Vasiṣṭha's teaching (Mahārāmāyaṇa) 6.28

6.28.1

aṣṭāviṃśaḥ sargaḥ 28
śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca .
evaṃ bhuśuṇḍavṛttāntaḥ kathitaste mayānagha .
anayā prajñayā tīrṇo bhuśuṇḍo mohasaṃkaṭāt .. 1

Chapter Twenty-Eight // Śrī Vasiṣṭha said: / Thus, O sinless one, the account of Bhuśuṇḍa has been narrated to you by me. / By means of this wisdom, Bhuśuṇḍa crossed over the distress of delusion.

Vasishtha said:—
1. [Sanskrit available] I have thus far related to you, O sinless Rama! the narrative of Bhusunda; who had passed over the perilous sea of delusion, by means of his intelligence and wisdom.

6.28.2

etāṃ dṛṣṭimavaṣṭabhya svaprāṇābhyāsapūrvikām .
bhuśuṇḍavanmahābāho bhava tīrṇamahārṇavaḥ .. 2

Resting upon this view, preceded by the practice of one's own breath, / cross over the vast ocean, O mighty-armed one, just like Bhuśuṇḍa.

2. [Sanskrit available] Keeping this instance in view, and following his practice of pranayama or regulation of breath; you will also, O mighty armed Rama! pass over the wide ocean of this hazardous ocean.

6.28.3

yathā jñānena yogena saṃtatābhyāsajanmanā .
bhuśuṇḍaḥ prāptavānprāpyaṃ tathāsādaya tatpadam .. 3

Just as Bhuśuṇḍa attained what was to be attained through knowledge and yoga / arising from uninterrupted practice, so also reach that state.

3. [Sanskrit available] As Bhusunda has obtained the obtainable one, by means of his knowledge and by virtue of his continued practice of yoga; so do you strive to gain the same by imitation of his example.

6.28.4

asaktabuddhayaḥ sarve bhuśuṇḍavadavasthitim .
prāpnuvanti pare tattve prāṇāpānāvalokinaḥ .. 4

All those of unattached intellect who observe the incoming and outgoing breaths / attain an abiding in the supreme reality, like Bhuśuṇḍa.

4. [Sanskrit available] Men of uninfatuated understanding may attain the stability of Bhusunda, and their reliance in the transcendental truth like him by their attending to the practice of pranayama or restraining of their breath.

6.28.5

etā vicitrā bhavatā śrutā vijñānadṛṣṭayaḥ .
idānīṃ dhiyamālambya yathecchasi tathā kuru .. 5

These various insights of higher knowledge have been heard by you. / Now, relying on your intellect, do as you wish.

5. [Sanskrit available] Thus you have heard me relate to you many things, relating to true knowledge; it now depends on your own understanding to do as you may like to choose for yourself. (Either to betake yourself to spiritual knowledge or the practice of pranayama or either as the gloss explains it, either to esoteric contemplation yoga or exoteric adoration upasana).

6.28.6

śrīrāma uvāca .
bhagavanbhavatā bhūmibhāsvatā jñānaraśmibhiḥ .
hārdamuddāmadaurātmyaṃ pramṛṣṭamakhilaṃ tamaḥ .. 6

Śrī Rāma said: / O venerable one, by you, the sun upon earth, by the rays of knowledge, / the wild wickedness within the heart and all darkness have been wiped away.

Rama replied:—
6. [Sanskrit available] you sir, that are the luminous sun of spiritual light on earth, have dispelled the thick gloom of unspiritual knowledge from my mind at once (by transcendental light of your holy lectures).

6.28.7

prabuddhāḥ smaḥ prahṛṣṭāḥ smaḥ praviṣṭāḥ smaḥ svamāspadam .
sthitāḥ smo jñātavijñeyā bhavanto hyaparā iva .. 7

We are awakened, we are delighted, we have entered into our own abode; / having known the knowable, we abide like another [manifestation of] yourself.

7. [Sanskrit available] I am fully awake to and joyous in my divine knowledge, and have entered into my state of spirituality; I have known the knowable, and am seated in my divine state like yourself.

6.28.8

aho bhuśuṇḍacaritaṃ paraṃ vismayakārakam .
bhagavanbhavatā proktamuttamārthāvabodhanam .. 8

Ah, the life of Bhuśuṇḍa is exceedingly wondrous, / which was recounted by you, O venerable one, awakening the highest understanding!

8. [Sanskrit available] O the wondrous memoir of Bhusunda that you have narrated! It fills me with admiration, and is fraught with the best instruction. (Lit. it is instructive of the highest wisdom).

6.28.9

bhuśuṇḍacarite brahmannetasminkathite tvayā .
yaccharīragṛhaṃ proktaṃ māṃsacarmāsthinirmitam .. 9

O Brahman, in this life of Bhuśuṇḍa related by you, / that which was called the house of the body, constructed of flesh, skin, and bones—

9. [Sanskrit available] In the account that you have given of Bhusunda, you have said that the body is the abode of the soul, and is composed of flesh and blood, and of the inner bones and outer skin (as its materials and plaster).

6.28.10

tatkena nāma racitaṃ kuto vā tatsamutthitam .
kathaṃ vā sthitimāyātaṃ ko vā tatrāvatiṣṭhate .. 10

By whom, indeed, was it constructed, or from where did it arise? / Or how did it come to exist, and who abides in it?

10. [Sanskrit available]
Please tell me sir, who made this fabric and how it came to be formed; how it is made to last, and who abides therein.

6.28.11

śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca .
paramārthāvabodhāya doṣāpākaraṇāya ca .
śrṛṇu rāghava tattvena vakṣyamāṇamidaṃ mayā .. 11

Śrī Vasiṣṭha said: / For the understanding of the supreme truth and for the removal of error, / hear, O descendant of Raghu, this which is to be spoken by me in truth.

11. [Sanskrit available] Vasishtha answered: Listen now Rama, to what I will relate to you for the instruction of the supreme knowledge, as also for removal of the evils which have taken root instead of true knowledge.

6.28.12

asthisthūṇaṃ navadvāraṃ raktamāṃsāvalepanam .
śarīrasadanaṃ rāma na kenacididaṃ kṛtam .. 12

Having bones for pillars, nine gates, and an ointment of blood and flesh, / this house of the body, O Rāma, was made by no one.

12. [Sanskrit available] This dwelling of the body, Rama! which has the bones for its posts, and the blood and flesh for its mortar, and the nine holes for so many windows, is built by no one: (but is formed of itself).

6.28.13

ābhāsamātramevedamitthamevāvabhāsate .
dvicandravibhramākāraṃ sadasacca vyavasthitam .. 13

It is merely an appearance, which shines forth just like this; / taking the form of the illusion of two moons, it is established as both real and unreal.

13. [Sanskrit available] It is a mere reflection, and reflects itself so to our vision; as the appearance of two moons in the sky by illusion, is both real as well as unreal. (This vedantic doctrine is opposed to the popular faith of the creatorship of God).

6.28.14

dvicandradarśanavidhau candradvitvaṃ sadaiva hi .
vastutaścaika evenduḥ sthito dehastathaiva hi .. 14

In the occurrence of the perception of two moons, the duality of moons is always present; / but in reality, there exists only one moon; just so is the body.

14. [Sanskrit available] It may be right to speak of two moons from their double appearance to our sight, but in reality there is but one moon and the other its reflection. (So are all phenomenal bodies but reflections of the noumenal).

6.28.15

dehapratyayakāle hi deho'yaṃ samavasthitaḥ .
asanneva ca sattasmātproktaḥ sadasadātmakaḥ .. 15

At the time of the cognition of the body, this body is indeed established; / being non-existent, it yet seems existent; therefore, it is said to partake of both being and non-being.

15. [Sanskrit available] The belief of the existence of body makes it a reality, the unreal seems as real, and therefore it is said to be both real and unreal at the same time. (The perception is real but the object of perception an unreality. Just so the perception of a snake in the rope may be true, though the snake in the rope is quite untrue).

6.28.16

svapne svapnāvabodhaḥ saṃstvanyadā sa mudhaiva hi .
budbudo budbudavidhau satyo mithyaiva cānyadā .. 16

Awareness of a dream is real in a dream, but at other times it is entirely vain; / a bubble is real in the condition of being a bubble, and unreal at another time.

16. [Sanskrit available] Any thing seen in a dream is true as a dream, and appears to be so in the state of dreaming, but afterwards it proves to be untrue, so a bubble of water is true as a bubble, which comes to be known afterwards to be false in reality. (So all things appearing to be true to sight, vanish into nothing when they are judged aright, and even a judge may deem a thing as just, which upon further and right investigation is known as unjust).

6.28.17

deho dehavidhau satyo hyasatya itaradvidhau .
pratibhāsavidhau tāvajjalaṃ sadasadanyadā .. 17

The body is real in the condition of the body, but unreal in another condition; / in the state of its appearance, water [in a mirage seems real], but it is unreal at other times.

17. [Sanskrit available] The body seems to be substantiality in the doing of bodily actions, but it proves otherwise when we view the essentiality of the spirit only; so the reflection of the sun on the sandy desert, makes the mirage appear as water, whose reality proves to be unreal the next moment: (so it is of the body).

6.28.18

pratibhāsavidhau dehaḥ sannasaṃścānyadā smṛtaḥ .
ābhāsamātramevedamitthaṃ saṃprati bhāsate .. 18

The body is regarded as real in the condition of its appearance, and unreal at other times; / it is only an appearance that currently shines forth in this way.

18. [Sanskrit available]
The body existing as a reflection disappears the next moment. It is no more than a reflection, and so it reflects itself.

6.28.19

ayaṃ nāmāhamityantargṛhītamananaṃ sthitam .
māṃsāsthimayanirmāṇadeho'hamiti vibhramam .. 19

The thought conceived within, “I am this name,” abides— / the delusion that “I am this body made of flesh and bones.”

19. [Sanskrit available] It is your error to think that you are the material body which is made of flesh and bones. It is the inward thought of your mind that is situated in the body, and makes you to think yourself as so and so and such a one. (The reminiscence of the mind of its former body, causes to think itself as an embodied being, in all its repeated transmigrations. Gloss).

6.28.20

tyaja saṃkalpanirmāṇadehāḥ santi sahasraśaḥ .
sukhatalpagato yena svapnadehena diktaṭān .. 20

Cast it off; there are thousands of bodies constructed of volition. / Lying upon a pleasant couch, that dream-body with which you wander

20. [Sanskrit available] Forsake therefore the body that you build for yourself at your own will, and be not like them, who while they are asleep on their pleasant beds, deport themselves to various countries with their dreaming bodies:(which are all false and unreal).

6.28.21

paribhramasi he rāma sa dehaste kva saṃsthitaḥ .
jāgarāyāṃ manorājye yena svargapurāntaram .. 21

over the distant horizons, O Rāma—where is that body of yours situated? / That body with which, in daydreaming during the waking state, you roam

21. [Sanskrit available] See, O Rama! how you deport yourself to the kingdom of heaven even in your waking state, in the fanciful reverie of your mind;say then where is your body situated. (It neither accompanies the mind to heaven, nor is it on earth being unperceived and unaccompanied by the mind).

6.28.22

paribhramasi meruṃ vā sa dehaste kva saṃsthitaḥ .
svapneṣvapi ca yaḥ svapnastatra yena mahītaṭān .. 22

into another city of heaven or around Mount Meru—where is that body of yours situated? / And that dream which occurs even within dreams, through which

22. [Sanskrit available] Say Rama, where is your body situated, when your mind wanders on the Meru in your dream, and when you dream to ramble with your body about the skirts of this earth.

6.28.23

paribhramasi he rāma sa dehaste kva saṃsthitaḥ .
manorājyaṃ manorājye mahadvibhavabhūmiṣu .. 23

you wander over the expanses of the earth, O Rāma—where is that body of yours situated? / A reverie within a reverie, in realms of great splendor—

23. [Sanskrit available] Think Rama, how you seem to saunter about the rich domains (of the gods) in the fancied kingdom of your mind, and tell me whether you are then and there accompanied with your body, or is it left behind.

6.28.24

paribhramasi yeneha sa dehaste kva saṃsthitaḥ .
gatairdehairmanorājye yā vicitrā jagatkriyāḥ .. 24

that body through which you roam here—where is that body of yours situated? / The various activities of the world which you perform with gone-by bodies

24. [Sanskrit available] Tell me, where is that body of yours situated; when you think of doing many of your bodily and worldly acts without your body, in the fancied realm of your mind.

6.28.25

prakaroṣi mahābāho te dehāste kva saṃsthitāḥ .
vilāsinyānurāgiṇyā yena saṃkalpakāntayā .. 25

in daydreaming, O mighty-armed one—where are those bodies of yours situated? / That body with which you attain delight with an enchanting, loving woman

25. [Sanskrit available] Tell me, O strong armed Rama! where are those members of your body situated; with which you think to coquette and caress your loving courtezans in the court of your painful mind.

6.28.26

nirvṛtiṃ yāsi dehena sa dehaste kva saṃsthitaḥ .
ete rāma yathā dehā manasaḥ sadasanmayāḥ .. 26

born of volition—where is that body of yours situated? / Just as these bodies, O Rāma, consist of the real and unreal forms of the mind,

26. [Sanskrit available] Where is that body of yours, with which you seem to enjoy anything;the enjoyment belongs to the mind and not to the body, and both of them are real as well as unreal, owing to their presence at one time and absence at another.

6.28.27

tathaiva tādṛśācāro deho'yaṃ manasaḥ smṛtaḥ .
idaṃ dhanamayaṃ deho deśo'yamiti vibhramaḥ .. 27

so too this body, possessing such conduct, is considered to belong to the mind. / The delusion that “this is wealth,” “this is the body,” “this is a country”:

27. [Sanskrit available] The body and the mind are known to be present with coeval with their actions, and they participate with one another in their mutual acts (without which they are said to be inexistent). Therefore it is erroneous to say that, I am this body and am situated here, and these things are mine, all which are illusory and caused by illusion. (Egoism and meity are illusive ideas).

6.28.28

tatsarvaṃ cittavīryasya saṃkalpasya vijṛmbhitam .
dīrghasvapnamimaṃ viddhi dīrghaṃ vā cittavibhramam .. 28

all of that is the manifestation of volition, the power of the mind. / Know this transmigratory existence, O joy of Raghu,

28. [Sanskrit available]
All this is the manifestation of the will or energy of the mind, and you must know it either as a long dream or lengthened fallacy of the mind.

6.28.29

dīrghaṃ vāpi manorājyaṃ saṃsāraṃ raghunandana .
prabodhameṣyasi yadā paramātmecchayā svayā .. 29

to be a long dream, or a long delusion of the mind, / or a long daydream. When you awaken through your own desire for the supreme Self,

29. [Sanskrit available] Know this world, O son of Raghu's race, to be a display of the vast kingdom of your imagination, and will vanish into nothing, when you will come to your good understanding by the grace of your God.

6.28.30

drakṣyasi tvaṃ tadā samyagidamarkodaye yathā .
svapnasaṃkalpajālena yathānyaiva jagatsthitiḥ .. 30

then you will perceive this clearly, just as at the rising of the sun. / Just as the existence of another world is fashioned by the web of dream and volition,

30. [Sanskrit available] You will then see the whole as clearly as in the light of the rising sun, and know this would to be like a creation of your dream or volition. (i.e. as you wish to have a thing for yourself).

6.28.31

tathaiveyaṃ hi saṃkalpakalanā kācideva hi .
yathā pūrvaṃ mayotpattiḥ proktā kamalajanmanaḥ .. 31

so too is this [world] merely a certain fabrication of volition. / Just as the origin of the Lotus-born [Brahmā] was previously described by me,

31. [Sanskrit available]
So is this world a display of the will of the lotus-born Brahma, as I have said before in length in the book of creation.

6.28.32

manasaḥ svayamevāntaḥsaṃkalpakalanodbhavā .
vicitraracanopetaṃ manastatrāttavibhramam .. 32

arising spontaneously from the fabrication of volition within the mind, / so too the mind, possessing varied creations, assumed delusion there.

32. [Sanskrit available] There rises of itself a willful creation within the mind, and out of its own accord as if it were so ordained by destiny; and the mind being fully possest of the great variety of forms, is lost at last into the error of taking them for true.

6.28.33

saṃkalpakalanāmātraṃ tathedamavabhāsanam .
yathā kalpita ābhāso manaso'bjajatāṃ gataḥ .. 33

This appearance is likewise merely the fabrication of volition. / Just as the imagined appearance of the mind assumed the state of the Lotus-born,

33. [Sanskrit available] It is a creation of the will only and a display of it in the same manner, as the fancied chimera of Brahmanship had possessed the minds of the sons of Indu. (See the narrative of Indu's sons in the upasama Prakarana).

6.28.34

dehādvicintito dehaḥ sthito'nyastadvadeva hi .
prākpravāhacirābhyasto vāsanātiśayena yaḥ .. 34

so another body was conceived from a body and stood just like that; / which, long practiced through an earlier stream, [arises] by an excess of latent impressions.

34. [Sanskrit available] After the soul has passed from its former frame, it receives the same form which it has in view before it after the fancy of the mind, which is either of the kind, to which it has been long used and accustomed, or what it fondly longs in the mind.

6.28.35

tathaiva dṛśyate dehastathā''kṛtyudayena saḥ .
pauruṣeṇa prayatnena saṃkalpo hyayameva cit .. 35

Just so the body is seen, with the arising of its form;
for this volition is indeed consciousness itself, through human effort. 35

35. [Sanskrit available] The body shows itself in the form as it is shaped by the prior acts of a person, and is also convertible to the intellect by the manly exertions of some: (whose corporeal bodies may become intellectual beings, as some persons have mere brutal, while others are highly intellectual).

6.28.36

anyathā bhāvyate rāma bhūyate tadihānyathā .
ayaṃ so'yaṃ mamāyaṃ ca saṃsāra iti bhāvite .. 36

If it is conceived otherwise, O Rāma, it becomes otherwise here;
when it is conceived: "This is he, this is mine, and this is transmigratory existence." 36

36. [Sanskrit available] He that thinks himself as another, is transformed to the nature of that air (as it is the pattern that moulds a thing after its own model): and the thought that you are this or that, and have this thing or others for yourself, is what actually makes you so in this world. (The metamorphose of the natures and forms of things and persons to other kinds in Ovid, were all owing to their tendencies and inclinations towards them).

6.28.37

satyo yo bhāvyate rāma bhāvanādārḍhyasaṃbhavaḥ .
bhāvitaṃ tīvravegena yadevāśu tadeva hi .. 37

Whatever is conceived as real, O Rāma, arises from the firmness of the conception;
whatever is conceived with intense speed, that very thing quickly [appears]. 37

37. [Sanskrit available] Whatever is thought upon keenly and firmly, the same comes to take place accordingly; and whatever is thought of with intense and great force of thought, the same must occur in a short time:(so are all things done to which we set our minds).

6.28.38

sarvatra dṛśyate rāma kāntevātyantavallabhā .
aharvyāvṛttirabhyastā yathā svapneṣu dṛśyate .. 38

Everywhere it is seen, O Rāma, like a deeply beloved woman;
just as the routine of the day, having been practiced, is seen in dreams, 38

38. [Sanskrit available] We see every day the objects of our desire, presenting their fair forms to our view, like the comely faces of our beloved ones present before our sight, in the same manner as the sights in a dream and distant objects, are recalled to the mind of men; with their closed and half-shut eyes. (This is the doctrine of reminiscence which reproduces our long remembered bodies to us).

6.28.39

tathāyaṃ bhāvanābhyastaḥ saṃsāro'pyavalokyate .
yathā svapnāvanau kṣipramaharyadavabhāsate .. 39

so also this transmigratory existence, practiced through conception, is perceived;
just as, on the ground of a dream, daytime quickly shines forth, 39

39. [Sanskrit available] This world is said to be a creation of the thoughts of men, and appears to sight from habitual reflection of it, in the same manner as the sights in a dream, appear to the mind of a man in the day time.

6.28.40

tathedamalpakālasthamapi saṃlakṣyate sthiram .
vyomanyeva yathā tāpatapte saṃdṛśyate sarit .. 40

so this, even though enduring but a short time, appears firm;
just as in the very sky, scorched by heat, a river is seen, 40

40. [Sanskrit available] The temporary world appears to be as lasting, as the river which appears in the sky under the burning sunshine. (Though in fact both of them are equally evanescent).

6.28.41

dharāpyavidyamānāpi saṃkalpāddṛśyate tathā .
dṛśyate dṛṣṭivairūpyādyathā vyomani picchikā .. 41

so the earth, though non-existent, is seen through volition;
just as, through a defect of sight, a net of peacock feathers is seen in the sky, 41

41. [Sanskrit available] This inexistent earth also appears as existent in our cogitation, as there appears bundles of peacock's feathers in the sky to the vitiated or purblind eye.

6.28.42

tathaiveyaṃ jagallakṣmīrdurjñānādavabhāsate .
dṛśyate samayā dṛṣṭyā na yathā vyomni picchikā ..42

even so this splendor of the world shines forth from false knowledge;
just as, with proper sight, the net of feathers is not seen in the sky, 42

42. [Sanskrit available] It is only the vitiated understanding that dwells upon the beauties of creation, as the vitiated eye sight looks upon the various tinges in the sky. But to the clear sighted understanding the one is as evanescent, as the other is to the clear sighted eye.

6.28.43

samyagdṛṣṭyā jagallakṣmīstatheyaṃ nāvabhāsate .
bhīrurabhyeti na yathā svasaṃkalpeṣu saṃbhramam .. 43

so with correct sight this splendor of the world does not shine forth;
just as a timid person does not experience panic toward their own volitions, 43

43. [Sanskrit available]
The sharp sighted man is never led away by the display of worldly grandeur, as even the most timid man is never afraid of a tiger in his imagination.

43a. This great show of worldly grandeur can never mislead the penetrating sight of the wise, as a monstrous creature of imagination cannot terrify even the most timid. (Because the one knows the falsity of the show as well as the other does that of imaginary monster).

6.28.44

svasaṃkalpe hi saṃsāre na tathaiti bhayaṃ sudhīḥ .
sva eva hi svabhāvo'yamitthaṃ saṃprati bhāsate .. 44

so the wise person experiences no fear toward transmigratory existence, which is their own volition;
for this is one's own essential nature, appearing in this manner at present. 44

44. [Sanskrit available] The wise man is never afraid of his imaginary world, which he knows to be the production of his own mind, from its nature of self-evolution bahir mukhata. (The mind is naturally possessed of both its power of self involution in the interior soul, as also that of its evolving itself in the form of the exterior world).

6.28.45

saṃsārasaraṇisthityāṃ kasmātko'tra vibheti kim .
sa eva kiṃcitsaṃśodhyaḥ śuddhyā vimalatāṃ gate .. 45

In the course of transmigratory existence, who here fears whom, and why?
That very [nature] should be somewhat purified; when it attains purity through purification, 45

45. [Sanskrit available] He that has stood in the path of this world, needs not fear for any thing in it, and he that is afraid of it for fear of falling into its errors, should learn to purify his understanding from all its dross and impurity. (Stretch your mind, and the world will appear to light, curb it in yourself and every thing will disappear from view).

6.28.46

tasminna dṛśyate rāma moho'yaṃ jagataḥ sthitaḥ .
samyagālokamātreṇa svabhāvaḥ śuddhimṛcchati .. 46

in it, O Rāma, this persistent delusion of the world is not seen;
by mere correct vision, one's nature attains purity; 46

46. [Sanskrit available] Know Rama, that the soul is free from the erroneous conception of the world, and from the errors which pervade all over it. Look well into these things, and you will have a nature as pure as your inward soul.

6.28.47

na gṛhṇāti malaṃ bhūyastāmratāmiva kāñcanam .
ābhāsamātramevedaṃ na sannāsajjagattrayam .. 47

it takes on impurity no more, like gold does not take on the nature of copper.
This triple world is only an appearance; it is neither real nor unreal. 47

47. [Sanskrit available] The soul is not soiled by impurity, as a pure gold is not spoiled by dirt; and though it may sometimes appear to be tarnished as copper, yet it soon resumes its colour after its dirt is cleansed or burnt away. Thus the world being a reflection of the omnipresent Brahma, is neither an entity nor a nonentity of its own nature.

6.28.48

ityanyakalanātyāgaḥ samyagālokanaṃ viduḥ .
maraṇaṃ jīvitaṃ svargo jñānamajñānameva ca .. 48

The abandonment of all other conceptualization is known as correct vision;
death, life, heaven, knowledge, and indeed ignorance, 48

48. [Sanskrit available] Thus the abandonment of all other thoughts, besides that of the universal soul or Brahma, is called the true discernment of the mind;which derives the thoughts of life and death, heaven and hell into nothing, and proves all knowledge to be ignorance alone.

6.28.49

cidābhāsādṛte nāstītyekatā samyagīkṣaṇam .
tvamahaṃtādisaṃsāra iti me na diśo daśa .. 49

do not exist apart from the appearance of consciousness—this oneness is correct seeing;
"The transmigratory existence beginning with 'you' and 'I' does not belong to me, nor do the ten directions; 49

49. [Sanskrit available] The knowledge of the nullity of everything, except its being a reflection of the Intellect, is called the individuality and right discernment of the mind, which removes the thought of the separate and independent existence of the ego and tu, and also of this world and its ten sides: (i.e. of the subjective as well as the objective).

6.28.50

sarvaṃ svābhāsameveti samyagālokanaṃ viduḥ .
sadasanmayasaṃsāre yathā bhūtārthadarśanāt .. 50

everything is only an appearance of oneself"—this the wise know as correct vision;
from seeing the true state of things in transmigratory existence, which is made of the real and unreal, 50

50. [Sanskrit available] That all things are but reflections of the soul, is what is known as the true and right discernment of the mind; and is derived from its observation of true nature of things in this real and unreal world. (The real is the spiritualistic view of the world, and the unreal is illusory phenomenal appearance).

6.28.51

nāstameti na codeti samyagālokanānmanaḥ .
nirṇīya sarvabhāvānāmasattvaṃ sattvameva ca .. 51

the mind, through correct vision, neither sets nor rises;
having ascertained the unreality and the reality of all existing things, 51

51. [Sanskrit available] That nothing rises or sets or appears or disappears in this world, is what the mind perceives by its right discernment of things; and by its investigation into the true and apparent natures of all. (In their true light all things are in a state of continued revolution, and nothing rises anew to view or disappears into nothing).

6.28.52

niṣkāmaṃ śāntimabhyeti samyagālokanānmanaḥ .
na nindati na ca stauti na hṛṣyati na śocati ..52

the mind, free from desire, attains peace through correct vision;
it does not blame and does not praise, it does not rejoice and does not grieve. 52

52. [Sanskrit available] Right discernment gives the mind its peace and tranquillity, and its freedom from all desires; and makes it indifferent to joy and grief, and callous to all praise and censure.

6.28.53

śītalāṃ satyatāmeti samyagālokanānmanaḥ .
avaśyameva martavyaṃ sarvaireva hi bandhubhiḥ .. 53

Through correct vision, the mind attains cool reality:
"All relatives must inevitably die; 53

53. [Sanskrit available] The mind comes to find this truth as the cooling balsam of the heart, that we are all doomed to die one day or other, with all our friends and relations in this world of mortality.

6.28.54

iti bandhuviyogeṣu kiṃ vṛthā paritapyase .
avaśyameva ca mayā martavyamiti niścayaḥ .. 54

why do you needlessly grieve over the separation from relatives?
And I must inevitably die; this is certain; 54

54. [Sanskrit available] Why therefore should we lament at the demise of our friends, when it is certain that we must die one day sooner or later (and without the certainty of when or where).

6.28.55

ityātmamaraṇaprāptau kiṃ mudhā paritapyase .
avaśyameva jātena kiṃcitsuvibhavādikam .. 55

why do you vainly grieve when the death of the self arrives?
By one who is born, some good fortune and the like 55

55. [Sanskrit available] Thus when we are destined to die ourselves also, without having any power in us to prevent the same; why then should we be sorry for others when we can never prevent also.

6.28.56

prāptavyaṃ puruṣeṇeti harṣasyāvasaro hi kaḥ .
sarvasyaiva hi saṃsāre narasya vyavahāriṇaḥ .. 56

must inevitably be obtained by a man—so what occasion is there for joy?
For every man engaged in worldly activity within transmigratory existence, 56

56. [Sanskrit available] It is certain that any one who has come to be born herein, must have some state and property for his supportance here; but what is the cause of rejoicing in it (when neither our lives nor their means are lasting for ever).

6.28.57

arthāyātā bhavatyāpacchokasyāvasaro hi kaḥ .
bṛṃhatyudeti sphurati budbudaugha ivārṇave .. 57

misfortune comes along with wealth—so what occasion is there for sorrow?
Like a mass of bubbles in the ocean, it expands, rises, and sparkles: 57

57. [Sanskrit available] All men dealing in worldly affairs, gain wealth with toil and pain for their trouble and danger only; what is the reason therefore for pining at its want, or repining at its loss.

58. [Sanskrit available] These spheres of worlds enlarge, expand and rise to our view, like bubbles of water in the sea which swell and float and shine for a time, and then burst and subside in the water of eternity.

6.28.58

idaṃ hi jagatāṃ jālaṃ kimatra paridevanā .
satsadeva sadaivaitadasadevāsadeva hi .. 58

this is indeed the web of worlds; what lamentation is there here?
The real is always only real, and the unreal is indeed always unreal; 58

58. [Sanskrit available] These spheres of worlds enlarge, expand and rise to our view, like bubbles of water in the sea which swell and float and shine for a time, and then burst and subside in the water of eternity.

59. [Sanskrit available] The nature of reality (the entity of Brahma), is real at all times, and the condition of the unreal world is unsubstantial for ever, and can never be otherwise or real, though it may? appear as such for a time. Why then sorrow for what is nil and unreal.

6.28.59

kriyāvaicitryamātre tu kimanyatparidevyate .
nāhamasmi na cābhūvaṃ bhaviṣyāmi na so'dhunā .. 59

but over a mere diversity of activity, what else is to be lamented?
I am not, nor was I, nor will I be; it is not so now; 59

59. [Sanskrit available] The nature of reality (the entity of Brahma), is real at all times, and the condition of the unreal world is unsubstantial for ever, and can never be otherwise or real, though it may? appear as such for a time. Why then sorrow for what is nil and unreal.

60. [Sanskrit available] I am not of this body nor was I in it, nor shall I remain in it; nor is it any thing, even at present, except a picture of the imagination. Why then lament at its loss.

6.28.60

deho'yaṃ citradoṣotthaḥ kimanyatparidevyate .
dehāccedanya evāhaṃ cidābhāsastadaṅga he .. 60

this body arises from manifold defects; what else is to be lamented?
If I am entirely distinct from the body, an appearance of consciousness, then, my friend: 60

60. [Sanskrit available] I am not of this body nor was I in it, nor shall I remain in it; nor is it any thing, even at present, except a picture of the imagination. Why then lament at its loss.

61. [Sanskrit available] If I am something else beside this body, that is a reflection of the pure intellect; then tell me of what avail are these states of reality and unreality to me, and wherefore shall I rejoice or regret.

6.28.61

kau tau me sadasadbhāvau yanniṣṭhaṃ paritapyate .
iti niścayavatsvāntaṃ samyagjñānātmano muneḥ .. 61

what are those two states of being, real and unreal, to me, resting on which one grieves?"
Thus the inner self of the sage, who has the nature of correct knowledge, is possessed of certainty; 61

61. [Sanskrit available] If I am something else beside this body, that is a reflection of the pure intellect; then tell me of what avail are these states of reality and unreality to me, and wherefore shall I rejoice or regret.

62. [Sanskrit available] The Sage who is fully conscious of the certainty of this truth in himself, does not feel any rise or fall of his spirits at his life or death, nor doth he rejoice or wail at either in having or losing his life.

6.28.62

nāstameti na codeti na śāntaṃ paritapyate .
paratāmeva nāśāntāmanuttamapade sthitaḥ .. 62

it neither sets nor rises, and, being peaceful, does not grieve;
established in the unexcelled state, [the sage] does not take up restless otherness, 62

62. [Sanskrit available] The Sage who is fully conscious of the certainty of this truth in himself, does not feel any rise or fall of his spirits at his life or death, nor doth he rejoice or wail at either in having or losing his life.

63. [Sanskrit available] Because he gains after the loss of his gross body, his residence in the transcendental state of Brahma or spiritual existence; as the little bird tittera builds its nest of tender blades, after its grassy habitation is broken down or blown away.

6.28.63

ādatte tittirī mṛdvīṃ tṛṇakoṭimivāmalām .
etadarthamasatye'sminnāsthā kāryā manāgapi .. 63

just as a partridge takes up only a soft, pure blade of grass.
For this reason, not the slightest attachment should be formed toward this unreal [world]; 63

63. [Sanskrit available] Because he gains after the loss of his gross body, his residence in the transcendental state of Brahma or spiritual existence; as the little bird tittera builds its nest of tender blades, after its grassy habitation is broken down or blown away.

64. [Sanskrit available] Therefore we should never rely in our frail and fragile bodies, but bind our souls to the firm rock of Brahma by the strong rope of our faith, as they bind a bull to the post with a strong cord.

6.28.64

surajjveva balīvardo badhyate janturāsthayā .
atastvayā dṛḍhamidamiti nirṇīya buddhitaḥ .. 64

a creature is bound by attachment, just as an ox is by a strong rope.
Therefore, having determined this firmly through the intellect, 64

64. [Sanskrit available] Therefore we should never rely in our frail and fragile bodies, but bind our souls to the firm rock of Brahma by the strong rope of our faith, as they bind a bull to the post with a strong cord.

65. [Sanskrit available] Having thus ascertained the certitude of this truth, rely thy faith on the reality of thy spiritual essence, and by giving up thy reliance on thy frail body, manage thyself with indifference in this unreal world.

6.28.65

āsthārahitayā buddhyā vihartavyamihānagha .
kartavyameva kartavyamakartavyamupekṣyate .. 65

one should live here, O sinless one, with an intellect free from attachment;
what is to be done must be done; what is not to be done is disregarded, 65

65. [Sanskrit available] Having thus ascertained the certitude of this truth, rely thy faith on the reality of thy spiritual essence, and by giving up thy reliance on thy frail body, manage thyself with indifference in this unreal world.

66. [Sanskrit available] Adhere to what is thy duty here, and avoid whatever is prohibited to thee; and thus proceed in thy course with an even tenor of thy mind, without minding at all about thy reliance on the one and miscreance of the other.

6.28.66

āsthānāsthe parityajya līlayaiva mahādhiyā .
ābhāsamātramevedaṃ yasya ca pratibhāsate .. 66

having abandoned both attachment and non-attachment effortlessly, with great intelligence.
And to whomsoever this appears as a mere appearance, 66

66. [Sanskrit available] Adhere to what is thy duty here, and avoid whatever is prohibited to thee; and thus proceed in thy course with an even tenor of thy mind, without minding at all about thy reliance on the one and miscreance of the other.

67. [Sanskrit available] He gets a cool composure of his mind; like the coolness at the close of a hot summer-day, who shuts out from his view the reflections of all worldly objects.

6.28.67

so'ntaḥ śītalatāmeti dinānte bhuvanaṃ yathā .
pratibhāsaṃ parityajya padārthapaṭalavraje .. 67

he attains coolness within, like the world at the end of the day.
Abandoning appearance among the multitude of veils of objects, 67

67. [Sanskrit available] He gets a cool composure of his mind; like the coolness at the close of a hot summer-day, who shuts out from his view the reflections of all worldly objects.

68. [Sanskrit available] Look on this universe, O sinless Rama, as one common display of Divine light, like the appearance of day light which is common to all; it is the mind which taints it with various forms, as the sun-beams are reflected in sundry piece by objects.

6.28.68

ābhāsamātrasāmānyamidamālokayānagha .
ābhāsamātrakaṃ rāma cittāmarśakalaṅkitam .. 68

behold this common nature of mere appearance, O sinless one;
a mere appearance, O Rāma, is stained by the touch of the mind; 68

68. [Sanskrit available] Look on this universe, O sinless Rama, as one common display of Divine light, like the appearance of day light which is common to all; it is the mind which taints it with various forms, as the sun-beams are reflected in sundry piece by objects.

69. [Sanskrit available] Therefore forsake all reflections, and be without any impression in thy mind, be of the form of pure intellectual light, which passes through all without being contaminated by any.

6.28.69

tatastadapi saṃtyajya nirābhāso bhavottama .
cidākāśamayo nityaṃ sarvagaḥ sarvavarjitaḥ .. 69

therefore, having abandoned even that, become free of appearance, O best of men,
consisting always of the space of consciousness, all-pervading, free of everything. 69

69. [Sanskrit available] Therefore forsake all reflections, and be without any impression in thy mind, be of the form of pure intellectual light, which passes through all without being contaminated by any.

70. [Sanskrit available] You will be quite stainless by your dismissal of all taints and appearances from your mind, and by your thinking yourself as nothing and having no true enjoyment in this world.

6.28.70

ābhāsasya parityāge bhavasyekāntanirmalaḥ .
nāhamasmi na me bhogāḥ satyā ityabhibhāvite .. 70

Upon the abandonment of appearance, you become completely pure.
When it is conceived: "I do not exist; my pleasures are not real," 70

70. [Sanskrit available] You will be quite stainless by your dismissal of all taints and appearances from your mind, and by your thinking yourself as nothing and having no true enjoyment in this world.

71. [Sanskrit available] That these phenomena are nothing in reality, but they show themselves unto us for our delusion only; and that yourself also are nothing will appear to you, by your thinking the whole as a display of the Divine Intellect.

6.28.71

nedamāḍambaraṃ vyarthamanarthāyāvabhāsate .
ahameva hi vā sarvaṃ cidityevaṃ vibhāvite .. 71

this pomp does not appear as vain or causing harm;
or when it is conceived thus: "I myself am everything, consciousness alone," 71

71. [Sanskrit available] That these phenomena are nothing in reality, but they show themselves unto us for our delusion only; and that yourself also are nothing will appear to you, by your thinking the whole as a display of the Divine Intellect.

72. [Sanskrit available] Again the thought that these phenomena are not false, nor do they lead to our illusion since they are the manifestation of the supreme Intellect, is also very true and leads to your consummation.

6.28.72

nedamāḍambaraṃ vyarthamanarthāyāvabhāsate .
darśanadvayamapyetatsatyamatyantasiddhidam .. 72

this pomp does not appear as vain or causing harm.
Both of these views are true and bestow supreme perfection. 72

72. [Sanskrit available] Again the thought that these phenomena are not false, nor do they lead to our illusion since they are the manifestation of the supreme Intellect, is also very true and leads to your consummation.

73. [Sanskrit available]
It is well Rama, and for your good also if you know either of these; because both of these views will tend equally to your felicity.

6.28.73

yadekametayovetsi ramyaṃ tadrāma saṃśraya .
dvābhyāmevātha vai tābhyāṃ darśanābhyāmihānagha .. 73

Whichever one of these two you know to be delightful, O Rāma, resort to that;
or, O sinless one, living here in accordance with both views, 73

73. [Sanskrit available]
It is well Rama, and for your good also if you know either of these; because both of these views will tend equally to your felicity.

74. [Sanskrit available] Conduct yourself in this manner, O blessed Rama! and lessen gradually all your affection and dislike to this world and all worldly things. (i.e. Neither love nor hate aught at any time).

6.28.74

viharankuru kalyāṇa rāgadveṣaparikṣayam .
yatkiṃciduditaṃ loke yannabhasyatha vā divi .. 74

bring about the destruction of passion and hatred, O auspicious one;
whatever has arisen in the world, or in the atmosphere, or in heaven, 74

74. [Sanskrit available] Conduct yourself in this manner, O blessed Rama! and lessen gradually all your affection and dislike to this world and all worldly things. (i.e. Neither love nor hate aught at any time).

75. [Sanskrit available]
Whatever there exists in this earth, sky and heaven, is all obtainable by you, by means of the relinquishment of your eager desire and hatred.

6.28.75

tatsarvaṃ prāpyate rāma rāgadveṣaparikṣayāt .
rāgādihatayā buddhyā yādṛgrāma viceṣṭitam .. 75

all of that, O Rāma, is obtained through the destruction of passion and hatred;
whatever action is undertaken, O Rāma, with an intellect struck down by passion and the like, 75

75. [Sanskrit available]
Whatever there exists in this earth, sky and heaven, is all obtainable by you, by means of the relinquishment of your eager desire and hatred.

76. [Sanskrit available] Whatever a man endeavours to do, with his mind freed from his fondness for or hatred to it, the same comes shortly, to take place, contrary to the attempts of the ignorant: (whose excessive desire and dislike turn to their disadvantage).

6.28.76

tattadeva prayātyāśu mūḍhānāṃ viparītatām .
dveṣadoṣormiruddhāsu na guṇāścittavṛttiṣu .. 76

that very thing quickly turns into its opposite for the foolish.
Virtues do not gain a footing in mental operations obstructed by the waves of hatred's defect, 76

76. [Sanskrit available] Whatever a man endeavours to do, with his mind freed from his fondness for or hatred to it, the same comes shortly, to take place, contrary to the attempts of the ignorant: (whose excessive desire and dislike turn to their disadvantage).

77. [Sanskrit available] No good quality can have its abode in the heart that is troubled by the waves of faults; as no stag will set its foot on the ground, heated by burning sands and wild fires.

6.28.77

padaṃ kurvanti dagdhāsu sthalīṣu hariṇā iva .
rāgo dveṣaśca sarpau dvau na vilīnau manovile .. 77

just as deer do not [set foot] on scorched grounds.
From the wish-fulfilling tree of someone whose two serpents, passion and hatred, 77

77. [Sanskrit available] No good quality can have its abode in the heart that is troubled by the waves of faults; as no stag will set its foot on the ground, heated by burning sands and wild fires.

78. [Sanskrit available] What acquisitions does he not make, in whose heart there grows the kalpa tree of desire, and which is not infested by the snakes of ardent desire or dislike (the two cankers of human breast).

6.28.78

yasya kalpatarostasmātkiṃ nāmāṅga na labhyate .
ye hi prājñāḥ svaniyatā vidagdhāḥ śāstraśālinaḥ ..78

are dissolved in the cave of the mind, what, indeed, my friend, is not obtained?
Those who are wise, self-controlled, clever, and learned in the scriptures, 78

78. [Sanskrit available] What acquisitions does he not make, in whose heart there grows the kalpa tree of desire, and which is not infested by the snakes of ardent desire or dislike (the two cankers of human breast).

79. [Sanskrit available] Those men who are wise and discreet, learned and attentive to their duties, and at the same time influenced by the feelings of love and hatred, are no better than jackals (or jack asses) in human shape, and are accursed with all their qualifications.

6.28.79

rāgadveṣamayāste vai jambukāste dhigastu tān .
maddhanaṃ bhuktamanyena dhanaṃ tyaktaṃ mayā'nyataḥ .. 79

yet are full of passion and hatred, are indeed jackals; shame on them!
"My wealth has been enjoyed by another; wealth has been abandoned elsewhere by me"— 79

79. [Sanskrit available] Those men who are wise and discreet, learned and attentive to their duties, and at the same time influenced by the feelings of love and hatred, are no better than jackals (or jack asses) in human shape, and are accursed with all their qualifications.

80. [Sanskrit available] Look at the effects of these passions in men, who repine both at the use of their wealth by others, as also in leaving their hard earned money one behind them. (This proceeds from excessive love of wealth on the one hand, and hatred of family and heirs on the other as is said

6.28.80

iti saṃvyavahārehāḥ ke rāgadveṣayoḥ kramāḥ .
dhanāni bandhavo mitraṃ punarāyānti yānti ca .. 80

in such desires of worldly transaction, what room is there for passion and hatred?
Wealth, relatives, and friends come and go again; 80

80. [Sanskrit available] Look at the effects of these passions in men, who repine both at the use of their wealth by others, as also in leaving their hard earned money one behind them. (This proceeds from excessive love of wealth on the one hand, and hatred of family and heirs on the other as is said

81. [Sanskrit available]
All our riches, relatives and friends, are as transitory as the passing winds: why then should a wise man rejoice or repine at their gain or loss.

6.28.81

kimeteṣu naraḥ prājño rajyate vā virajyate .
bhāvābhāvabhavābhogā māyeyaṃ pārameśvarī .. 81

why should a wise man be attached to or repelled by these?
The fullness of the coming into being of existence and non-existence is this cosmic illusion of the Supreme Lord. 81

81. [Sanskrit available]
All our riches, relatives and friends, are as transitory as the passing winds: why then should a wise man rejoice or repine at their gain or loss.

82. [Sanskrit available] All our gains and wants and enjoyments in life, are mere illusion or maya, which is spread as a net by Divine power, all over the works of creation, and entraps all the worldlings in it.

6.28.82

saṃsāraracanā sarvā saṃsaktaṃ pātayatyalam .
na dhanaṃ na jano nātmā satyaṃ rāghava vastutaḥ .. 82

The entire structure of transmigratory existence completely brings down anyone attached to it. / In reality, O descendant of Raghu, there is no wealth, no person, and no individual self. 82

82. [Sanskrit available] All our gains and wants and enjoyments in life, are mere illusion or maya, which is spread as a net by Divine power, all over the works of creation, and entraps all the worldlings in it.

83. [Sanskrit available] There is no wealth, nor any person, that is real or lasting to any one in this temporary world; it is all frail and fleeting, and stretched out as a false magic show to sight.

6.28.83

mithyaiva mithyāvasitamitīdaṃ parilakṣyate .
ādyantayoḥ sarvamasanmadhye'pyasthiramādhimat .. 83

All this is perceived as merely false, established in falsehood. / At its beginning and end everything is non-existent; in the middle too it is unstable and full of distress. 83

83. [Sanskrit available] There is no wealth, nor any person, that is real or lasting to any one in this temporary world; it is all frail and fleeting, and stretched out as a false magic show to sight.

84. [Sanskrit available] What wise man is there that will place his attachment on anything, which is an unreality both in its beginning and end, and is quite unsteady in the midst. No one has any faith in the arbour of his imagination or aerial castle.

6.28.84

kva baghnāti ratiṃ prājño hyanyakalpitakhadrume .
ekena kalpitā khe strī bhuṅkte tāṃ dūrago'paraḥ .. 84

Where does a wise man place his delight in a sky-tree imagined by another? / A woman is imagined in the sky by one, and another far away enjoys her! 84

84. [Sanskrit available] What wise man is there that will place his attachment on anything, which is an unreality both in its beginning and end, and is quite unsteady in the midst. No one has any faith in the arbour of his imagination or aerial castle.

85. [Sanskrit available] As one fancies he sees a fairy in a passing cloud, and is pleased with the sight of what he can never enjoy, but passes from his view to the sight of distant peoples; so is this passing world, which passes from the sight of some to that of others, without its being fully enjoyed or long retained in the possession of any one. (The passing world passes from hand to hand, without its standing still at any one's command).

6.28.85

itīyamaṅga saṃsāraracanā tena mā bhrama .
bhūtājavaṃ javībhāvamimamātatamākulam .. 85

Such is this structure of transmigratory existence, my dear; therefore do not wander. / This vast, turbulent rushing of beings to and fro— 85

85. [Sanskrit available] As one fancies he sees a fairy in a passing cloud, and is pleased with the sight of what he can never enjoy, but passes from his view to the sight of distant peoples; so is this passing world, which passes from the sight of some to that of others, without its being fully enjoyed or long retained in the possession of any one. (The passing world passes from hand to hand, without its standing still at any one's command).

86. [Sanskrit available] The bustle of these fleeting bodies in the world, resembles the commotion of an aerial castle, and the appearance of a city in an evanescent dream and fancy.

6.28.86

gandharvapuranirmāṇavilāsena samaṃ viduḥ .
svapnasaṃkalpapuravadasadevedamutthitam .. 86

—they know it to be equal to the sportive display of an illusory celestial city. / Like a city created by dream or volition, this has arisen as unreal indeed. 86

86. [Sanskrit available] The bustle of these fleeting bodies in the world, resembles the commotion of an aerial castle, and the appearance of a city in an evanescent dream and fancy.

87. [Sanskrit available]
I see the world as a city in my protracted dream, with all its movables and immovable things, lying as quiet and still as in profound sleep.

6.28.87

sarvatra saṃsthamevedaṃ suṣuptamiva vicyutam .
paripaśyasi saṃsāradīrghasvapnapuradrumam .. 87

Though staying everywhere as if in deep sleep, it is detached. / You gaze upon the tree of this city in the long dream of transmigratory existence. 87

87. [Sanskrit available]
I see the world as a city in my protracted dream, with all its movables and immovable things, lying as quiet and still as in profound sleep.

88. [Sanskrit available] Rama, you are wandering in this world, as one rolling in his bed of indolence, and lulled to the long sleep of ignorance; which lends you from one error to another, as if dragged by a chain of continuous dreaming.