34. Chapter 34

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । अत्र ते श्रृणु वक्ष्यामि दामादिषु गतेष्वथ । यद्वृत्तं शम्बरस्यैव नगरे नगसंनिभे ॥ १ ॥

śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | atra te śrṛṇu vakṣyāmi dāmādiṣu gateṣvatha | yadvṛttaṃ śambarasyaiva nagare nagasaṃnibhe || 1 ||

Vasishtha continued:—Now, hear me relate to you, what Sambara did after the flight of Dama and his train;and how he remained in his rocky stronghold in the infernal region.

तथा गगनविभ्रष्टे समस्ते ध्वस्तसंस्थितौ । विनष्टे शम्बरानीके शरदीवाब्दमण्डले ॥ २ ॥

tathā gaganavibhraṣṭe samaste dhvastasaṃsthitau | vinaṣṭe śambarānīke śaradīvābdamaṇḍale || 2 ||

After the complete overthrow of the whole army of Sambara, and their downfall from heaven like innumerable rain-drops, falling from an over-spreading cloud, and afterwards dispersing itself and disappearing in autumn:—

देवनिर्जितसैन्योऽसौ नीत्वा कतिपयाः समाः । पुनर्देववधोयुक्तश्चिन्तयामास दानवः ॥ ३ ॥

devanirjitasainyo'sau nītvā katipayāḥ samāḥ | punardevavadhoyuktaścintayāmāsa dānavaḥ || 3 ||

Sambara remained motionless for many years in his strong citadel, at the loss of his forces defeated by the gods; and then thought within himself, about the best means of overcoming the celestials.

दामादयस्तु रचिता ये मया माययाऽसुराः । मौर्ख्यातैर्भाविता युद्धे मिथ्यैव दुरहंकृतिः ॥ ४ ॥

dāmādayastu racitā ye mayā māyayā'surāḥ | maurkhyātairbhāvitā yuddhe mithyaiva durahaṃkṛtiḥ || 4 ||

He said, "the demons Dama and others, that I produced by my black-art of exorcism, are all overthrown in battle, by their foolishness and vanity of pride and egotism.

इदानीं संसृजाम्यन्यान्दानवान्माययोदितान् । तानप्यध्यात्मशास्त्रज्ञान्सविवेकान्करोम्यहम् ॥ ५ ॥

idānīṃ saṃsṛjāmyanyāndānavānmāyayoditān | tānapyadhyātmaśāstrajñānsavivekānkaromyaham || 5 ||

"I will now produce some other demons by the power of my charm, and endue them both with the power of reason and acquaintance with spiritual science, in order that they may know and judge for themselves.

ततस्तत्त्वपरिज्ञानान्मिथ्याभावनयोज्झिताः । नाहंकारं प्रयास्यन्ति विजेष्यन्ति च तान्सुरान् ॥ ६ ॥

tatastattvaparijñānānmithyābhāvanayojjhitāḥ | nāhaṃkāraṃ prayāsyanti vijeṣyanti ca tānsurān || 6 ||

"These then being acquainted with the true nature of things, and devoid of false views, will not be subject to pride or vanity, but be able to vanquish the deities in combat".

इति संचिन्त्य दैत्येन्द्रस्तादृशान्दानवान्धिया । माययोत्पादयामास बुद्बुदानिव वारिधिः ॥ ७ ॥

iti saṃcintya daityendrastādṛśāndānavāndhiyā | māyayotpādayāmāsa budbudāniva vāridhiḥ || 7 ||

Thinking so in himself, the arch-fiend produced a host of good demons by his skill in sorcery; and these creatures of his spell filled the space of the sky, as bubbles foam and float on the surface of the sea.

सर्वज्ञा वेद्यवेत्तारो वीतरागा गतैनसः । यथाप्राप्तैककर्तारो भावितात्मान उत्तमाः ॥ ८ ॥

sarvajñā vedyavettāro vītarāgā gatainasaḥ | yathāprāptaikakartāro bhāvitātmāna uttamāḥ || 8 ||

They were all knowing and acquainted with the knowables; they were all dispassionate and sinless, and solely intent on their allotted duties, with composed minds and good dispositions.

भीमो भासो दृढ इति नामभिः परिलाञ्छिताः । जगत्तृणमिवाशेषं पश्यन्तः पावनाशयाः ॥ ९ ॥

bhīmo bhāso dṛḍha iti nāmabhiḥ parilāñchitāḥ | jagattṛṇamivāśeṣaṃ paśyantaḥ pāvanāśayāḥ || 9 ||

They were known under the different names of Bhima, Bhasa and Dridha;and they looked upon all earthly things as straws, by the holiness of their hearts.

ते दैत्या भुवनं प्राप्य च्छादयामासुरम्बरम् । गर्जन्तो हेतितडितः प्रावृषीव पयोधराः ॥ १० ॥

te daityā bhuvanaṃ prāpya cchādayāmāsurambaram | garjanto hetitaḍitaḥ prāvṛṣīva payodharāḥ || 10 ||

These infernal spirits burst out of the ether and sprang up to the upper world, and then spread over the face of the sky as a flight of locusts. They cracked as guns, and roared and rolled about as the clouds of the rainy season.

अयुध्यन्त समं देवैरपि वर्षगणान्बहून् । विवेकवशतो जग्मुर्नाहंकारं कदाचन ॥ ११ ॥

ayudhyanta samaṃ devairapi varṣagaṇānbahūn | vivekavaśato jagmurnāhaṃkāraṃ kadācana || 11 ||

They fought with the gods for many cycles of years, and yet they were not elated with pride, owing to their being under the guidance of reason and judgement.

तेषां यावदुदेत्यन्तर्ममेदमिति वासना । तावत्कोऽयमहं चेति विचाराद्यात्यसत्यताम् ॥ १२ ॥

teṣāṃ yāvadudetyantarmamedamiti vāsanā | tāvatko'yamahaṃ ceti vicārādyātyasatyatām || 12 ||

For until they were to have the desire of having anything, and thinking it as "this is my own", so long were they insensible of their personal existence, such as "this is I, and that one is another";and consequently invincible by any.

असच्छरीरं विबुधाः कोऽसावहमिति स्थितिः । विचारादित्थमेतेषां प्रोदगुर्न भयादयः ॥ १३ ॥

asaccharīraṃ vibudhāḥ ko'sāvahamiti sthitiḥ | vicārāditthameteṣāṃ prodagurna bhayādayaḥ || 13 ||

They were fearless in fighting with the gods, from the knowledge of their being equally mortal as themselves; and from their want of the knowledge of any difference subsisting between one another.

असच्छरीरं नास्तीदं चिच्छुद्धैवात्मनि स्थिता । अहं नाम न चान्योऽस्ति निश्चित्यैवासुरा ययुः ॥ १४ ॥

asaccharīraṃ nāstīdaṃ cicchuddhaivātmani sthitā | ahaṃ nāma na cānyo'sti niścityaivāsurā yayuḥ || 14 ||

They rushed out with a firm conviction that, the unsubstantial body is nothing, and the intellect is lodged in the pure soul; and that there is nothing which we call as I or another.

ततस्तैर्निरहंकारैर्जरामरणनिर्भयैः । प्राप्तार्थकारिभिर्धीरैर्वर्तमानानुसारिभिः ॥ १५ ॥

tatastairnirahaṃkārairjarāmaraṇanirbhayaiḥ | prāptārthakāribhirdhīrairvartamānānusāribhiḥ || 15 ||

Then these demons who were devoid of the sense of themselves and their fears were necessarily dauntless of the fear of their decease or death; and were employed in their present duties, without the thoughts of the past and future.

असक्तबुद्धिभिर्नित्यं हतान्यैरप्यहन्तृभिः । वासनाजालनिर्मुक्तैः कृतकार्यैरकर्तृभिः ॥ १६ ॥

asaktabuddhibhirnityaṃ hatānyairapyahantṛbhiḥ | vāsanājālanirmuktaiḥ kṛtakāryairakartṛbhiḥ || 16 ||

Their minds were attached to nothing, they slew their enemies without thinking themselves as their slayers; they did their duties and thought themselves as no doers of them; and they were utterly free from all their desires.

प्रभोः कार्यमिदं कार्यमिति संगरतत्परैः । वीतरागैर्गतद्वेषैः सर्वदा समदृष्टिभिः ॥ १७ ॥

prabhoḥ kāryamidaṃ kāryamiti saṃgaratatparaiḥ | vītarāgairgatadveṣaiḥ sarvadā samadṛṣṭibhiḥ || 17 ||

They waged the war under the sense of doing their duty to their master; while their own nature was entirely free from all passion and affection, and of even tenor at all times.

सा दैवी दानवैः सेना भीमभासदृढादिभिः । हता भुक्ता हृता पुष्टा स्वान्नश्रीरिव भोक्तृभिः ॥ १८ ॥

sā daivī dānavaiḥ senā bhīmabhāsadṛḍhādibhiḥ | hatā bhuktā hṛtā puṣṭā svānnaśrīriva bhoktṛbhiḥ || 18 ||

The infernal force under the command of Bhima, Bhasa and Dridha, bruised and burned and slew and devoured the celestial phalanx, as men knead and fry and boil the rice and afterward eat up as their food.

भीमभासदृढक्षुण्णा जाता गीर्वाणवाहिनी । परिदुद्राव वेगेन गङ्गेव हिमवच्च्युता ॥ १९ ॥

bhīmabhāsadṛḍhakṣuṇṇā jātā gīrvāṇavāhinī | paridudrāva vegena gaṅgeva himavaccyutā || 19 ||

The celestial army being harassed on all sides by Bhima, Bhasa, and Dridha, fled precipitately from the height of heaven, as the Ganges runs down from Himalayan height.

सा सुरानीकिनी देवं क्षीरोदार्णवशायिनम् । जगाम शरणं शैलं वातार्तेवाब्दमालिका ॥ २० ॥

sā surānīkinī devaṃ kṣīrodārṇavaśāyinam | jagāma śaraṇaṃ śailaṃ vātārtevābdamālikā || 20 ||

The discomfited legion of the deities, then resorted to the god Hari, sleeping on the surface of the ocean of milk; as the bodies of the clouds of heaven, are driven by the winds to the tops of mountains.

हरिराश्वासयामास तां भीतां देववाहिनीम् । भुजङ्गाभिवृतामेकां रमणीमिव नायकः ॥ २१ ॥

harirāśvāsayāmāsa tāṃ bhītāṃ devavāhinīm | bhujaṅgābhivṛtāmekāṃ ramaṇīmiva nāyakaḥ || 21 ||

The god lying folded in the coils of the serpent, as a consort in the arms of his mistress; gave the gods their hope of final success in future.

अथ क्षीरोदकुहरे तावत्सा सुरवाहिनी । उवास यावद्भगवांस्तन्निरासार्थमुद्ययौ ॥ २२ ॥

atha kṣīrodakuhare tāvatsā suravāhinī | uvāsa yāvadbhagavāṃstannirāsārthamudyayau || 22 ||

The gods kept themselves hid in that ocean, until it pleased the lord Hari, to proceed out of it for the destruction of the demons.

बभूव दारुणं युद्धं शौरिशम्बरयोस्ततः । अकाल इव कल्पान्ते समुड्डीनकुलाचलम् ॥ २३ ॥

babhūva dāruṇaṃ yuddhaṃ śauriśambarayostataḥ | akāla iva kalpānte samuḍḍīnakulācalam || 23 ||

Then there was a dreadful war between Vishnu and Sambara, which broke and bore away the mountains as in an untimely great deluge of the earth.

शशाम समरे तस्मिन्दैत्यः सबलवाहनः । नारायणहतो यातः शम्बरो वैष्णवीं पुरीम् ॥ २४ ॥

śaśāma samare tasmindaityaḥ sabalavāhanaḥ | nārāyaṇahato yātaḥ śambaro vaiṣṇavīṃ purīm || 24 ||

The mighty demon being at last overthrown by the might of Narayana, was sent to and settled in the city of Vishnu after his death.

भीमभासदृढास्ते तु तस्मिन्विषमसंगरे । विष्णुनैव शमं नीताः पवनेनेव दीपिकाः ॥ २५ ॥

bhīmabhāsadṛḍhāste tu tasminviṣamasaṃgare | viṣṇunaiva śamaṃ nītāḥ pavaneneva dīpikāḥ || 25 ||

The demons of Bhima, Bhasa and Dridha, were also killed in their unequal struggle with Vishnu, and were extinguished like lamps by the wind.

ते हि निर्वासना एव यदा शान्तिमुपागताः । न तदैषां गतिर्ज्ञाता दीपानामिव शाम्यताम् ॥ २६ ॥

te hi nirvāsanā eva yadā śāntimupāgatāḥ | na tadaiṣāṃ gatirjñātā dīpānāmiva śāmyatām || 26 ||

They became extinct like flames of fire, and it was not known whither their vital flame had fled. Because it is the desire of a person that leads him to another state, but these having no wish in them, had no other place to go.

तस्माद्वासनया बद्धं मुक्तं निर्वासनं मनः । राम निर्वासनीभावमाहरस्व विवेकतः ॥ २७ ॥

tasmādvāsanayā baddhaṃ muktaṃ nirvāsanaṃ manaḥ | rāma nirvāsanībhāvamāharasva vivekataḥ || 27 ||

Hence the wishless soul is liberated, but not the wistful mind;therefore use your reason, O Rama, to have a wishless mind and soul.

सम्यगालोकनात्सत्याद्वासना प्रविलीयते । वासनाविलये चेतः शममायाति दीपवत् ॥ २८ ॥

samyagālokanātsatyādvāsanā pravilīyate | vāsanāvilaye cetaḥ śamamāyāti dīpavat || 28 ||

A full investigation into truth, will put down your desires at once; and the extinction of desires, will restore your mind to rest like an extinguished candle.

न सत्यं किंचिदेवेह सद्भावो भावयत्यलम् । नास्त्येव भावना तस्मादित्येतत्सम्यगीक्षणम् ॥ २९ ॥

na satyaṃ kiṃcideveha sadbhāvo bhāvayatyalam | nāstyeva bhāvanā tasmādityetatsamyagīkṣaṇam || 29 ||

Consummate wisdom consists in the knowledge of there being nothing real in this world, and that our knowledge of reality is utterly false, and that nihility of thing, is the true reality.

आत्मैवेदं जगत्सर्वं कः किं भावयतु क्व वा । भावना नाम नास्त्वेव तदेतत्सम्यगीक्षणम् ॥ ३० ॥

ātmaivedaṃ jagatsarvaṃ kaḥ kiṃ bhāvayatu kva vā | bhāvanā nāma nāstveva tadetatsamyagīkṣaṇam || 30 ||

The whole world is full with the spirit of God, whatever otherwise one may think of it at any time; there can be no other thought of it except that it is a nihility, and this forms our perfect knowledge of it.

वासनाचित्तनामानौ शब्दावर्थसमन्वितौ । सत्यावलोकनाद्यत्र विलीनौ तत्परं पदम् ॥ ३१ ॥

vāsanācittanāmānau śabdāvarthasamanvitau | satyāvalokanādyatra vilīnau tatparaṃ padam || 31 ||

The two significant words of the will and mind are mere insignificant fictions, as head and trunk of the ascending and descending nodes of a planet; which upon their right understanding, are lost in the Supreme Spirit.

वासनावलितं चित्तमिह स्थितिमुपागतम् । तदेव तद्विनिर्मुक्तं विमुक्तमिति कथ्यते ॥ ३२ ॥

vāsanāvalitaṃ cittamiha sthitimupāgatam | tadeva tadvinirmuktaṃ vimuktamiti kathyate || 32 ||

The mind being accompanied by its desires, is kept confined in this world, but when that is released from these, it is said to have its liberation.

नानाघटपटाकारैश्चेतःस्थितिमुपागतम् । तदेवाशु शमं नेयं मिथ्यायक्ष इवोत्थितः ॥ ३३ ॥

nānāghaṭapaṭākāraiścetaḥsthitimupāgatam | tadevāśu śamaṃ neyaṃ mithyāyakṣa ivotthitaḥ || 33 ||

The mind has gained its existence in the belief of men, owing to the many ideas of pots and pictures (ghata-patadi); and other things which are imprinted in it; but these thoughts being repressed, the mind also vanishes of itself like the phantoms of goblins (yakshas—yakkas).[5]

दामव्यालकटाकारैश्चेतः परिणतं यथा । भीमभासदृढन्यायो राघवास्त्वचलस्तव ॥ ३४ ॥

dāmavyālakaṭākāraiścetaḥ pariṇataṃ yathā | bhīmabhāsadṛḍhanyāyo rāghavāstvacalastava || 34 ||

The demons Dama, Vyala and Kata, were destroyed by reliance on their minds (i.e. by thinking their bodies as their souls); but Bhima, Bhasa and Dridha were saved by their belief in the Supreme soul, as pervading all things. Therefore, O Rama! reject the examples of the former, imitate that of the latter.

दामव्यालकटन्यायो मा ते भवतु राघव । एतद्राम पुरा प्रोक्तं पित्रा कमलजेन मे ॥ ३५ ॥

dāmavyālakaṭanyāyo mā te bhavatu rāghava | etadrāma purā proktaṃ pitrā kamalajena me || 35 ||

"Be not guided by the example of Dama, Vyala and Kata," is the lesson that was first delivered to me by Brahma—the lotus-born and my progenitor himself.

भवते यन्मया प्रोक्तं शिष्यायात्यन्तधीमते । दामव्यालकटन्यायस्तस्मान्मा तेऽस्तु राघव । भीमभासदृढन्यायो नित्यमस्तु तवानघ ॥ ३६ ॥

bhavate yanmayā proktaṃ śiṣyāyātyantadhīmate | dāmavyālakaṭanyāyastasmānmā te'stu rāghava | bhīmabhāsadṛḍhanyāyo nityamastu tavānagha || 36 ||

This lesson I repeat to you, O Rama, as my intelligent pupil, that you may never follow the example of the wicked demons Dama and others;but imitate the conduct of the good spirits, Bhima and others in your conduct.

अविरलसुखदुःखसंकटेयं भवपदवी भवतापनोपयाता । व्यवहरणवतो विभूतियातौ सततमसक्ततयैव नश्यतीति ॥ ३७ ॥

aviralasukhaduḥkhasaṃkaṭeyaṃ bhavapadavī bhavatāpanopayātā | vyavaharaṇavato vibhūtiyātau satatamasaktatayaiva naśyatīti || 37 ||

It is incessant pain and pleasure that forms the fearful feature of this world, and there is no other way of evading all its pangs and pains, save by your apathetic behaviour, which must be your crowning glory in this life.