49. Chapter 49

श्रीराम उवाच । यदि नास्ति विकारादि ब्रह्मन्ब्रह्मणि बृंहिते । तदिदं कथमाभाति भावाभावमयं जगत् ॥ १ ॥

śrīrāma uvāca | yadi nāsti vikārādi brahmanbrahmaṇi bṛṃhite | tadidaṃ kathamābhāti bhāvābhāvamayaṃ jagat || 1 ||

Rama said:—Sir, if there is no change in the immutable spirit of God; say how do these various changes constantly appear to occur in the state of things in this world.

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । अपुनःप्रागवस्थानं यत्स्वरूपविपर्ययः । त्तद्विकारादिकं तात यत्क्षीरादिषु वर्तते ॥ २ ॥

śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | apunaḥprāgavasthānaṃ yatsvarūpaviparyayaḥ | ttadvikārādikaṃ tāta yatkṣīrādiṣu vartate || 2 ||

Vasishtha replied:—Hear Rama! that it is the alteration of a thing that does not revert to its former state, that is called its change, as it occurs in the instance of milk, and its conversion to curd and butter, which never become the pure milk again.

पयस्तां पुनरभ्येति दधित्वान्न पुनः पयः । बुद्धमाद्यन्तमध्येषु ब्रह्म ब्रह्मैव निर्मलम् ॥ ३ ॥

payastāṃ punarabhyeti dadhitvānna punaḥ payaḥ | buddhamādyantamadhyeṣu brahma brahmaiva nirmalam || 3 ||

The milk is converted to curd, but the curd never reverts to its former state of milk, such is the nature of change in the state of things; but it can never affect the great God, who remains alike all along the first, intermediate and last states of things.

क्षीरादेरिव तेनास्ति ब्रह्मणो न विकारिता । अनाद्यन्तविभागस्य न चैषोऽवयविक्रमः ॥ ४ ॥

kṣīrāderiva tenāsti brahmaṇo na vikāritā | anādyantavibhāgasya na caiṣo'vayavikramaḥ || 4 ||

There is no such change as that of milk or any other things in the immutable Brahma, who having no beginning nor end, can neither have any age or stage of life assigned to him.

समस्याद्यन्तयोर्येयं दृश्यते विकृतिः क्षणात् । संविदः संभ्रमं विद्धि नाविकारेऽस्ति विक्रिया ॥ ५ ॥

samasyādyantayoryeyaṃ dṛśyate vikṛtiḥ kṣaṇāt | saṃvidaḥ saṃbhramaṃ viddhi nāvikāre'sti vikriyā || 5 ||

The states of beginning and end which are attributed to eternal God, are the false imputations of ignorance and error, as there can be no change of changeless one.

न संवेद्यं न संवित्तिस्तत्र ब्रह्मणि विद्यते । तद्ब्रह्मशब्दकथितं निःसंबन्धचिदात्मवत् ॥ ६ ॥

na saṃvedyaṃ na saṃvittistatra brahmaṇi vidyate | tadbrahmaśabdakathitaṃ niḥsaṃbandhacidātmavat || 6 ||

Brahma is not our consciousness, nor the object of our consciousness. He is as unconnected with us as our soul and intellect, and is only known to us by the word.

यादृगाद्यन्तयोर्वस्तु तादृगेव तदुच्यते । मध्ये यस्य यदन्यत्वं तदबोधाद्विजृम्भितम् ॥ ७ ॥

yādṛgādyantayorvastu tādṛgeva taducyate | madhye yasya yadanyatvaṃ tadabodhādvijṛmbhitam || 7 ||

A thing is said to be the same, with what it is in the beginning and end; the difference that takes place in the form is only a mist of error, and is taken into no account by the wise.

आत्मा त्वाद्यन्तमध्येषु समः सर्वत्र सर्वदा । स्वमप्यन्यत्वमायाति नात्मतत्त्वं कदाचन ॥ ८ ॥

ātmā tvādyantamadhyeṣu samaḥ sarvatra sarvadā | svamapyanyatvamāyāti nātmatattvaṃ kadācana || 8 ||

It is the soul only that remains self same with itself, both in the beginning, middle and end of it, and in all places and times, and never changes with the change of the body or mind and therefore forms the identity of the person.

अरूपत्वात्तथैकत्वान्नित्यत्वादयमीश्वरः । वशं भावविकाराणां न कदाचन गच्छति ॥ ९ ॥

arūpatvāttathaikatvānnityatvādayamīśvaraḥ | vaśaṃ bhāvavikārāṇāṃ na kadācana gacchati || 9 ||

The soul which is formless and self-same with itself, forms the personality and individuality of a being, and because it is not subject to any modality or mutation at any time, it constitutes the essential identity of every body.

श्रीराम उवाच । विद्यमाने सदैकस्मिन्ब्रह्मण्येकान्तनिर्मले । संविद्भ्रमस्वरूपाया अविद्यायाः क आगमः ॥ १० ॥

śrīrāma uvāca | vidyamāne sadaikasminbrahmaṇyekāntanirmale | saṃvidbhramasvarūpāyā avidyāyāḥ ka āgamaḥ || 10 ||

Rama rejoined:—If the divine soul is always the same and perfectly pure in itself, when proceeds our error of its changeableness, and what is the cause of the avidya or ignorance that shows these changes unto us?

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । ब्रह्मतत्त्वमिदं सर्वमासीदस्ति भविष्यति । निर्विकारमनाद्यन्तं नाविद्यास्तीति निश्चयः ॥ ११ ॥

śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | brahmatattvamidaṃ sarvamāsīdasti bhaviṣyati | nirvikāramanādyantaṃ nāvidyāstīti niścayaḥ || 11 ||

Vasishtha replied:—The category of Brahma implies that, He is all what is, what was, and what will be in future; that He is without change and without beginning and end, and there is no avidya ignorance in him.

यस्तु ब्रह्मेति शब्देन वाच्यवाचकयोः क्रमः । तत्रापि नान्यताभावमुपदेष्टुं क्रमो ह्यसौ ॥ १२ ॥

yastu brahmeti śabdena vācyavācakayoḥ kramaḥ | tatrāpi nānyatābhāvamupadeṣṭuṃ kramo hyasau || 12 ||

The signification that is meant to be expressed by the significant term Brahma, does not include any other thing as what is inexistent, or the negative idea of ignorance under it.

त्वमहं जगदाशाश्च द्यौर्भूश्चाप्यनलादि वा । ब्रह्ममात्रमनाद्यन्तं नाविद्यास्ति मनागपि ॥ १३ ॥

tvamahaṃ jagadāśāśca dyaurbhūścāpyanalādi vā | brahmamātramanādyantaṃ nāvidyāsti manāgapi || 13 ||

Thyself and myself, this earth and sky, the world and all its sides, together with the elementary of fire and others, are all the everlasting and infinite Brahma, and there is not the least misunderstanding in it.

नामैवेदमविद्येति भ्रममात्रमसद्विदुः । न विद्यते या सा सत्या कीदृग्राम भवेत्किल ॥ १४ ॥

nāmaivedamavidyeti bhramamātramasadviduḥ | na vidyate yā sā satyā kīdṛgrāma bhavetkila || 14 ||

Avidya or Ignorance is a mere name and Error, and is but another word for unreality; nor can you Rama, ever call that a reality, which is never existent of itself.

श्रीराम उवाच । उपशमप्रकरणे ह्यस्तने तु त्वयेरितम् । अविद्येयं तथेत्थं च विचार्यत इति प्रभो ॥ १५ ॥

śrīrāma uvāca | upaśamaprakaraṇe hyastane tu tvayeritam | avidyeyaṃ tathetthaṃ ca vicāryata iti prabho || 15 ||

Rama said:—Why sir, you have said yourself of Ignorance in the chapter on Upasama or Tranquillity, and told me to know all these as products of error.

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । एतावन्तमबुद्धस्त्वमभूः कालं रघूद्वह । कल्पिताभिः किलैताभिर्बोधितोसि स्वयुक्तिभिः ॥ १६ ॥

śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | etāvantamabuddhastvamabhūḥ kālaṃ raghūdvaha | kalpitābhiḥ kilaitābhirbodhitosi svayuktibhiḥ || 16 ||

Vasishtha answered said:—Rama! you had been all this time immerged in your ignorance, and have at last come to your right understanding by your own reasoning.

अविद्येयमयं जीव इत्यादिकलनाक्रमः । अप्रबुद्धप्रबोधाय कल्पितो वाग्विदां वरैः ॥ १७ ॥

avidyeyamayaṃ jīva ityādikalanākramaḥ | aprabuddhaprabodhāya kalpito vāgvidāṃ varaiḥ || 17 ||

It is the practice of glossologists and men of letters, to adopt the use of the word ignorance, living soul and the like, for awakening the unenlightened to their enlightenment only.

अप्रबुद्धं मनो यावत्तावदेव भ्रमं विना । न प्रबोधमुपायाति तदाक्रोशशतैरपि ॥ १८ ॥

aprabuddhaṃ mano yāvattāvadeva bhramaṃ vinā | na prabodhamupāyāti tadākrośaśatairapi || 18 ||

So long as the mind is not awakened to the knowledge of truth, it remains in the darkness of error for ever; and is not to its right understanding; even by its traversing a hundred miles.

युक्त्यैव बोधयित्वैष जीव आत्मनि योज्यते । यद्युक्त्यासाद्यते कार्यं न तद्यत्नशतैरपि ॥ १९ ॥

yuktyaiva bodhayitvaiṣa jīva ātmani yojyate | yadyuktyāsādyate kāryaṃ na tadyatnaśatairapi || 19 ||

When the living soul is awakened to its right sense by the force of reason, it learns to unite itself to the supreme soul, but being led without the guidance of reason, it is successful in nothing with all its endeavours.

सर्वं ब्रह्मेति यो ब्रूयादप्रबुद्धस्य दुर्मतेः । स करोति सुहृद्वृत्त्या स्थाणोर्दुःखनिवेदनम् ॥ २० ॥

sarvaṃ brahmeti yo brūyādaprabuddhasya durmateḥ | sa karoti suhṛdvṛttyā sthāṇorduḥkhanivedanam || 20 ||

He who tells the unenlightened vile man, that all this world is the great Brahma himself, does no more than communicate his sorrows to the headless trunk of a tree.

युक्त्या प्रबोध्यते मूढः प्राज्ञस्तत्त्वेन बोध्यते । मूढः प्राज्ञत्वमायाति न युक्त्या बोधनं विना ॥ २१ ॥

yuktyā prabodhyate mūḍhaḥ prājñastattvena bodhyate | mūḍhaḥ prājñatvamāyāti na yuktyā bodhanaṃ vinā || 21 ||

The fool is brought to sense by reasoning, and the wise man knows the truth from the nature of the subject; but the ignorant never learn wisdom, without the persuasion of reason.

एतावन्तमबुद्धस्त्वं कालं युक्त्या प्रबोधितः । इदानीं संप्रबुद्धस्त्वं मया येनावबोध्यसे ॥ २२ ॥

etāvantamabuddhastvaṃ kālaṃ yuktyā prabodhitaḥ | idānīṃ saṃprabuddhastvaṃ mayā yenāvabodhyase || 22 ||

You had been unwise so long as you depended on your own reasoning (judgment); but being guided by me, you are now awakened to truth.

ब्रह्माहं त्रिजगद्ब्रह्म त्वं ब्रह्म खलु दृश्यभूः । द्वितीया कलना नास्ति यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु ॥ २३ ॥

brahmāhaṃ trijagadbrahma tvaṃ brahma khalu dṛśyabhūḥ | dvitīyā kalanā nāsti yathecchasi tathā kuru || 23 ||

That I am Brahma, thou art Brahma, and so the visible world is Brahma himself; know this truth and naught otherwise, and do as you please.

असंवेद्यमहासंवित्कोटिमात्रं जगत्त्रयम् । एकप्रत्ययवानन्तः कुर्वन्नपि न लिप्यसे ॥ २४ ॥

asaṃvedyamahāsaṃvitkoṭimātraṃ jagattrayam | ekapratyayavānantaḥ kurvannapi na lipyase || 24 ||

Inconceivable is the conception of God, and the visible world is all that is known of him;know him as one, and the infinite, and you will not be misled into error.

भारूपश्चेतनो व्यापी परमात्माहमित्ययम् । राघवानुभवान्तस्त्वं तिष्ठन्गच्छञ्छ्वसन्स्वपन् ॥ २५ ॥

bhārūpaścetano vyāpī paramātmāhamityayam | rāghavānubhavāntastvaṃ tiṣṭhangacchañchvasansvapan || 25 ||

Rama, think in yourself whether when you are sitting or walking, or waking or sleeping, that you are this supreme spirit, which is of the form of light and intelligence, and pervades all things.

निर्ममो निरहंकारो बुद्धिमानसि साधु चेत् । तद्ब्रह्म वेदनं शान्तं सर्वभूतस्थितं भव ॥ २६ ॥

nirmamo nirahaṃkāro buddhimānasi sādhu cet | tadbrahma vedanaṃ śāntaṃ sarvabhūtasthitaṃ bhava || 26 ||

Rama! if you are without your egoism and meity or selfishness, and if you are intelligent and honest, then be as oecumenical and tranquil as Brahma himself, who is equally situated in all things.

तदनाद्यन्तमाभासं सत्त्वमेव परं पदम् । स्थितोऽसि सर्वगैकात्मशुद्धसंविन्मयात्मकः ॥ २७ ॥

tadanādyantamābhāsaṃ sattvameva paraṃ padam | sthito'si sarvagaikātmaśuddhasaṃvinmayātmakaḥ || 27 ||

Know your self as the pure consciousness, which is situated as one in all; which is without beginning and end, and is the essence of light and the most transcendent of all being.

यद्ब्रह्मात्मापि तुर्यश्च याऽविद्या प्रकृतिश्च या । तदभिन्नसदैकात्म यथा कुम्भशतेषु मृत् ॥ २८ ॥

yadbrahmātmāpi turyaśca yā'vidyā prakṛtiśca yā | tadabhinnasadaikātma yathā kumbhaśateṣu mṛt || 28 ||

What you call, Brahma the universal soul and the fourth or transcendent state; know the same to be materia or matter and natura or nature also. It is the inseparable one in all, as the mud is the essential substance of a thousand water pots.

नात्मनः प्रकृतिर्भिन्ना घटान्मृन्मयता यथा । सन्मृन्मात्रं यथा चान्तरात्मैवं प्रकृतिः स्थिता ॥ २९ ॥

nātmanaḥ prakṛtirbhinnā ghaṭānmṛnmayatā yathā | sanmṛnmātraṃ yathā cāntarātmaivaṃ prakṛtiḥ sthitā || 29 ||

Nature is not different from the nature of the soul, as the clay is no other than the pot itself; the Divine essence is as the intrinsic clay, and the divine spirit extends as the inward matter of all things.

आवर्तः सलिलस्येव यः स्पन्दस्त्वयमात्मनः । प्रोक्तः प्रकृतिशब्देन तेनैवेह स एव हि ॥ ३० ॥

āvartaḥ salilasyeva yaḥ spandastvayamātmanaḥ | proktaḥ prakṛtiśabdena tenaiveha sa eva hi || 30 ||

The soul has its pulsation like the whirling of the whirlpool, and this is termed Prakriti force or matter, which is no other than an effort of the spirit.

यथैकः स्पन्दपवनौ नाम्ना भिन्नौ न सत्तया । तथैकमात्मप्रकृती नाम्रा भिन्ने न सत्तया ॥ ३१ ॥

yathaikaḥ spandapavanau nāmnā bhinnau na sattayā | tathaikamātmaprakṛtī nāmrā bhinne na sattayā || 31 ||

As pulsation and ventilation, mean the same thing under different names; so the soul and nature express the same substance, which are not different in their essence.

अबोधादेतयोर्भेदो बोधेनैव विलीयते । अबोधात्सन्मयो याति रज्ज्वां सर्पभ्रमो यथा ॥ ३२ ॥

abodhādetayorbhedo bodhenaiva vilīyate | abodhātsanmayo yāti rajjvāṃ sarpabhramo yathā || 32 ||

It is mere ignorance which makes their difference, and which is removed by their knowledge; as it is sheer ignorance which represents a snake in the rope, and which is soon removed by knowledge of their nature.

चित्क्षेत्रे कलनाबीजं यदेतत्पतति स्फुरन् । चित्ताङ्कुरं तदेतस्माद्भाविसंसारखण्डकः ॥ ३३ ॥

citkṣetre kalanābījaṃ yadetatpatati sphuran | cittāṅkuraṃ tadetasmādbhāvisaṃsārakhaṇḍakaḥ || 33 ||

As the seed of imagination falls in the field of the intellect, it shoots forth in the sprout of the mind, which becomes the germ of the wide spreading arbor of the universe.

एतदेवात्मविज्ञानाद्दग्धं सद्वासनाजलैः । संसिक्तमपि यत्नेन न भवत्यङ्कुरक्षमम् ॥ ३४ ॥

etadevātmavijñānāddagdhaṃ sadvāsanājalaiḥ | saṃsiktamapi yatnena na bhavatyaṅkurakṣamam || 34 ||

The seed of false imagination (of avidya or personified Ignorance), being scorched by the flames of spiritual knowledge; will be able to vegetate no more, though it is sprinkled with the water of fond desire.

नो चेत्पतति चित्क्षेत्रे कलनाबीजकं ततः । चित्ताङ्कुरा न जायन्ते सुखदुःखलवद्रुमाः ॥ ३५ ॥

no cetpatati citkṣetre kalanābījakaṃ tataḥ | cittāṅkurā na jāyante sukhaduḥkhalavadrumāḥ || 35 ||

If you do not sow the seed of imagination in the soil of your intellect, you will stop the germination of the plants of pain and pleasure in the field of your mind.

द्वित्वं जगत्यसदुपात्तमबोधजातं बोधक्षयं जहिहि बोधमुपागतोऽसि । आत्मैकभावविभवेन भवाभयात्मा नास्त्येव दुःखमिति नः परमार्थसारः ॥ ३६ ॥

dvitvaṃ jagatyasadupāttamabodhajātaṃ bodhakṣayaṃ jahihi bodhamupāgato'si | ātmaikabhāvavibhavena bhavābhayātmā nāstyeva duḥkhamiti naḥ paramārthasāraḥ || 36 ||

Rama! as you have come to know the truth, you must forsake your false conception of such a thing as ignorance or error existing in the world; and know that there is no duality in the unity of God. Being thus full with the knowledge of one supreme soul, you must repudiate your ideas of pain and pleasure in anything here below. Pain turns to pleasure, and pleasure to pain, know them both as unreal, as they are vain.