)


*
Vasishta spoke

q=c c q
c -7

||

There is only the Supreme Self here
who shines forth as this appearance, without beginning or end
This one complete affirmative understanding
is known as Proper Knowledge by the wise.

jH
c = H ||

All the hundreds of objects that keep appearing one after the other,
as these various shapes seen as pots and clothes,
are nothing but the Self.
This ascertained understanding is Proper Knowledge.

== H H
-5=

| H ||

Improper understanding leads to birth (and death).
Proper understanding leads to liberation.
Does not the snake seen in the rope through improper understanding,
vanish through proper understanding!?

7

c ||

Sufferings untold,
devour the fool who is obsessed with desires;
who is not given to enquiry;
and who is ignorant;
like the crane devouring the fish fallen outside the water.

c q

7**+

||

The entire world is nothing but the Self.
There is no Absence of Knowledge anywhere.
With this perfect understanding, be stabilized in the Self-state.




















CHAPTER TWENTY TWO


*
Vasishta spoke

= =9 l

j ||

Dear Prince!
When my instructions are comprehended within properly,
a man of discrimination will never ever have any desire for the pleasures,
even if they appear in front of him.

H

|| H 5

Eyes are there for seeing only.
Jeeva is there to experience pleasures and pains.
The bull is there only to carry the load.
The owner of the load alone is the enjoyer.

(Why should the owner suffer as if he is carrying the load himself? Why should he identify with the bull?
Why should the embodied Self identify with the eyes and suffer pains and pleasures by seeing the shapes?)


+ H l
H ||

If the two eyes are absorbed in the shapes,
what agitation should be there for the embodied Self?
If the donkey is wallowing in the wet soil,
what harm is there for the washer-man?

+ =
c = = l ||

Hey lowly wretch of an eye!
Do not taste the shape-filth.
It will vanish in a second and torment you also.

t lH ss-

| 97 H

||

The sharp-eyed wise man (in the witness state)
gets bound to those types of actions,
as the Self
by which the outside objects get revealed,
by which the non-self (objects) gets connected with.


(+ E E; 1 c
A wise man who has known the Truth with the sharp intellect, sees the shapes as revealed by the Self;
connects to objects as the projections of the Self; is in the witness state; performs actions that fall to his lot
without getting affected by them; whereas the ignorant perform actions chasing the taste of the dirty mire of
shapes.)

Hcc +c *
c l 9 ||

Hey Eye!
The form is actually in the Self.
Your looking is constricted by time.
Why do you suffer alone (unconnected to the Self)?
You be like the witness.

(Self alone projects as all forms through the mind.
Eye is dependent on the Self and can see only when the mind acts.
If the eye remains only as the witness, not affected by the appearances seen in the outside world, then it
remains as the source of all forms whatsoever are there, and stops suffering.)

=7*: -c
=

c l ||

The sight is like the quivering of waters (varied and different);
rises in the sky like the feathers
(non-existing shapes seen because of the infection of ignorance);
shines forth qualified as good and bad
(conceived as cow, or a woman or a horse and so on).

Why did you come here (suffering like this) O Mind?


(So many odd shapes rise in front of the eyes in various formations. They are just continuously changing
formations of elements and are like the quivering seen on the water surface, varied and different.
The mind immediately starts conceiving different names for these shapes; qualifies them as good and bad;
as liked and disliked.
Why O Mind, why do you start coloring these meaningless shapes seen by the inert organ of the eye and
suffer unnecessarily?)


{KILL THE MIND}


c==5 9
q

= ||

For all beings,
mind alone is the agent acting through the senses.
Therefore,
mind alone should be attacked and thrown out,
like throwing the devil out of the temple.

c c 7*s=
q=

c ||

Mind!
You are jumping around as a false entity.
I have seen your end.
You are not at all there (like the barren womans son) in the beginning or end.
You will perish now also.

* c
9c

c c

||

cc c += c

c7 9 ||

Hey Mind!
Stay or go!
You are not there for me (as real)!
You will not be alive any more!
You are already dead by your own nature (false entity)!
By enquiry of the Truth, you are fully dead (being unreal).
You are a false principle.
You are inert.
You are deluded.
You are a rogue.
You are always dying.
You are foolish.
A man of enquiry will not be affected by you who are ignorant.

c

l cq
c c= *-c ||

The mind is dead indeed. It is not there at all.
This truth has been understood by me.
Therefore I will stop worrying about you and just remain in the Self.

c= c

- ||

Possessed by this mind-ghost, I have for long done many stupid things.
I remember now and laugh at them in amusement.

9= c
l*g |

* ||

If by good fortune,
the mind-ghost has been subdued, and the sacred state is attained,
then I will live happily in my body-city.

s H
= * ||

The mind is dead. The anxiety is dead.
The Ego-demon is dead by the sacred chant of enquiry.
Composed and resting in the Self, I will remain just as myself.

l s
l*g * ||

What is mind to me? What desire is there for me? Who is there to rise as the I?
By good fortune,
this entire wasteful family containing all these members is completely destroyed.




{SALUTATION TO THE SELF}

c

c c
t ( ||

Salutation to myself only,
who is known as the Chit without any perturbations;
who is one;
who is completely satisfied;
who is eternal;
who is the untainted Self.

s s
=s ( ||

There is no sadness.
There is no delusion.
I am not the (limited) I.
I am I by myself.
I am not the non-I.
I am not any other.
Salutation to myself only!

( ||

I have no desire.
I have no actions to be performed.
I have no worldly existence.
There is no doer ship for me.
I have no enjoyer-ship.
I do not have a body.
Salutation to myself only!

c s=
( ||

I am not the Self.
I am not any one.
I am not the I, nor anyone.
I am all.
Salutation to myself only, who is this!

9l=

||

I salute the Lord of all,
who is with all thoughts of the mind subsided;
is equally happy all around;
is projecting as the world, yet infinite;
is unborn and not aging by nature;
and who transcends all the Gunas.



CHAPTER TWENTY THREE


*
Vasishta spoke


{GOAL IS SELF-REALIZATION; PATH IS ENQUIRY}


q=

cc| 7 c c ||

After analyzing, after understanding that The Self alone is to be known,
the enquiry again continues like this, by the great knowers,
O Mighty-armed Rama.


{MIND IS DEAD WHEN SELF IS KNOWN}

c l c c
c cc

||

How can the mind,
which has understood that,
Self alone is everything and has erased the reality of the world,
rise up as the mind?
Aha! That mind is non-existent!

t + = c
H+= = ||

When the instability due to delusion and ignorance is subdued,
we do not find the mind at all;
as when the rotating wheel stops,
one does not feel that he is slipping down the mountain anymore.

l c c d( c
ccc = ||

Therefore,
the mind is not there at all. Brahman alone is there as the true essence.
The ideas of objects rise from the mind. They are also not real.
They are discarded by me.


{I AM THE SELF}

s = s =
* * ||

Now I am free of all doubts.
I now remain without the fever of the perceived world.
I will remain as I remain (Self) without any wants.

c *

9H =
c=9@

||

Mind is dead.
Thirst for pleasures is gone.
The cage of delusion has vanished.
The ego less state has been reached.
I have woken up (from the sleep of ignorance)
and am fully awake (enlightened).

c

| -lc ||

Let the mind be there; or let it die; or continue to exist.
What use is there of analyzing all this?
I am the Self which has been shining for long.


{THERE IS NO MORE ENQUIRY OR THE ENQUIRER}

t
H ||

Without doing enquiry I was ignorant and existed with limitations (as the body).
Because of enquiry, I am limitless (as the Self).
Who was I who was enquiring?


{ANY THOUGHT WILL ONLY MAKE THE MIND ALIVE}

s
cc

||

Even though the mind is dead, these types of thoughts are just wasted.
Why should such thoughts (who was enquiring; what happened to him?)
rise again making the mind-ghost appear again?


{SILENCE SUPREME}

9-=:
| =c *-c ||

I will renounce those thoughts also within;
and deciding them to be just meaningless conceptions,
I will recite Om; be in the quiescent state; remain in the Self; silent.

=5 lc ||

7**+
c- ||

In the past, such an enquiry was done
by the wise Samvarta (Brihaspatis brother).
That realized Sage told me this himself,
when we met at the Vindhya Mountain.

Developing similar understanding,
with an intellect given to the supreme enquiry,
cross over this ocean of Samsaara,
step by step.




PART NINE 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.