93. Chapter 93

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । इति मे भगवता पूर्वमुक्तं तदेतदद्य तुभ्यं कथितम् ॥ १ ॥

śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | iti me bhagavatā pūrvamuktaṃ tadetadadya tubhyaṃ kathitam || 1 ||

Vasishtha said:—I will now tell you Rama! What I was instructed of yore by lord Brahma himself.

तस्मादनाख्यानाद्ब्रह्मणः सर्वतः सर्वमनाख्यानमुत्पद्यते स्वयमेव तद्धनतां प्राप्य मनः संपद्यते ॥ २ ॥

tasmādanākhyānādbrahmaṇaḥ sarvataḥ sarvamanākhyānamutpadyate svayameva taddhanatāṃ prāpya manaḥ saṃpadyate || 2 ||

From the unspeakable Brahma, there sprang all things in their undefinable ideal state, and then the Spirit of God being condensed by His Will, it came to be produced of itself in the form of the Mind.

तन्मनस्तन्मात्रकल्पनपूर्वकसन्निवेशं भवति ततस्तैजसः पुरुषः संपद्यते सोऽयं ब्रह्मेत्यात्मनि नाम कृतवान् ॥ ३ ॥

tanmanastanmātrakalpanapūrvakasanniveśaṃ bhavati tatastaijasaḥ puruṣaḥ saṃpadyate so'yaṃ brahmetyātmani nāma kṛtavān || 3 ||

The Mind formed the notions of the subtile elementary principles in itself, and became a personal agent (with its power of volition or creative will). The same became a luminous body and was known as Brahma the first Male.

तेन राम योऽयं परमेष्ठी तन्मनस्तत्त्वं विद्धि ॥ ४ ॥

tena rāma yo'yaṃ parameṣṭhī tanmanastattvaṃ viddhi || 4 ||

Therefore know Rama, this same Brahma to be the Parameshthi or situated in the Supreme, and being a personification of the Will of God, is called the Mind.

समनस्तत्त्वाकारो भगवानब्रह्मा संकल्पमयत्वाद्यदेव संकल्पयति तदेव पश्यति ॥ ५ ॥

samanastattvākāro bhagavānabrahmā saṃkalpamayatvādyadeva saṃkalpayati tadeva paśyati || 5 ||

The Mind therefore known as the Lord Brahma, is a form of the Divine essence, and being full of desires in itself, sees all its wills (in their ideal forms), present before it.

ततस्तेनेयमविद्या परिकल्पिता अनात्मन्यात्माभिमानमयीति तेन ब्रह्मणा गिरितृणजलधिमयमिदं क्रमेण जगत्परिकल्पितम् ॥ ६ ॥

tatasteneyamavidyā parikalpitā anātmanyātmābhimānamayīti tena brahmaṇā giritṛṇajaladhimayamidaṃ krameṇa jagatparikalpitam || 6 ||

The mind then framed or fell of itself, into the delusion (avidya), of viewing its ideal images as substantial (as one does in his delirium); and thence the phenomenal world (with whatever it contains), is said to be the work of Brahma.

इत्थं क्रमेण ब्रह्मतत्त्वादियमागता सृष्टिरन्यत एवागतेयमिति लक्ष्यते ॥ ७ ॥

itthaṃ krameṇa brahmatattvādiyamāgatā sṛṣṭiranyata evāgateyamiti lakṣyate || 7 ||

Thus the world proceeding in this order from the Supreme essence, is supposed by some to have come into being from another source, of dull material particles.

तस्मात्सर्वपदार्थानां त्रैलोक्योदरवर्तिनाम् । उत्पत्तिर्ब्रह्मणो राम तरङ्गाणामिवार्णवात् ॥ ८ ॥

tasmātsarvapadārthānāṃ trailokyodaravartinām | utpattirbrahmaṇo rāma taraṅgāṇāmivārṇavāt || 8 ||

It is from that Brahma, O Rama! that, all things situated in this concave world, have come to being, in the manner of waves rising on the surface of the deep.

य एवमनुत्पन्ने जगति या ब्रह्मणश्चिन्मनोरूपिणी साहंकारे परिकल्प्य ब्रह्म ब्रह्मतामेति ॥ ९ ॥

ya evamanutpanne jagati yā brahmaṇaścinmanorūpiṇī sāhaṃkāre parikalpya brahma brahmatāmeti || 9 ||

The self existent Brahma that existed in the form of intellect (chit) before creation, the same assumed the attribute of egoism (ahamkara) afterwards, and became manifest in the person of Brahma.

यास्त्वन्याश्चिच्छक्तयः सर्वशक्तेरभिन्ना एव कल्प्यन्ते ॥ १० ॥

yāstvanyāścicchaktayaḥ sarvaśakterabhinnā eva kalpyante || 10 ||

All the other powers of the Intellect, which were concentrated in the personality of the Ego, were tantamount to those of Omnipotence. (The impersonal Intellect and the personal Ego or Brahma, are both of them equally powerful).[10]

जगति स्फारतां नीते पितामहरूपेण मनसा समुल्लसन्ति ॥ ११ ॥

jagati sphāratāṃ nīte pitāmaharūpeṇa manasā samullasanti || 11 ||

The world being evolved from the eternal ideas in the Divine Intellect, manifested itself in the mind of the great father of all—Brahma. (Intellectus noster nihil intelligit sine phantasmata); it is the mind which moves and modifies them, and is the Intelligence (logos-Word) of the One, and the manifestation of its power.

एते सहस्रशोऽपि परिवर्तमानजीवा उच्यन्ते ॥ १२ ॥

ete sahasraśo'pi parivartamānajīvā ucyante || 12 ||

The Mind thus moving and modeling all things is called the Jiva living soul or Nous. (The Scholiast says:—The Mind is the genus—Samashti, the soul is an individual name.

तेऽभ्युत्थिता एव चिन्नभसो नभसि तन्मात्रैरावलिता गगनपवनान्तर्वर्तिनश्चतुर्दशविधा ये भूतजातमध्यतयाभ्यासे तिष्ठन्ति तस्या एव प्राणशक्तिद्वारेण प्रविश्य शरीरं स्थावरं जंगमं वापि बीजतां गच्छन्ति ॥ १३ ॥

te'bhyutthitā eva cinnabhaso nabhasi tanmātrairāvalitā gaganapavanāntarvartinaścaturdaśavidhā ye bhūtajātamadhyatayābhyāse tiṣṭhanti tasyā eva prāṇaśaktidvāreṇa praviśya śarīraṃ sthāvaraṃ jaṃgamaṃ vāpi bījatāṃ gacchanti || 13 ||

These living souls rise and move about in the vacuous sphere of the infinite Intellect (chidakasa). These are unfolded by the elementary particles of matter, and pass in the open space surrounded by air. They then reside in the fourteen kinds of animated nature, according to the merit and demerit of their prior acts. They enter the bodies through the passage of their vital breath, and become the seeds of moving and immovable beings.

तदनु योनितो जगति जायन्ते तदनु काकतालीययोगेनोत्पन्नवासनाप्रवाहानुरूपकर्मफलभागिनो भवन्ति ॥ १४ ॥

tadanu yonito jagati jāyante tadanu kākatālīyayogenotpannavāsanāpravāhānurūpakarmaphalabhāgino bhavanti || 14 ||

They are then born of the generative organ (foetus), and are met on a sudden by the desires of their previous births (which lay waiting on them). Thus led on by the current of their wishes, they live to reap the reward or retribution of their good or bad acts in the world.

ततः कर्मरज्जुभिर्वासनावलिताभिर्बद्धशरीरा भ्रमन्तः प्रोत्पतन्ति च ॥ १५ ॥

tataḥ karmarajjubhirvāsanāvalitābhirbaddhaśarīrā bhramantaḥ protpatanti ca || 15 ||

Thus bound fast to action and fettered in the meshes of desire, the living souls enchained in their bodies, continue to rove about or rise and fall in this changeful world by turns.

इच्छैवैता भूतजातयः ॥ १६ ॥

icchaivaitā bhūtajātayaḥ || 16 ||

Their wish is the cause of their weal or woe, says the Sruti; and which is inseparable from the soul as volition from the mind.

काश्चिज्जनसहस्रान्ताः पतन्ति वनपर्णवत् । कर्मवात्या परिभ्रान्ता लुठन्ति गिरिकुक्षिषु ॥ १७ ॥

kāścijjanasahasrāntāḥ patanti vanaparṇavat | karmavātyā paribhrāntā luṭhanti girikukṣiṣu || 17 ||

Thousands of living souls, are falling off as fast as the leaves of forest trees; and being borne away by the force of their pursuits, they are rolling about as the fallen leaves wafted by the breeze in the valleys.

अप्रमेयभवाः काश्चिच्चित्सत्ताज्ञानमोहिताः । चिरजाता भवन्तीह बहुकल्पशतान्यपि ॥ १८ ॥

aprameyabhavāḥ kāściccitsattājñānamohitāḥ | cirajātā bhavantīha bahukalpaśatānyapi || 18 ||

Many are brought down and bound to innumerable births in this earth, by their ignorance of the Chit or Divine Intellect, and are subjected to interminable transmigrations in various births.

काश्चित्कतिपयातीता मनोरमभवान्तराः । विहरन्ति जगत्यस्मिन्शुभकर्मपरायणाः ॥ १९ ॥

kāścitkatipayātītā manoramabhavāntarāḥ | viharanti jagatyasminśubhakarmaparāyaṇāḥ || 19 ||

There are some who having passed many mean births in this earth, have now risen high in the scale of beings, by their devotedness to better acts.

काश्चिद्विज्ञातविज्ञानाः परमेव पदं गताः । वातोद्भूताः पयोमध्यं सामुद्रा इव बिन्दवः ॥ २० ॥

kāścidvijñātavijñānāḥ parameva padaṃ gatāḥ | vātodbhūtāḥ payomadhyaṃ sāmudrā iva bindavaḥ || 20 ||

Same persons acquainted with spirituality, have reached their state of perfection; and have gone to heaven, like particles of sea-water, carried into the air above by the blowing winds.

उत्पत्तिः सर्वजीवानामितीह ब्रह्मणः पदात् । आविर्भावतिरोभावभङ्गुरा भवभाविनी ॥ २१ ॥

utpattiḥ sarvajīvānāmitīha brahmaṇaḥ padāt | āvirbhāvatirobhāvabhaṅgurā bhavabhāvinī || 21 ||

The production of all beings is from the Supreme Brahma; but their appearance and disappearance in this frail world, are caused by their own actions. Hence the actionless yogi, is free from both these states.

वासनाविषवैषम्यवैधुर्यज्वरधारिणी । अनन्तसंकटानर्थकार्यसत्कारकारिणी ॥ २२ ॥

vāsanāviṣavaiṣamyavaidhuryajvaradhāriṇī | anantasaṃkaṭānarthakāryasatkārakāriṇī || 22 ||

Our desires are poisonous plants, bearing the fruits of pain and disappointment; and lead us to actions which are fraught with dangers and difficulties.

नानादिग्देशकालान्तशैलकन्दरचारिणी । रचितोत्तमवैचित्र्यविहिताऽऽसंभ्रमाऽसती ॥ २३ ॥

nānādigdeśakālāntaśailakandaracāriṇī | racitottamavaicitryavihitā''saṃbhramā'satī || 23 ||

These desires drive us to different countries, to distant hills and dales in search of gain.

एषा जगज्जाङ्गलजीर्णवल्ली सम्यक्समालोककुठारकृत्ता । वल्लीव विक्षुब्धमनःशरीरा भूयो न संरोहति रामभद्र ॥ २४ ॥

eṣā jagajjāṅgalajīrṇavallī samyaksamālokakuṭhārakṛttā | vallīva vikṣubdhamanaḥśarīrā bhūyo na saṃrohati rāmabhadra || 24 ||

This world O Rama! is a jungle of withered trees and brambles; and requires the axe of reason to clear away these drugs and bushes. So are our minds and bodies but plants and trees of our woe, which being rooted out by the axe of reason, will no more come to grow by their transmigration in this earth.