113. Chapter 113

श्रीराम उवाच । मिथ्यानरप्रसङ्गेन किं मायापुरुषः प्रभो । कथितोऽयं त्वया व्योमरक्षण च किमुच्यते ॥ १ ॥

śrīrāma uvāca | mithyānaraprasaṅgena kiṃ māyāpuruṣaḥ prabho | kathito'yaṃ tvayā vyomarakṣaṇa ca kimucyate || 1 ||

Rama said:—Please sir, give me the interpretation of your parable of the false man, and tell me the allusion it bears to the fanciful man, whose business it was to watch the air or sky.

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । श्रृणु राम यथाभूतमेतत्प्रकटयामि ते । मिथ्यापुरुषवृत्तान्तकथा या कथिताधुना ॥ २ ॥

śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | śrṛṇu rāma yathābhūtametatprakaṭayāmi te | mithyāpuruṣavṛttāntakathā yā kathitādhunā || 2 ||

Vasishtha replied:—Hear me, Rama, now expound to you the meaning of my parable of the false man, and the allusion which it bears to every fanciful man in this world.

मायायन्त्रमयः प्रोक्तो यः पुमान्रघुनन्दन । एनं त्वं तमहंकारं विद्धि शून्याम्बरोत्थितम् ॥ ३ ॥

māyāyantramayaḥ prokto yaḥ pumānraghunandana | enaṃ tvaṃ tamahaṃkāraṃ viddhi śūnyāmbarotthitam || 3 ||

The man that I have represented to you, as a magical engine (maya yantra), means the egoistic man, who is led by the magic of his egoism, to look upon the empty air of his personality as a real entity.

यस्मिन्नाकाशकोशेऽस्मिन्साधो जगदिदं स्थितम् । तदनन्तमसच्छून्यं सर्गादौ भवति स्वयम् ॥ ४ ॥

yasminnākāśakośe'sminsādho jagadidaṃ sthitam | tadanantamasacchūnyaṃ sargādau bhavati svayam || 4 ||

The vault of the sky, which contains all these orbs of worlds; is but an infinite space of empty void, as it was ere this creation came into existence, and before it becomes manifest to view.

अन्तःस्थितसुदुर्लक्ष्यब्रह्म व्योम्नोऽथ शब्दवत् । तस्मादुदेत्यहंकारः पूर्वं स्पन्द इवानिलात् ॥ ५ ॥

antaḥsthitasudurlakṣyabrahma vyomno'tha śabdavat | tasmādudetyahaṃkāraḥ pūrvaṃ spanda ivānilāt || 5 ||

There is the spirit of the inscrutable and impersonal Brahma, immanent in this vacuity and becomes apparent in the personality of Brahma, in the manner of the audible sound issuing out of the empty air, which is its receptacle and support.

वृद्धिं यातः स गगने कल्पयत्यात्मतां गतः । अनात्मात्माभिधानेन तेनासौ यतते ततः ॥ ६ ॥

vṛddhiṃ yātaḥ sa gagane kalpayatyātmatāṃ gataḥ | anātmātmābhidhānena tenāsau yatate tataḥ || 6 ||

It is from this also that there rises the subtle individual soul with the sense of its egoism, as the vibration of current winds springs from the motionless air; and then as it grows up in time in the same element, it comes to believe its having an individual soul and a personality of its own.

अनात्मात्मैकरक्षार्थं देहान्नानाविधानसौ । भूयोभूयो विनाशेऽपि सृजत्याकुलतां गतः ॥ ७ ॥

anātmātmaikarakṣārthaṃ dehānnānāvidhānasau | bhūyobhūyo vināśe'pi sṛjatyākulatāṃ gataḥ || 7 ||

Thus the impersonal soul being imbibed with the idea of its personality, tries to preserve its egoism for ever; it enters into many bodies of different kinds, and creates new ones for its abode upon the loss of the former ones.

स एव मायापुरुषो मिथ्यापुरुष एव सः । असदेवोदितो व्यर्थोऽप्यहंकारो हि मायया ॥ ८ ॥

sa eva māyāpuruṣo mithyāpuruṣa eva saḥ | asadevodito vyartho'pyahaṃkāro hi māyayā || 8 ||

This egoistic soul, is called the false and magical man; because it is a false creation of unreality, and a production of vain ignorance and imagination.

कूपकुण्डचतुःशालकुम्भादीन्देहकानसौ । कृत्वा रक्षित आत्मेति याति तद्व्योम्नि भावनम् ॥ ९ ॥

kūpakuṇḍacatuḥśālakumbhādīndehakānasau | kṛtvā rakṣita ātmeti yāti tadvyomni bhāvanam || 9 ||

The pit and the pot, and the cottage and the hut, represent the different bodies, the empty vacuity of which, supplies the egoistic soul with a temporary abode.

अहंकारस्य तस्यास्य नामानीमानि राघव । श्रृणु यैर्जगदाकारविभ्रमैर्मोहयत्यसौ ॥ १० ॥

ahaṃkārasya tasyāsya nāmānīmāni rāghava | śrṛṇu yairjagadākāravibhramairmohayatyasau || 10 ||

Now listen to me to relate to you the different names, under which our ignorant spirit passes in this world, and begins itself under one or other of these appellations.

जीवो बुद्धिर्मनश्चित्तं माया प्रकृतिरित्यपि । संकल्पः कलना कालः कला चेत्यपि विश्रुतैः ॥ ११ ॥

jīvo buddhirmanaścittaṃ māyā prakṛtirityapi | saṃkalpaḥ kalanā kālaḥ kalā cetyapi viśrutaiḥ || 11 ||

It takes the various names of the living soul, the understanding, mind, the heart, and ignorance and nature also; and is known among men, by the words imagination, fancy and time, which are also applied to it.

एवमाद्यैस्तथान्यैश्च नामभिर्बहुतां गतैः । सहस्ररूपोऽहंकारः कल्पितार्थैर्विजृम्भते ॥ १२ ॥

evamādyaistathānyaiśca nāmabhirbahutāṃ gataiḥ | sahasrarūpo'haṃkāraḥ kalpitārthairvijṛmbhate || 12 ||

In these and a thousand other names and forms, doth this vain egoism appear to us in this world; but all these powers and faculties are mere attributives of the true ego which is imperceptible to us.

भूताकाशे तते शून्ये जगन्निर्भित्ति निश्चितम् । सुखदुःखान्यनुभवन्मिथ्यैव पुरुषः स्थितः ॥ १३ ॥

bhūtākāśe tate śūnye jagannirbhitti niścitam | sukhaduḥkhānyanubhavanmithyaiva puruṣaḥ sthitaḥ || 13 ||

The world is verily known to rest without its basis, in the extended and vacuous womb of the visible firmament; and the imaginary soul of the egoist is supposed to dwell in it, and feel all its pain and pleasure in vain.

यथैव मिथ्यापुरुषो रक्षन्व्योमात्मशङ्कया । घटाकाशादिषु क्लिष्ट एवं मा क्लेशवान्भव ॥ १४ ॥

yathaiva mithyāpuruṣo rakṣanvyomātmaśaṅkayā | ghaṭākāśādiṣu kliṣṭa evaṃ mā kleśavānbhava || 14 ||

Therefore O Rama, do not like the imaginary man in the fable, place any reliance in your false personality; nor subject yourself like the egoistic man, to the fancied pleasure and misery of this world. (14b) Do not trouble yourself, like the erroneous man, with the vain care of preserving your vacuous soul; nor suffer like him the pain of your confinement in the hollow of the pit, pot and others.

आकाशादपि विस्तीर्णः शुद्धः सूक्ष्मः शिवः शुभः । य आत्मा स कथं केन गृह्यते रक्ष्यतेऽथवा ॥ १५ ॥

ākāśādapi vistīrṇaḥ śuddhaḥ sūkṣmaḥ śivaḥ śubhaḥ | ya ātmā sa kathaṃ kena gṛhyate rakṣyate'thavā || 15 ||

How is it possible for any body, to preserve or confine the vacuous spirit in the narrow limit of a pot and the like; when it is more extended than the boundless sky, and more subtile and purer than the all pervading air.

हृदयाकाशमात्रस्य शरीरक्षयसंक्षये । व्यर्थं भूतानि शोचन्ति नष्ट आत्मेति शङ्कया ॥ १६ ॥

hṛdayākāśamātrasya śarīrakṣayasaṃkṣaye | vyarthaṃ bhūtāni śocanti naṣṭa ātmeti śaṅkayā || 16 ||

The soul is supposed to dwell in the cavity of the human heart, and is thought to perish with the decay and destruction of the body; hence people are seen to lament at the loss of their frail bodies, as if it entailed the destruction of their indestructible soul.

घटादिषु प्रणष्टेषु यथाकाशाद्यखण्डितम् । तथा देहेषु नष्टेषु देही नित्यमलेपकः ॥ १७ ॥

ghaṭādiṣu praṇaṣṭeṣu yathākāśādyakhaṇḍitam | tathā deheṣu naṣṭeṣu dehī nityamalepakaḥ || 17 ||

As the destruction of the pot or any other hollow vessel, does not destroy the subtile air, which is contained in the same; so the dissolution of the body, does not dissolve the embodied and intangible soul.

शुद्धश्चिन्मात्र आत्मायमाकाशादप्यणोरणुः । स्वानुभूत्यंशमात्रं हि खवद्राम न नश्यति ॥ १८ ॥

śuddhaścinmātra ātmāyamākāśādapyaṇoraṇuḥ | svānubhūtyaṃśamātraṃ hi khavadrāma na naśyati || 18 ||

Know Rama, the nature of the soul, to be as that of the pure intellect; it is more subtile than the circumambient air, and minuter far than the minutest atom; it is a particle of our consciousness only, and indestructible as the all pervasive air, which is never to be nullified.

न जायते न म्रियते क्वचित्किंचित्कदाचन । जगद्विवर्तरूपेण केवलं ब्रह्म जृम्भते ॥ १९ ॥

na jāyate na mriyate kvacitkiṃcitkadācana | jagadvivartarūpeṇa kevalaṃ brahma jṛmbhate || 19 ||

The soul is never born, nor does it die as any other thing at any place or time; it extends over the whole universe, as the universal soul of Brahma, which encompasses and comprehends all space, and manifests itself in all things.

सत्यमेकं पदं शान्तमादिमध्यान्तवर्जितम् । भावाभावविनिर्मुक्तमिति मत्वा सुखी भव ॥ २० ॥

satyamekaṃ padaṃ śāntamādimadhyāntavarjitam | bhāvābhāvavinirmuktamiti matvā sukhī bhava || 20 ||

Know this spirit as one entire unit, and the only real entity; it is always calm and quiet, and without its beginning, middle and end. Know it as beyond the positive and negative, and be happy with thy knowledge of its transcendental nature.

सर्वापदां निलयमध्रुवमस्वतन्त्रमासन्नपातमविवेकमनार्यमज्ञम् । बोधादहंकृतिपदं सकलं विमुच्य शेषे सुबद्धपदमुत्तमतां प्रयासि ॥ २१ ॥

sarvāpadāṃ nilayamadhruvamasvatantramāsannapātamavivekamanāryamajñam | bodhādahaṃkṛtipadaṃ sakalaṃ vimucya śeṣe subaddhapadamuttamatāṃ prayāsi || 21 ||

Now extricate your mind from the false cogitation of your egoism, which is the abode of all evils and dangers, and is an unstable thing depending on the life of a man;it is full of ignorance and vanity, and its own destruction and final perdition (in hell fire). Therefore get rid of your egoistic feeling, and rely only on the ultimate and optimum state of the one everlasting Deity.