19. Chapter 19

श्रीराम उवाच । मुने जीवस्य यद्रूपमाकृतिग्रहणं तथा । यथा च परमात्मत्वं स्थानं यच्चास्य तद्वद ॥ १ ॥

śrīrāma uvāca | mune jīvasya yadrūpamākṛtigrahaṇaṃ tathā | yathā ca paramātmatvaṃ sthānaṃ yaccāsya tadvada || 1 ||

Rama said:—Tell me sir, regarding the nature of the living soul, and the manner of its assuming its different forms; and tell me also its original form, and those which it takes at different times and places.

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । स्वसंकल्पेन चेत्योक्तं चिदित्यपरनामकम् । अनन्तं चेतनाकाशं जीवशब्देन कथ्यते ॥ २ ॥

śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | svasaṃkalpena cetyoktaṃ cidityaparanāmakam | anantaṃ cetanākāśaṃ jīvaśabdena kathyate || 2 ||

Vasishtha replied:—The infinite intelligence of God, which fills all space and vacuum;takes of its own will a subtile and minute form, which is intelligible under the name of Intellect; and it is this which is expressed by the term living soul—jiva or zoa.

न पराणुर्न च स्थूलं न शून्यं न च किंचन । चिन्मात्रं स्वानुभूत्यात्म सर्वगं जीव उच्यते ॥ ३ ॥

na parāṇurna ca sthūlaṃ na śūnyaṃ na ca kiṃcana | cinmātraṃ svānubhūtyātma sarvagaṃ jīva ucyate || 3 ||

Its original form is neither that of a minute atom, nor a bulky mass;not an empty vacuity, nor anything having its solidity. It is the pure intellect with consciousness of itself, it is omnipresent and is called the living soul.

अणीयसामणीयांसं स्थविष्ठं च स्थवीयसाम् । न किंचिन्मात्रकं चैव सर्वं जीवं विदुर्बुधाः ॥ ४ ॥

aṇīyasāmaṇīyāṃsaṃ sthaviṣṭhaṃ ca sthavīyasām | na kiṃcinmātrakaṃ caiva sarvaṃ jīvaṃ vidurbudhāḥ || 4 ||

It is the minutest of the minute, and the hugest of the huge; it is nothing at all, and yet the all, which the learned designate as the living soul.

यस्य यस्य पदार्थस्य यो भावस्तेन तत्र तम् । स्थितं विद्धि तदाभासं तदात्मैकान्तवेदनात् ॥ ५ ॥

yasya yasya padārthasya yo bhāvastena tatra tam | sthitaṃ viddhi tadābhāsaṃ tadātmaikāntavedanāt || 5 ||

Know it as identic with the nature, property and quality, of any object whatever that exists any where; It is the light and soul of all existence, and selfsame with all, by its engrossing the knowledge of everything in itself.

स चेतति यथा यत्र यद्यदाशु तदेव हि । तथा तत्र तदा राम भवत्यनुभवात्मकम् ॥ ६ ॥

sa cetati yathā yatra yadyadāśu tadeva hi | tathā tatra tadā rāma bhavatyanubhavātmakam || 6 ||

Whatever this soul thinks in any manner, of anything at any place or time, it immediately becomes the same by its notion thereof.

पवनस्य यथा स्पन्दश्चेत्यं जीवस्य वै तथा । स्वसंविन्मात्रनिर्णेयं नोपदेशाम यक्षवत् ॥ ७ ॥

pavanasya yathā spandaścetyaṃ jīvasya vai tathā | svasaṃvinmātranirṇeyaṃ nopadeśāma yakṣavat || 7 ||

The soul possesses the power of thinking, as the air has its force in the winds; but its thoughts are directed by the knowledge of things (that it derives by means of the senses); and not by the guidance of anyone, as the appearance of ghosts to boys.

यथैवास्पन्दनाद्वातः सन्नेवैत्य सदात्मताम् । तथैवाचेतनाज्जीवो जीवन्नेति परां गतिम् ॥ ८ ॥

yathaivāspandanādvātaḥ sannevaitya sadātmatām | tathaivācetanājjīvo jīvanneti parāṃ gatim || 8 ||

As the existent air appears to be inexistent, without the motion of the wind; so the living soul desisting from its function of thinking, is said to be extinct in the Supreme Deity.

जीवश्चिद्धनरूपत्वादहमित्येव चेतनात् । देशकालक्रियाद्रव्यशक्तीर्निर्माय तिष्ठति ॥ ९ ॥

jīvaściddhanarūpatvādahamityeva cetanāt | deśakālakriyādravyaśaktīrnirmāya tiṣṭhati || 9 ||

The living soul is misled to think of its individuality as the ego, by the density or dullness of its intellect; and supposes itself to be confined within a limited space of place and time, and with limited powers of action and understanding.

देशकालक्रियाद्रव्यचर्चिताचर्चितां स्वयम् । असत्यां सत्यवत्स्फारां तावन्मात्रशरीरिकाम् ॥ १० ॥

deśakālakriyādravyacarcitācarcitāṃ svayam | asatyāṃ satyavatsphārāṃ tāvanmātraśarīrikām || 10 ||

Being thus circumscribed by time and space, and endowed with substance and properties of action &c., it assumes to itself an unreal form or body, with the belief of its being or sober reality.

चेतसा ह्यसदाकारां प्रालेयपरमाणुताम् । पश्यत्यात्मन्यथात्मत्वे स्वप्ने स्वमरणोपमाम् ॥ ११ ॥

cetasā hyasadākārāṃ prāleyaparamāṇutām | paśyatyātmanyathātmatve svapne svamaraṇopamām || 11 ||

It then thinks itself to be enclosed in an ideal atom; as one sees himself in his dream to be involved in his unreal death.

स्वप्नस्वावयवान्यत्वसदृशीं तां विभावयन् । विस्मृत्य चेतनां सत्तां तत्तामेवाशु गच्छति ॥ १२ ॥

svapnasvāvayavānyatvasadṛśīṃ tāṃ vibhāvayan | vismṛtya cetanāṃ sattāṃ tattāmevāśu gacchati || 12 ||

And as one finds in its mind his features and the members of his body, to another form in his dream; so the soul forgets her intellectual entity in her state of ignorance, and becomes of the same nature and form, as she constantly thinks upon.

एवंरूपो बुध्यमानः प्रोच्छूनत्वमथात्मनि । पश्यत्याशु स्वमात्मानं चन्द्रबिम्बमिव द्रुतम् ॥ १३ ॥

evaṃrūpo budhyamānaḥ procchūnatvamathātmani | paśyatyāśu svamātmānaṃ candrabimbamiva drutam || 13 ||

Thinking itself to be thus transformed to a gross and material form, as that of Virat the macrocosm (who combines the whole material universe in himself); it views itself as bright and spotted, as the disk of the moon with the black spot upon it.

आत्मन्यथेन्दुबिम्बात्मन्यसौ संवित्तिपञ्चकम् । काकतालीयवद्भिन्नमुदितं चेतति स्वयम् ॥ १४ ॥

ātmanyathendubimbātmanyasau saṃvittipañcakam | kākatālīyavadbhinnamuditaṃ cetati svayam || 14 ||

It then finds in its person resembling the lunar disk, the sudden union of the five senses of perception, appearing in him of themselves.

पञ्चानां संविदां पञ्च भिन्नान्यङ्गान्यसावथ । बुध्यते तानि तद्रूपरन्ध्राण्यनुभवत्यपि ॥ १५ ॥

pañcānāṃ saṃvidāṃ pañca bhinnānyaṅgānyasāvatha | budhyate tāni tadrūparandhrāṇyanubhavatyapi || 15 ||

These five senses are then found to have the five organs of sensation for their inlets, by which the soul perceives the sensation of their respective objects.

स पञ्चावयवः पश्चाद्राजते पुरुषो विराट् । अनन्ताकारसंवित्तिरव्यक्तात्मा निरामयः ॥ १६ ॥

sa pañcāvayavaḥ paścādrājate puruṣo virāṭ | anantākārasaṃvittiravyaktātmā nirāmayaḥ || 16 ||

Then the Purusha or first male power known as Virat, manifests himself in five other forms said to be the members of his person; and these are the sun, the sides, water, air, and the land, which are the objects of five senses said before. He then becomes of endless forms according to the infinity of objects of his knowledge (i.e. the thoughts in this mind). He is thus manifested in his objective forms, but is quite unknown to us in his subjective or causal form, which is unchangeable and undecaying.

मनोमयोऽसावुदितः परस्मात्प्रथमोत्थितः । आकाशविशदः शान्तो नित्यानन्दविभामयः ॥ १७ ॥

manomayo'sāvuditaḥ parasmātprathamotthitaḥ | ākāśaviśadaḥ śānto nityānandavibhāmayaḥ || 17 ||

He sprang up at first from the supreme being, as its mental energy or the mind; and was manifest in the form of the calm and clear firmament, with the splendour of eternal delight.

स चाप्यपञ्चभूतात्मा पञ्चभूतात्मकोपमः । विराडात्मैकपुरुषः परमः परमेश्वरः ॥ १८ ॥

sa cāpyapañcabhūtātmā pañcabhūtātmakopamaḥ | virāḍātmaikapuruṣaḥ paramaḥ parameśvaraḥ || 18 ||

He was not of the five elemental forms, but was the soul of the five element, he is called the Virat Purusha—the macrocosm of the world, and the supreme lord of all.

स्वयमेवाशु भवति स्वयमेव विलीयते । स्वयमेव प्रसरति स्वयं संकोचमेति च ॥ १९ ॥

svayamevāśu bhavati svayameva vilīyate | svayameva prasarati svayaṃ saṃkocameti ca || 19 ||

He rises spontaneously by himself, and then subsides in himself; he expands his own essence all over the universe, and at last contracts the whole in himself.

स्वसंकल्पकृतेनासौ कल्पौघेन क्षणेन च । यदृच्छयोदेति पुनः पुनर्भूत्वोपशाम्यति ॥ २० ॥

svasaṃkalpakṛtenāsau kalpaughena kṣaṇena ca | yadṛcchayodeti punaḥ punarbhūtvopaśāmyati || 20 ||

He rose in a moment with his power of volition, and with all his desires in himself; he rises of his own will at first, and after lasting long in himself, dissolves again in himself.

मनोमात्रैकरूपात्मा प्रकृतेर्देह एष सः । एष पुर्यष्टकं प्रोक्तः सर्वस्यैवातिवाहिकः ॥ २१ ॥

manomātraikarūpātmā prakṛterdeha eṣa saḥ | eṣa puryaṣṭakaṃ proktaḥ sarvasyaivātivāhikaḥ || 21 ||

He is the selfsame one with the mind of God, and he is the great body of the material world; and his body is called the puryashtaka or container of the eight elementary principles, as also the ativahika or of the spiritual-form.

सूक्ष्मः स्थूलोऽम्बरात्मैष व्यक्तोऽव्यक्तोन्तवर्जितः । सर्वस्य बहिरन्तश्च न किंचित्किंचिदेव च ॥ २२ ॥

sūkṣmaḥ sthūlo'mbarātmaiṣa vyakto'vyaktontavarjitaḥ | sarvasya bahirantaśca na kiṃcitkiṃcideva ca || 22 ||

He is as the subtile and gross air, manifest as the sky, but invisible as the subtile ether; he is both within and as well as without everything, and is yet nothing in himself.

अङ्गानि राम तस्याष्टौ मनःषष्ठानि पञ्च च । साहंभावानीन्द्रियाणि भावाभावमयानि च ॥ २३ ॥

aṅgāni rāma tasyāṣṭau manaḥṣaṣṭhāni pañca ca | sāhaṃbhāvānīndriyāṇi bhāvābhāvamayāni ca || 23 ||

His body consists of eight members, viz—the five senses, the mind, the living principle and egoism, together with the different states of their being and not being, i.e., of their visible and invisible form.

तेन गीता इमे वेदाः सहशब्दार्थकल्पनाः । नियतिः स्थापिता तेन तथाद्यापि यथास्थिता ॥ २४ ॥

tena gītā ime vedāḥ sahaśabdārthakalpanāḥ | niyatiḥ sthāpitā tena tathādyāpi yathāsthitā || 24 ||

He (in the form of Brahma), sang at first the four vedas with his four mouths; he determined the significations of words, and it was he who established the rules of conduct, which are in vogue to this time.

अनन्तमूर्ध्वं मूर्धास्य तथाधः पादयोस्तलम् । अपराकाशमुदरमिदं ब्रह्माण्डमण्डपम् ॥ २५ ॥

anantamūrdhvaṃ mūrdhāsya tathādhaḥ pādayostalam | aparākāśamudaramidaṃ brahmāṇḍamaṇḍapam || 25 ||

The high and boundless heaven, is the crown of his head; and the lower earth is the footstool of his feet; the unbounded sky is his capacious belly, and the whole universe is the temple over his body.

लोकान्तराण्यनन्तानि पार्श्वकाः क्षतजं पयः । मांसपेश्यः क्षितिधराः सरितः संतताः शिराः ॥ २६ ॥

lokāntarāṇyanantāni pārśvakāḥ kṣatajaṃ payaḥ | māṃsapeśyaḥ kṣitidharāḥ saritaḥ saṃtatāḥ śirāḥ || 26 ||

The multitudes of worlds all about, are the members of his body on all sides; the waters of seas are the blood of the scars upon his body; the mountains are his muscles, and the rivers and streams are the veins and arteries of his body.

रक्ताधारा जलधयो द्वीपान्येवान्त्रवेष्टनम् । बाहवः ककुभः स्फारास्तारका रोमसंततिः ॥ २७ ॥

raktādhārā jaladhayo dvīpānyevāntraveṣṭanam | bāhavaḥ kakubhaḥ sphārāstārakā romasaṃtatiḥ || 27 ||

The seas are his blood vessels, and the islands are the ligatures round his persons; his arms are the sides of the sky, and the stars are the hairs on his body.

पञ्चाशदनिलस्कन्धा एकोनाः प्राणवायवः । मार्तण्डमण्डलं चण्डं पित्तं जठरपावकः ॥ २८ ॥

pañcāśadanilaskandhā ekonāḥ prāṇavāyavaḥ | mārtaṇḍamaṇḍalaṃ caṇḍaṃ pittaṃ jaṭharapāvakaḥ || 28 ||

The forty-nine winds are its vital airs, the orb of the sun is its eye-ball, while its heat is the fiery bile inside its belly.

शशाङ्कमण्डलं जीवः श्लेष्मा शुक्रं सितं बलम् । मनः संकल्पकोशात्म सारात्मा परमामृतम् ॥ २९ ॥

śaśāṅkamaṇḍalaṃ jīvaḥ śleṣmā śukraṃ sitaṃ balam | manaḥ saṃkalpakośātma sārātmā paramāmṛtam || 29 ||

The lunar orb is the sheath of his life, and its cooling beams are the humid humours of his body; his mind is the receptacle of his desires, and the pith of his soul is the ambrosia of his immortality.

मूलं शरीरवृक्षस्य बीजं कर्मद्रुमस्य च । प्रसवात्सर्वभावानामिन्दुरानन्दकारणम् ॥ ३० ॥

mūlaṃ śarīravṛkṣasya bījaṃ karmadrumasya ca | prasavātsarvabhāvānāmindurānandakāraṇam || 30 ||

He is the root of the tree of the body, and the seed of the forest of actions; he is the source of all existence, and he is as the cooling moonlight diffusing delight to all beings by the heating beams of that balmy planet oshadhisa.

यदिन्दुमण्डलं नाम स सम्राड् जीव उच्यते । शरीरकर्ममनसां बीजं मूलं च कुरणम् ॥ ३१ ॥

yadindumaṇḍalaṃ nāma sa samrāḍ jīva ucyate | śarīrakarmamanasāṃ bījaṃ mūlaṃ ca kuraṇam || 31 ||

The orb of the moon, is said in the sruti as the lord of life, the cause of the body and thoughts and actions of all living beings.

अस्मादिन्दुविराड्जीवात्प्रसरन्ति जगत्त्रये । जीवा मनांसि कर्माणि सुखान्यत्रामृतानि च ॥ ३२ ॥

asmādinduvirāḍjīvātprasaranti jagattraye | jīvā manāṃsi karmāṇi sukhānyatrāmṛtāni ca || 32 ||

It is from this moon-like Virat, that contains all vitality in himself, that all other living beings in the universe take their rise;hence the moon is the container of life, mind, action and the sweet ambrosia of all living beings.

विराज एते संकल्पा ब्रह्मविष्णुहरादयः । तस्य चित्तचमत्काराः सुरासुरनभश्चराः ॥ ३३ ॥

virāja ete saṃkalpā brahmaviṣṇuharādayaḥ | tasya cittacamatkārāḥ surāsuranabhaścarāḥ || 33 ||

It is the will or desire of Virat, that produced the gods Brahma, Vishnu and Siva from himself; and all the celestial deities and demons, are the miraculous creation of his mind.

चित्स्वभावो बुध्यमानः प्रालेयपरमाणुताम् । यदादौ भावयत्याशु तदा तत्रैव तिष्ठति ॥ ३४ ॥

citsvabhāvo budhyamānaḥ prāleyaparamāṇutām | yadādau bhāvayatyāśu tadā tatraiva tiṣṭhati || 34 ||

It is the wonderful nature of the intelligent Intellect, that whatever it thinks upon in its form of an infinitesimal atom, the same appears immediately before it in its gigantic form and size.

तेनैतदेव जीवस्य स्थानं विद्धि रघूद्वह । पञ्चावयवमेतत्तच्छरीरमनुभूयते ॥ ३५ ॥

tenaitadeva jīvasya sthānaṃ viddhi raghūdvaha | pañcāvayavametattaccharīramanubhūyate || 35 ||

Know Rama, the whole universe to be the seat of the soul of Virat (i.e. the whole universe to be teeming with life), and the five elements to compose the five component parts of his body.

विराड्जीवाच्चन्द्रमसो जीवभूतानि देहिनाम् । प्रसरन्त्यन्नजातानि प्रालेयविसरात्मना ॥ ३६ ॥

virāḍjīvāccandramaso jīvabhūtāni dehinām | prasarantyannajātāni prāleyavisarātmanā || 36 ||

Virat that shines as the collective or universal soul of the world, in the bright orb of the moon, diffuses light and life to all individuals by spreading the moonbeams which produces the vegetable food for the supportance and sustenance of living beings.

तान्येव देहिदेहेषु जीवा जीवन्ति जीविषु । मनो भूत्वा विचेष्टन्ते कर्म जन्मसु कारणम् ॥ ३७ ॥

tānyeva dehideheṣu jīvā jīvanti jīviṣu | mano bhūtvā viceṣṭante karma janmasu kāraṇam || 37 ||

The vegetable substances, which supply the animal bodies with their sustenance; and thereby produce the life of living beings; produce also the mind which becomes the cause of the actions and future births of persons by its efforts towards the same.

एवं विराट्सहस्राणि महाकल्पशतानि च । गतान्यथ भविष्यन्ति नानाचाराणि सन्ति च ॥ ३८ ॥

evaṃ virāṭsahasrāṇi mahākalpaśatāni ca | gatānyatha bhaviṣyanti nānācārāṇi santi ca || 38 ||

In this manner a thousand virats and hundreds of Mahakalpa periods have passed away; and, there many such still existing and yet to appear, with varieties of customs and manners of peoples in different ages and climes.

सर्वतोऽनुभवरूपयानया सत्तयोत्तमपदादभिन्नया । अन्तवर्जितमहाङ्गसङ्गया तिष्ठतीति पुरुषः परो विराट् ॥ ३९ ॥

sarvato'nubhavarūpayānayā sattayottamapadādabhinnayā | antavarjitamahāṅgasaṅgayā tiṣṭhatīti puruṣaḥ paro virāṭ || 39 ||

The first and best and supremely blest virat said:—the male Deity, resides in this manner of our conception of him, and indistinct in his essence from the state of transcendent divinity; with his huge body extending beyond the limits of space and time.