Vasiṣṭha's teaching (Mahārāmāyaṇa) 2.2

2.2.p1

dvitīyaḥ sargaḥ 2

Viswamitra said:—
1. [Sanskrit available]
Rama! it now becomes you to have your mind properly purified from its doubts, as it was done in the case of the son of Vyasa.

2.2.1

viśvāmitra uvāca .
tasya vyāsatanūjasya malamātropamārjanam .
yathopayuktaṃ te rāma tāvadevopayujyate .. 1

Second Canto 2

2.2.2

jñeyametena vijñātamaśeṣeṇa munīśvarāḥ .
svadante'smai na yadbhogā rogā iva sumedhase .. 2

Viśvāmitra said: / Just as a mere wiping away of impurity was needed for that son of Vyāsa, / so only that much is needed for you, Rāma. 1

2. [Sanskrit available] You see, O great sages! how perfectly the knowable is known to Rama, whose good understanding has learnt to feel a distaste for worldly enjoyments, as if they were diseases unto him.

2.2.3

jñātajñeyasya manaso nūnametaddhi lakṣaṇam .
na svadante samagrāṇi bhogavṛndāni yatpunaḥ .. 3

O lords of sages, everything that is to be known has been fully comprehended by him; / for sensual pleasures do not delight this wise one, just as diseases do not. 2

3. [Sanskrit available]
You well know that the fixed principle in the mind of one knowing the knowable, is to have an aversion to all the enjoyments of life.

2.2.4

bhogabhāvanayā yāti bandho dārḍhyamavastujaḥ .
tayopaśāntayā yāti bandho jagati tānavam .. 4

For this indeed is the certain mark of a mind that has known what is to be known: / that whole hosts of worldly pleasures do not delight it any longer. 3

4. [Sanskrit available]
It is the desire of fruition that chains down a man fastly to the earth; but the knowledge of the frailties here serves to dispel his darkness.

2.2.5

vāsanātānavaṃ rāma mokṣa ityucyate budhaiḥ .
padārthavāsanādārḍhyaṃ bandha ityabhidhīyate .. 5

Through dwelling on worldly pleasures, bondage—which has no real substance—becomes firm; / when that [dwelling] is quieted, bondage in this world is reduced to weakness. 4

5. [Sanskrit available] Know Rama that it is the curtailing of desires which the wise call liberty, and the fastening of our desires to earthly objects, is what is termed our confinement here.

2.2.6

svātmatattvābhigamanaṃ bhavati prāyaśo nṛṇām .
mune viṣayavairasyaṃ kadarthādupajāyate .. 6

The thinning of latent impressions is called liberation by the wise, O Rāma; / the firmness of latent impressions toward worldly objects is called bondage. 5

6. [Sanskrit available] Spiritual knowledge is easily obtainable by most men here, but a distaste to (pleasurable) objects is hard to be had (however painful it is to procure them).

2.2.7

samyakpaśyati yastajjño jñātajñeyaḥ sa paṇḍitaḥ .
na svadante balādeva tasmai bhogā mahātmane .. 7

Access to the truth of one’s own Self generally comes to men, / O sage, when distaste for sense objects arises through [seeing] their worthlessness. 6

7. [Sanskrit available] He who fully comprehends a thing, is said to know it, and who so knows what is knowable, is called a learned man; no earthly enjoyments can be delectable to such high minded men.

2.2.8

yaśaḥprabhṛtinā yasmai hetunaiva vinā punaḥ .
bhuvi bhogā na rocante sa jīvanmukta ucyate .. 8

He who sees rightly is a knower of that truth; he is the learned one who has known what is to be known. / To that great-souled one, worldly pleasures, even by force, bring no delight. 7

8. [Sanskrit available]
The mind that has no zest for earthly pleasures, except the glory of disinterested deeds, is said to be liberated even in the present life.

2.2.9

jñeyaṃ yāvanna vijñātaṃ tāvattāvanna jāyate .
viṣayeṣvaratirjantormarubhūmau latā yathā .. 9

He who has no taste for pleasures on earth, even without any cause such as fame, / is called one liberated while living. 8

9. [Sanskrit available] As there grows no vegetable in a sterile soil, so there grows no disinclination to worldliness, until one comes to know the knowable reality (i. e. to say: neither the godly can be worldly, nor the worldly be godly).

2.2.10

ataeva hi vijñātajñeyaṃ viddhi raghūdvaham .
yadenaṃ rañjayantyetā na ramyā bhogabhūmayaḥ .. 10

As long as what is to be known is not known, so long does there not arise

10. [Sanskrit available]
Hence know this supporter of Raghu's race to have verily known the knowable, which has made him disgusted with his princely enjoyments.

2.2.11

rāmo yadantarjānāti tadvastvityeva sanmukhāt .
ākarṇya cittaviśrāntimāpnotyeva munīśvarāḥ .. 11

a creature's disaffection for sense objects, like a creeper in a desert. 9

11. [Sanskrit available]
I tell you great sages that, whatever Rama has come to know by his intuition, requires to be confirmed by Vasishtha for the tranquility of his mind.

2.2.12

kevalaṃ kevalībhāvaviśrāntiṃ samapekṣate .
rāmabuddhiḥ śarallakṣmīḥ khalu viśramaṇaṃ yathā .. 12

Therefore, know the scion of Raghu to be one who has known what is to be known, / since these charming spheres of worldly enjoyment do not captivate him. 10

12. [Sanskrit available]
It is only a reliance in the Unity, that Rama now requires for his repose, just as the beauty of autumn depends on the clearness of the firmament.

2.2.13

atrāsya cittaviśrāntyai rāghavasya mahātmanaḥ .
yuktiṃ kathayatu śrīmānvasiṣṭho bhagavānayam .. 13

Hearing from the mouth of the virtuous that the reality is indeed what he knows within, / Rāma will attain rest for his mind, O lords of sages. 11

13. [Sanskrit available]
Let the venerable Vasishtha then reason with the high minded Rama, and restore the peace of his mind.

2.2.14

raghūṇāmeṣa sarveṣāṃ prabhuḥ kulaguruḥ sadā .
sarvajñaḥ sarvasākṣī ca trikālāmaladarśanaḥ .. 14

Rāma’s intellect only awaits rest in the state of aloneness, / just as the beauty of autumn awaits its culmination. 12

14. [Sanskrit available] For he is the master and family preceptor of the whole race of the Raghus; besides he is all knowing and all seeing; and has a clear insight (into all things) of the three times (present, past and future).

2.2.15

vasiṣṭha bhagavanpūrvaṃ kaccitsmarasi yatsvayam .
āvayorvairaśāntyarthaṃ śreyase ca mahādhiyām .. 15

Here, for the mental rest of this great-souled descendant of Raghu, / let this illustrious and venerable Vasiṣṭha explain the means. 13

Then addressing himself to vasishtha he said:—
15. [Sanskrit available]
you well remember sir, the instruction given us of old, for pacifying our mutual enmity, and promoting the welfare of the high minded sages.

2.2.16

niṣadhādrermunīnāṃ ca sānau saralasaṃkule .
upadiṣṭaṃ bhagavatā jñānaṃ padmabhuvā bahu .. 16

He is the master and perpetual family preceptor of all the Raghus, / omniscient, the witness of all, whose clear sight extends through the three times. 14

16. [Sanskrit available] When our lord the lotus-born Brahma, seated on the table land of Nishadha mountain, and shaded by the Sarala trees, delivered his wise lectures to us and the sages.

2.2.17

yena yuktimatā brahmanjñāneneyaṃ hi vāsanā .
sāṃsārī nūnamāyāti śamaṃ śyāmeva bhāsvatā .. 17

O venerable Vasiṣṭha, surely you recall what / was formerly taught in abundance by the lotus-born Lord himself, 15

17. [Sanskrit available]
It is by means of that knowledge of liberation that our worldly desires are dispelled like the darkness of night by sun-beams.

2.2.18

tadeva yuktimajjñeyaṃ rāmāyāntenivāsine .
brahmannupadiśāśu tvaṃ yena viśrāntimeṣyati .. 18

on the slope of Mount Niṣadha, crowded with pine trees, to the sages, / for the pacification of our enmity and for the welfare of the great-minded: 16

18. [Sanskrit available]
Please now, O Brahman, to communicate that rational knowledge of the knowable to your pupil Rama, whereby he may gain the peace of his mind.

2.2.19

kadarthanā ca naivaiṣā rāmo hi gatakalpaṣaḥ .
nirmale mukure vaktramayatnenaiva bimbati .. 19

the knowledge endowed with reasoning, O Brahman, by which this worldly / latent impression indeed attains quiescence, just as darkness does by the sun. 17

19. [Sanskrit available]
It will be no difficult task for you to teach the spotless Rama, whose mirror-like mind is quite clear to take the reflection.

2.2.20

tajjñānaṃ sa ca śāstrārthastvadvaidagdhyamaninditam .
sacchiṣyāya viraktāya sādho yadupadiśyate .. 20

O Brahman, quickly teach to Rāma, your close disciple, that very knowledge / endowed with reasoning, through which he will attain rest. 18

20. [Sanskrit available] The wisdom of the holy, their learning of the Sastras, and the scholarship of the learned, are then only praiseworthy, when they are communicated to a good student, and those who are disgusted with the world.

2.2.21

aśiṣyāyāviraktāya yatkiṃcidupadiśyate .
tatprayātyapavitratvaṃ gokṣīraṃ śvadṛtāviva .. 21

And this will not be a vexation, for Rāma is free of taint; / in a clear mirror, a face is reflected without any effort. 19

21. [Sanskrit available]
But instruction given to one who is no student nor disgusted with the world, becomes as polluted as milk put in a hide vessel.

2.2.22

vītarāgabhayakrodhā nirmānā galitainasaḥ .
vadanti tvādṛśā yatra tatra viśrāmyatīha dhīḥ .. 22

O noble one, that is true knowledge, that is the meaning of the scriptures, and that is your faultless wisdom, / which is taught to a good disciple who has attained dispassion. 20

22. [Sanskrit available]
Again the instruction imparted by one devoid of passions and affections, fear and anger, pride and sin, serves to infuse tranquility into the mind.

2.2.23

ityukte gādhiputreṇa vyāsanāradapūrvakāḥ .
munayaste tamevārthaṃ sādhusādhvityapūjayan .. 23

Whatever is taught to a non-disciple who lacks dispassion / goes to impurity, like cow's milk in a dog’s skin bag. 21

23. [Sanskrit available] At these words of Viswamitra the son of Gadhi, the assembled sages Vyasa, Narada and others, honoured his saying with the exclamation "bravo", "well said"&c.

2.2.24

athovāca mahātejā rājñaḥ pārśve vyavasthitaḥ .
brahmeva brahmaṇaḥ putro vasiṣṭho bhagavānmuniḥ .. 24

Where those like you speak—free from passion, fear, and anger, devoid of pride, and cleansed of sin— / there the intellect finds rest in this world. 22

24. [Sanskrit available]
Then the venerable Vasishtha brilliant as Brahma his father, and seated by the side of the king, spoke in reply:

2.2.25

śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca .
mune yadādiśasi me tadavighnaṃ karomyaham .
kaḥ samarthaḥ samartho'pi satāṃ laṅghayituṃ vacaḥ .. 25

When this was spoken by the son of Gādhi, those sages, / led by Vyāsa and Nārada, praised that very matter, saying, “Well said! Well said!” 23

25. [Sanskrit available]
O sage, I will perform without fail, what you have commanded me to do, for who, though mighty, can refuse to perform the behests of the good and wise?

2.2.26

ahaṃ hi rājaputrāṇāṃ rāmādīnāṃ manastamaḥ .
jñānenāpanayāmyāśu dīpeneva niśātamaḥ .. 26

Then the venerable sage Vasiṣṭha, of great splendor, / seated beside the king like Brahmā beside Brahman's son, spoke: 24

26. [Sanskrit available]
I will destroy the mental darkness of the princes Rama and others by the light of knowledge, as we dispel the gloom of night by the light of a lamp.

2.2.27

smarāmyakhaṇḍitaṃ sarva saṃsārabhramaśāntaye .
niṣadhādrau purā proktaṃ yajjñānaṃ padmajanmanā .. 27

Venerable Vasiṣṭha said: / O sage, I will carry out without obstacle whatever you enjoin upon me. / Who, even if capable, is able to transgress the word of the virtuous? 25

27. [Sanskrit available]
I well remember the instructions which were given of yore by the lotus-born Brahma on the Nishadha mountain, for dispelling the errors of the world.

2.2.28

vālmīkiruvāca .
iti nigaditavānasau mahātmā
parikarabandhagṛhītavaktṛtejāḥ .
akathayadidamajñatopaśāntyai
paramapadaikavibodhanaṃ vasiṣṭhaḥ .. 28

Indeed, I will quickly dispel with knowledge the mental darkness / of the princes, beginning with Rāma, as a lamp dispels the darkness of night. 26

28. [Sanskrit available] Having said so, the high-minded Vasishtha made up his mind as one girds up his loins, to deliver his lecture to Rama for dispelling his ignorance, and showing him the state of supreme felicity.

2.2.28_2

ityārṣe śrīvāsiṣṭhamahārāmāyaṇe vālmīkīye mumukṣuvyavahāraprakaraṇe viśvāmitravākyaṃ nāma dvitīyaḥ sargaḥ.