III. Utpatti Prakaranam - Section Dealing with Creation - chapters 1 to 60

Akasa - Space or Dimension

section III - chapter 1 - yatha rasah padarthesu yatha tailam tiladisu kusumesu yatha modas tatha drastari drsyadhih (43) 

Vasistha continued:

I shall now declare to you the creation and its secret. For, it is only as long as one invests the perceived object with reality that bondage lasts; once that notion goes, with it goes bondage. Here in this creation only that which is created grows, decays and then goes either to heaven or to hell, and it gets liberated.

During the cosmic dissolution the entire objective creation is resolved into the infinite being, which is variously designated as Atma, Brahman, Truth, etc., by the wise, to facilitate communication and dialogue. This same infinite self conceives within itself the duality of oneself and the other. Thence, mind arises, as a wave arises when the surface of the calm ocean is disturbed. But, please bear in mind that just as a bracelet of gold is but gold (and though gold exists without being a bracelet, bracelet does not exist without gold or other metal), the qualities and the nature of the created and the potentiality of creation are inherent in the creator. The mind is non-different from (has no existence independent of) the infinite self.

Even as the mirage appears to be a very real river of water, this creation appears to be entirely real. And, as long as one clings to the notion of the reality of "you" and "I", there is

no liberation. Not by merely and verbally denying such a notion of existence is it obliterated: on the contrary, such denial itself becomes a further distraction.

Rama, if the creation is in fact real then there is no possibility of its cessation: for it is an immutable law that the unreal has no real existence and the real does not cease to be.

Austerity, meditation and such other practices can therefore not cause its cessation nor enlightenment. As long as the notion of creation lasts, even the contemplation (samadhi) in which there is no movement of thought (nirvikalpa) is not possible. Even if it were possible, the moment one returns from such contemplation, the creation with its sorrow arises in the mind. Movement of thought creates the notion of created objects.

Even as the essence exists in all things, as oil exists in sesame seeds, as aroma exists in flowers, the faculty of objective perception exists in the perceiver. Even as the dream- objects are experienced only by the dreamer, the objects of perception are experienced by the perceiver. Just as from a seed the sprout arises in due time, this potentiality becomes manifest as the notion of creation.

section III chapter 2 - pranaspando sya yatkarma laksyate ca smadadibhih drsyate smabhir evai tan na tv asya sty atra karmadhih (25) 

Vasistha continued:

There is a holy man named Akasaja (lit: born of space). He is in constant meditation and has the welfare of all at heart. He had lived for a long time, when death desired to devour him. When death approached him, it had to struggle with a fierce fire that protected the holy man. Even after fending this off, death was unable to touch him! Bewildered by this extraordinary and unprecedented event, death went to lord Yama who presides over the destinies of mortals and questioned him: "Pray, Lord, tell me why it is that I am unable to grasp him."

Yama answered:

"In fact, O death, you do not really kill anyone! Death is really caused by one's own karma (the fruition of one's own action). Hence, discover this man's fatal karma."

Even as no one can find the whereabouts of a barren woman's son, death could not discover the holy man's karma anywhere in the world. He reported this to Yama.

Yama said:

"O death, this holy man Akasaja was truly born of space and has no karma at all. He is as pure as space. Hence he has incurred no karma which can help you grasp him or devour

him. Even as a barren woman's son, this holy man is not born. He had no 'previous birth' karma either; and therefore he has no mind - hence he has not even committed a mental action which could bring him within your reach. He is nothing but a mass of intelligence. He appears to be a living being only in our eyes; in him there does not exist any such notion as can give rise to karma. Consciousness is reflected in consciousness; and the reflection assumes independence! It is a false assumption, not a real existence; and this holy man knows this truth.

Even as liquidity is naturally present in water and emptiness in space, this holy man lives in the supreme spirit. His is a causeless manifestation: and hence he is known as self- created. He who entertains the foolish notion that ' I am this body made up of earth' is entangled in matter, and you can overpower him. Since this holy man has no such notion (and hence he is truly bodiless) he is beyond your reach.

This holy man has never been born. He is pure consciousness that has undergone no change. In the infinite being at the beginning of an epoch there arises a vibration on account of latent ignorance: and this manifests as diverse beings, as if in a cosmic dream. Uninvolved in this, this holy man remains pure consciousness."

Vasistha said:

In the Creator there is neither a seer nor an object of perception. Yet, he is known as self-created. He shines in cosmic consciousness as a painting in the mind of an artist.

section III - chapter 3 - ativahikam eva ntar vismrtya drdharupaya adhibhautikabodhena mudha bhati pisacavat (22) 

Vasistha continued:

In the Creator there is no memory of the past since he had no previous karma. He does not even have a physical body; the unborn is of spiritual substance. Mortal beings have two bodies, as it were, one physical and the other spiritual, but the unborn Creator has only the spiritual, since the cause that gives rise to the physical does not exist in him.

He was not created, but he is the Creator of all beings. Surely, the created (like a bracelet) is of the same substance as that of which it was created (gold). The Creator's thought being the cause of this manifold creation and the Creator himself having no physical body, the creation, too, is truly of the nature of thought, without materiality.

A throbbing arose in the Creator whose thought had spread out as the universe. This throb brought into being the subtle body (made of intelligence) of all beings. Made only of thought, all these beings only appeared to be, though they felt that that appearance was real. However, this appearance thus imagined to be real, produced realistic results or consequences, even as sexual enjoyment in a dream does. Similarly, even the Creator (the holy man of the story) though he has no body, appears to have a body.

The Creator is also of a dual nature: consciousness and thought. Consciousness is pure, thought is subject to confusion. Hence, he appears to come into being (arise), though he does not so arise. He is the intelligence that supports the entire universe, and every thought that arises in that intelligence gives rise to a form. Though all these forms are of the nature of pure intelligence, on account of self-forgetfulness of this, and of the thought of physical forms, they freeze into the physical forms even as goblins though formless are seen to have forms on account of the perceiver's delusion.

The Creator, however, is not subject to such delusion. Hence, he is always of a spiritual nature, not materialistic. The Creator is spiritual; and even so, his creation, too, is in reality

spiritual in essence. This creation is causeless. Hence, it is essentially spiritual even as the supreme being, Brahman, is. The materiality of the creation is like the castle in the air, an illusory projection of one's own mind - imaginary.

The Creator is the mind; mind or pure intelligence is his body. Thought is inherent in the mind. The object of perception is inherent in the perceiver. Who has ever discovered a

distinction between the two?

section III - chapter 4 - na drsyam asti sadrupam na drasta na ca darsanam na sunyam na jadam no cic chantam evedam atatam (70) 

Valmiki said:

At this stage the sun sped towards the western hills as if eager to meditate upon the sage's words and to illumine other parts of the earth. The assembly dispersed for prayers. The next morning all the members of the court reassembled as before.

Rama asked:

O Holy sage! Pray, tell me what the mind really is.

Vasistha replied:

Even as empty, inert nothingness is known as space, mind is empty nothingness. Whether the mind is real or unreal, it is that which is apprehended in objects of perception.

Rama, thought is mind, there is no distinction between the two. The self that is clothed in the spiritual body is known as mind; it is that which brings the material or physical body

into existence. Ignorance, samsara (repetitive history), mind-stuff, bondage, impurity, darkness and inertia are all synonyms. Experience alone is the mind; it is none other than

the perceived.

This entire universe is forever non-different from the consciousness that dwells in every atom, even as an ornament is non-different from gold. Just as an ornament potentially

exists in gold, the object exists in the subject. But when this notion of the object is firmly rejected and removed from the subject, then consciousness alone exists without even an apparent or potential objectivity. When this is realised, evils like attraction and repulsion, love and hate, cease in one's heart, as also the false notions of the world, you, I, etc. Even the tendency to objectify ceases; this is freedom.

Rama asked:

Holy sir, if the object of perception is real, then it shall not cease to be. If it is unreal, then we do not see it as unreal; so how can we overcome this?

Vasistha said:

Yet, O Rama, we see that there are holy ones who have overcome this! External objects like space,etc., and psychological factors like "I" etc., exist only in name. In reality neither the objective universe, nor the perceiving self, nor perception as such, nor void, nor inertness exists; only one is, cosmic consciousness (cit). In this it is the mind that conjures up the diversity, diverse actions and experiences, the notion of bondage and the desire for liberation.

section III - chapter 5 6 - yasmad visnvadayo devah suryadiva maricayah yasmaj jaganty anantani budbuda jaladher iva (5/9) 

Rama asked:

O Holy sage! What is the source of this mind and how did it arise? Kindly enlighten me on these.

Vasistha replied:

After the cosmic dissolution and before the next epoch dawned, the entire objective universe was in a state of perfect equilibrium. There then existed the supreme Lord, the

eternal, unborn, self-effulgent, who is the all and who is omnipotent. He is beyond conception and description; though he is known by various names like Atma etc., these are viewpoints and not the truth. He is, yet he is not realised by the world; he is within the body, too, yet he is far. From him emerge countless divinities like lord Visnu, even as countless rays emerge from the sun; from him emerge infinite worlds as ripples arise from the surface of the ocean.

He is the cosmic intelligence into which countless objects of perception enter. He is the light in which the self and the world shine. He ordains the characteristic nature of every

created thing. In him the worlds appear and disappear, even as a mirage appears and disappears repeatedly. His form (the world) vanishes, but his self is unchanging. He dwells in all. He is hidden and he overflows. By his mere presence, this apparently inert material world and its inhabitants are ever active. Because of his omnipresent omnipotent omniscience, his very thoughts materialise.

This supreme self cannot be realised, O Rama, by means other than wisdom - not indeed by exerting oneself in religious practices. This self is neither far nor near; it is not inaccessible nor is it in distant places: it is what in oneself appears to be the experience of bliss, and is therefore realised in oneself.

Austerity or penance, charity and the observances of religious vows do not lead to the realisation of the Lord; only the company of holy men and the study of true scriptures are helpful, as they dispel ignorance and delusion. Even when one is convinced that this self alone is real, one goes beyond sorrow, on the path of liberation.

Austerity or penance is self-inflicted pain. Of what value is charity performed with wealth earned by deceiving others - only they derive the fruits of such charity! Religious observances add to one's vanity. There is only one remedy for ignorance of the Lord - the firm and decisive renunciation of craving for sense-pleasure.

section III - chapter 7 - drastr drsya kramo yatra sthito py astamayangatah yad anakasam akasam rad rupam paramatmanah (21) 

Rama asked:

Where does this Lord dwell, and how can I reach him? Vasistha replied: He who has been described as the Lord is not very far: He is the intelligence dwelling in the body. He is the universe, though the universe is not he. He is pure intelligence.

Rama remarked:

Even a little boy says that the Lord is intelligence: what need is there for special instruction concerning this?

Vasistha replied:

Ah, one who knows that pure intelligence is the objective universe knows nothing. Sentient is the universe, and sentient is the soul (jiva). The sentient creates the knowable and gets involved in sorrow. When there is cessation of the knowable, and the flow of attention is towards that which is not knowable (pure intelligence), then there is fulfilment and one goes beyond sorrow.

Without the cessation of the knowable, one's attention cannot be finally turned away from the knowable. Mere awareness of the involvement of the jiva in this samsara is of no use. But if the supreme Lord is known, this sorrow comes to an end.

Rama asked:

Holy sir, please describe the Lord.

Vasistha replied:

The cosmic intelligence in which the universe as it were ceases to be, is the Lord. In him the subject-object relationship appears to have ceased, as such. He is the void in which the universe appears to exist. In him even cosmic consciousness stands still like a mountain.

Rama asked again:

How can we realise the Lord and realise the unreality of the universe that we have come to regard as real?

Vasistha answered:

The Lord can be realised only if one is firmly established in the unreality of the universe even as the blueness of the sky is unreal. Dualism presupposes unity, and non-dualism

suggests dualism. Only when the creation is known to be utterly non-existent the Lord is realised.

section III - chapter 8 9 - yo jagarti susuptastho yasya jagran na vidyate yasya nirvasano bodhah sa jivanmukttah ucyate (9/7) 

Rama asked:

Holy sir, by what method is this known, and what should I know by which the knowable comes to an end?

Vasistha replied:

The wrong notion that this world is real has become deep rooted on account of persistent wrong thinking. However, it can be removed that very day on which you resort to the company of holy men and to the study of the holy scripture. Of all scriptures this Maharamayanam is best. What is found here is found elsewhere; what is not found here is not found anywhere else. However, if one does not wish to study this one is welcome to study any other scripture - there is no objection to this.

When the wrong notion is dispelled and the truth realised, that realisation so thoroughly saturates one, that one thinks of it, speaks of it, rejoices in it and teaches it to others. Such

people are sometimes called Jivanmuktas and also Videhamuktas.

Rama asked:

Lord, what are the characteristics of Jivanmuktas (liberated while living) and Videhamuktas (liberated ones who have no body)?

Vasistha replied:

He who, while living an apparently normal life, experiences the whole world as an emptiness, is a Jivanmukta. He is awake but enjoys the calmness of deep sleep; he is unaffected in the least by pleasure and pain. He is awake in deep sleep, but he is never awake to this world. His wisdom is unclouded by latent tendencies. He appears to be subject to likes, dislikes and fear; but in fact he is as free as the space. He is free from egotism and volition; and his intelligence is unattached whether in action or in inaction. None is afraid of him; he is afraid of none. He becomes a Videhamukta when, in due time, the body is dropped.

The Videhamukta is, yet is not, is not 'I' nor the 'other'. He is the sun that shines, Visnu that protects all, Rudra that destroys all, Brahma that creates; he is space, the earth, water and fire. He is in fact cosmic consciousness - that which is the very essence in all beings. All that which is in the past, present and future - all indeed is he and he alone.

section III - chapter 9 - drastr darsana drhyanam madhye yad darsanam sthitam sadho tad avadhanena svatmanam avabuddhyase (75) 

Rama asked again:

Lord, my perception is distorted: how can I attain to that state you have indicated?

Vasistha replied:

What is known as liberation, O Rama, is indeed the absolute itself, which alone is. That which is perceived here as 'I', 'you' etc., only seems to be, for it has never been created.

How can we say that that Brahman has become all these worlds?

O Rama, in ornaments I see only gold, in waves I see only water, in air I see only movement, in space I see only emptiness, in mirage I see only heat, and naught else; similarly, I see only Brahman the absolute, not the worlds.

The perception of 'the worlds' is beginningless ignorance. Yet it will vanish with the help of enquiry into truth. Only that ceases to be which has come into being. This world has never really come into being, yet it appears to be - the exposition of this truth is contained in this - chapter on creation.

When the previous cosmic dissolution took place, all that appeared to be before disappeared. Then the infinite alone remained; it was neither emptiness nor a form, neither sight nor the seen, and one could not say that it was, nor that it was not. It has no ears, no eyes, no tongue, and yet it hears, sees and eats. It is uncaused and uncreated; and it is the cause of everything as water is the cause of waves. This infinite and eternal light is in the heart of all: and in its light the three worlds shine, as a mirage.

When the infinite vibrates, the worlds appear to emerge; when it does not vibrate, the worlds appear to submerge: even as when a firebrand is whirled fast a fiery circle appears, and when it is held steady, the circle vanishes. Vibrating or not vibrating, it is the same everywhere at all times. Not realising it, one is subject to delusion; when it is realised all cravings and anxieties vanish.

From it is time; from it is perception of the perceivable object. Action, form, taste, smell, sound, touch and thinking - all that you know is it alone; and it is that by which you know

all this! It is in the seer, sight and seen as the very seeing; when you know it, you realise your self.

section III - chapter 10 - purnat purnam prasarati samsthitam purnam eva tat ato visvam anutpannam yac cotpannam tad eva tat (29) 

Rama said:

Holy sir, how can it be said to be not empty, not to be illuminated and not dark? By such contradictory expressions you confuse me!

Vasistha replied:

Rama, you are asking immature questions. Yet, I shall elucidate the correct meaning.

Even as the uncarved image is forever present in a block, the world whether you regard it as real or unreal is inherent in the absolute, which is therefore not void. Just as in a calm ocean, one cannot say that there are no waves present, the absolute is not empty of the world. Of course, these illustrations have limited application and should not be exceeded.

In truth, however, this world does not arise from the absolute nor does it merge in it. The absolute alone exists now and for ever. When one thinks of it as a void, it is because of

the feeling one has that it is not void; when one thinks of it as not-void, it is because there is a feeling that it is void.

The absolute is immaterial and so material sources of light like the sun, do not illumine it. But it is self-luminous, and therefore it is not inert nor dark. This absolute cannot be

realised or experienced by another; only the absolute can realise itself.

The infinite (space of) consciousness is even purer than infinite space; and the world is even as that infinite is. But, one who has not tasted capsicum does not know its taste; even

so, one does not experience consciousness in the infinite in the absence of objectivity. Hence, even this consciousness appears to be inert or insentient, and the world is experienced as such too. Even as in tangible ocean tangible waves are seen, in the formless Brahman the world also exists without form. From the infinite the infinite emerges and exists in it as the infinite; hence the world has never really been created - it is the same as that from which it emerges.

When the notion of self is destroyed by the withdrawal of the fuel of ideas from the mind, that which is, is the infinite. That which is not sleep nor inert, is the infinite. It is on

account of the infinite that knowledge, knower and known exist as one, in the absence of the intellect.

section III - chapter 11 - adav eva hi yan na sti karanasambhavat svayam vartamane pi tan na sti nasah syat tatra kidrsah (13) 

Rama said:

Lord, during the cosmic dissolution, this world which is clearly seen now - where does it go?

Vasistha said:

From where does the son of a barren woman come, and where does he go? A barren woman's son has no existence, ever. Even so, this world as such has no existence, ever. This

analogy baffles you only because you have taken the existence of the world for granted.

Consider this: Is there a bracelet-ness in the golden bracelet, is it not just gold? Is there a thing called sky independent of the emptiness? Even so, there is no "thing" called the world independent of Brahman the absolute. Just as coldness is inseparable from ice, what is called the world is inseparable from Brahman.

Water in the mirage does not come into being and go out of existence; even so this world does not come out of the absolute nor does it go anywhere. The creation of the world has no cause, and therefore it has had no beginning. It does not exist even now; how can it reach destruction?

If you concede that the world has not been created out of Brahman but assert that it is an appearance based on the reality of Brahman, then indeed it does not exist and Brahman alone exists. It is like dream: in a state of ignorance the intelligence within oneself appears as numerous dream-objects, all of which are nothing other than that intelligence. Even so, in what is known as the beginning of creation, such an appearance happened; but it is not independent of Brahman, it does not exist apart from Brahman, hence it does not exist.

Rama said:

Holy sir, if that is so, how is it that this world has acquired such a sense of reality? As long as the perceiver is, the perceived exists, and vice versa, and only when both these come to an end is there liberation. If there is a clean mirror, it reflects something or other all the time: even so in the seer this creation will again and again arise. However, if the non-existence of creation is realised then the seer ceases to be. But, such a realisation is hard to get!

Vasistha said:

Rama, I shall presently dispel your doubts with the help of a parable. You will then realise the non-existence of creation and lead an enlightened life in this world.

section III - chapter 12 - vivarttam eva dhavanti nirvivarttani santi ca cidvedhitani sarvani ksanat pindibhavanti ca (30) 

Vasistha said:

O Rama, I shall narrate to you how this creation appears to have emerged from the one pure undivided cosmic being, even as dreams appear in the consciousness of the sleeping person.

This universe is in fact the eternal effulgent infinite consciousness which generates within itself the knowable (which would be known as that which is to be) with an idea concerning its form (which is space), and with an enquiry concerning itself. Thus is space brought into being. When, after a considerable time the consciousness of creation becomes strong in the infinite being, the future jiva (living cosmic soul - also known as Hiranyagarbha) arises within it: and the infinite abandons, as it were, its supreme state, to limit itself as the jiva. However, even then Brahman remains the infinite, and there is no real transformation into any of these.

In space, the faculty of sound manifests itself. Then comes into being egotism which is vital to further creation of the universe, and, at the same time, the factor known as time. All this happens merely by the creative-thought inherent in the cosmic being, not as real transformations of the infinite.

By the similar exercise of the creative-thought, air is created. The Vedas come into being, too. Consciousness which is surrounded by all these is called the jiva which gives rise to all the different elements in this world.

There are fourteen planes of existence, each with its own type of inhabitants. And all these are the manifestations of the creative-thought of consciousness. Even so, when this consciousness thought 'I am light', sources of light like the sun, etc.., were instantly created. Similarly water and earth were created.

All these fundamental elements continued to act on one another - as experiencer and experience - and the entire creation came into being like ripples on the surface of the ocean. And, they are interwoven and mixed up so effectively that they cannot be extricated from one another till the cosmic dissolution. These material appearances are ever changing and the reality exists unchanged; since these are all linked with consciousness they instantly become gross physical substance, though all these are the infinite consciousness

alone, which has undergone no change whatsoever.

section III - chapter 13 - jagatah pancanam bijam pancakasya cid avyaya yad bijam tat phalam viddhi tasmad brahmamayam jagat (9) 

Vasistha continued:

In the supreme being there exists the vibration which is at once equilibrium and disturbance; on account of this there appear space and light and inertia, though they have not really been created. Since all this happens in consciousness, they possess the quality of the knowable; at the same time there arises the knower. It is the inherent power of consciousness to illumine all things, hence it is the cosmic knower. That consciousness itself becomes its own knowable and the knower. When such a relationship arises, the notion "I am a jiva, living soul" arises in consciousness.

By the further identification with the knowable, in the pure consciousness there arises the notion of egotism and then the faculty of discrimination or the rationalising intellect.

After this the mind and the root-elements arise. These root-elements combine again and again to form the worlds. Spontaneously and also by orderly changes, all these countless forms appear and disappear repeatedly, even as cities come and go in a dream. None of these needs any instrumental or material causes like earth, water or fire. For all this is of the essential nature of consciousness, and it is this consciousness that apparently creates all these, as one creates cities in a dream. It is nothing but pure consciousness.

The five elements are the seed of which the world is the tree; and the eternal consciousness is the seed for the elements. As is the seed, so is the fruit (tree). Therefore, the world is nothing but Brahman the absolute.

In this manner has the universe been conjured up in cosmic space by cosmic consciousness with its own infinite faculties; it is not real, nor has it been really created. Though these elements have combined among themselves and created apparent materiality in the world, yet, in truth, all this is mere appearance like the forms seen in space. They owe their reality to their substratum which is cosmic consciousness which alone is real.

Do not entertain the feeling that the world of five elements is their creation: look upon the five elements themselves as the manifestation of the power inherent in consciousness absolute. It may be said that the elements such as earth etc., have arisen in consciousness like dream-objects; or it may be said that they are mere appearances ignorantly superimposed on cosmic consciousness. Such is the vision or realisation of holy men.

section III - chapter 13 - asatyam satyasamkasam brahma ste jivasabdavat ittham sa jivasabdarthah kalanakulatam gatah (33) 

Vasistha continued:

Rama, I shall now tell you how the jiva (living soul) came to dwell in this body.

The jiva thought "I am atomic in nature and stature" and so it became atomic in nature. Yet, it only apparently became so, on account of its imagination which was false. Even as one may dream that he is dead and that he has another body, this jiva which in truth had an extremely subtle body of pure consciousness, now begins to identify itself with grossness and so becomes gross.

Even as a mountain is reflected in a mirror and is seen as if it were in the mirror, the jiva reflects the external objects and activities, and soon begins to think that they are all within itself and that he is the doer of the actions and the experiencer of the experiences.

When the jiva wishes to see, eyes are formed in the gross body. Even so the skin (tactile sense), ears, tongue, nose and the organs of action are formed as a result of the appropriate desire arising in the jiva. Thus abides in the body, the jiva which has the extremely subtle body of consciousness, imagining various external physical experiences and various internal psychological experiences. Thus, resting in the unreal which however appears to be real, Brahman, now appearing to be jiva, becomes confused.

This same Brahman which has come to regard itself as a finite jiva and endowed with a physical body, apprehends the external world which on account of the veil of ignorance appears to be composed of matter. Someone thinks he is Brahma, someone else thinks he is something else - in this manner the jiva imagines it is this or that, and so binds itself to the illusion of world-appearance.

But all this is mere imagination or thought. Even now nothing has ever been created; the pure infinite space alone exists. Brahma the creator could not create the world as it was before the cosmic dissolution, for Brahma attained final liberation then. Cosmic consciousness alone exists now and ever; in it are no worlds, no created beings. That consciousness reflected in itself appears to be creation. Even as an unreal nightmare produces real results, this world seems to give rise to a sense of reality in a state of ignorance. When true wisdom arises, this unreality vanishes.

section III - chapter 14 - evam brahma mahajivo vidyate ntadivarjitah jivakoti mahakoti bhavaty atha na kincana (35) 

Vasistha continued:

As I have already explained to you, O Rama, this world consisting of egotism and the countless objects of experience has not been created and therefore it does not exist: what exists is Brahman, the absolute existence. Just as a wave is seen on the calm surface of the ocean when the latter is agitated, even so when the absolute 'thinks', as it were, that it is a jiva, the jiva-nature manifests itself. Just as a sleeping person appears to create diverse creatures within himself without ever abandoning his own unique and sole reality, by a mere thought or will the absolute brings into being these countless creatures without ever suffering diminution or change.

The cosmic form (Virat) of this cosmic consciousness is of course of the nature of pure consciousness, uncontaminated by gross materiality. The cosmic form made of pure consciousness can be compared to an ever-lasting dream in a sleeping person in which there exist palaces and other beings.

Even the creator Brahma is a mere thought-form in this cosmic consciousness: consciousness reflecting its own thought-forms within itself is all this apparent seer and seen, all of which are mere imaginations. All of them however exist in name only and multiply in name only. Even as the cosmic being arose in the cosmic consciousness as a cosmic thought-form, others arose from the thoughts of that cosmic being - just as one lamp is kindled from another. But all of them are non-different from that one cosmic being on account of whose thought-vibration they arose.

Brahman alone is the cosmic being (Virat) and the cosmic being is all this creation, with the jiva and all the elements that constitute this creation.

Rama asked:

Lord, is there only one jiva that is cosmic, or are there many jivas, or is there a huge conglomerate of jivas?

Vasistha answered:

Rama, there is neither one jiva nor many nor a conglomerate of jivas. Jiva is only a name! What exists is only Brahman. Because he is omnipotent, his thought-forms materialise. One alone appears as diverse on account of ignorance; we do not experience this ignorance which disappears on enquiry even as darkness vanishes when light is brought in to look at it. Brahman alone is the cosmic (Mahajiva) soul and the millions of jivas. There is naught else.

section III - chapter 14 - cetya samvedanat jivo bhavatyayati samsrtim tad asamvedanad rupam samayati samam punah (36) 

Vasistha continued:

By the apprehension of the perceived or the knowable, consciousness becomes jiva (the living soul) and is apparently involved in repetitive history (samsara). When the false notion of a knowable apart from the knower (consciousness) ceases, it regains its equilibrium.

In an orderly and sometimes disorderly way, the one Mahajiva thus becomes individual jiva, inheriting from the previous generation the sense of duality and of individuality.

The mysterious power of consciousness which in an inexplicable and miraculous way produces this infinite diversity of names and forms (body) is known as egotism. The same consciousness, when it wishes to taste or to experience itself, becomes the knowable universe. Only immature people see in this either a real transformation or even a deluded appearance; for there is nothing other than consciousness.

The ocean is water; the waves are water; and when these waves play upon the surface of the ocean, ripples (also water) are formed. Even so with the universe. Even as the ocean might look upon and recognise the individuality of the ripples, the consciousness thinks of the individuals as independent; and thus egotism is born ('I-ness'). All this is the wonderful play of the mysterious power of consciousness - and that alone is called the universe.

When egotism has come into being, that egotism (which is non-different from consciousness) entertains notions of the various elements that constitute this universe, and they arise. In unity diversity arises. O Rama, give up all these false notions of 'I' and 'you', by renouncing even the notions of a jiva and its own cause. When all these have gone, you will realise the truth which is in the middle between the real and the unreal. When all these 'clouds' have been dispelled, the one indivisible whole shines as it has never ceased to shine. We do not know what is real or what is false!

This consciousness is not knowable: when it wishes to become the knowable it is known as the universe. Mind, intellect, egotism, the five great elements, and the world - all these innumerable names and forms, are all consciousness alone. A man and his life and works are indistinguishable, the static and the kinetic manifestations of the same factor. Jiva and the mind etc., are all vibrations in consciousness.

section III - chapter 14 - svayam astam gate bahye svajnanad udita cittih svayam jadesu jadyena padam sausuptam agata (67) 

Vasistha continued:

That consciousness indeed exists here, knowing "I cannot be cut, I cannot be burnt, I cannot be made wet, I cannot be dried; I am eternal, omnipresent and unchanging and unmoving." This is the truth. People like to argue and confuse others; they are indeed confused. But, O Rama, we are beyond confusion. Changes in the unchanging are imagined by ignorant and deluded people: but in the vision of sages who have self-knowledge no change whatsoever has taken place in consciousness.

O Rama, consciousness alone has spread itself out as space, without undergoing any change in itself. After that, consciousness alone appears as the wind that has the quality of motion. And then consciousness alone appears as fire, water, and the earth with its minerals, and also the bodies of living beings.

When the notion of an external knowable has been removed,self-knowledge arises; and when in it there is the notion of inertia or ignorance, the state of deep sleep has come to it. Hence, since consciousness alone exists at all times, it may be said that space exists and does not exist, the world exists and does not exist.

Even as heat is to fire, whiteness is to a conch-shell, firmness is to a mountain, liquidity to water, sweetness is to sugarcane, butter is to milk, coolness is to ice, brightness is to illumination, oil is to mustard seed, flow is to a river, sweetness is to honey, ornament is to gold, aroma is to a flower - the universe is to consciousness. The world exists because consciousness is: and the world is the body of consciousness. There is no division, no difference, no distinction. Hence the universe can be said to be both real and unreal: real because of the reality of consciousness which is its own reality, and unreal because the universe does not exist as universe, independent of consciousness. This consciousness is indivisible and has no parts or limbs. In it the mountain, the ocean, the earth, the rivers, etc., do not exist as such, but only as consciousness; hence there are no parts nor limbs in consciousness.

But, because of the unreality of the universe, etc., it cannot be said that their own cause, viz., the consciousness is also unreal: such a statement would only be a set of words with no meaning - for it runs counter to our experience, and the existence of consciousness cannot be denied.

At this stage, the third evening set in: and the assembly dispersed.

1. The Story of Lila Mandapa

section III - chapter 15 - varjayitva jnavijnanam jagac chabdartha bhajanam jagad brahma sva sabdanamarthe na styeva bhinnata (10) 

Vasistha continued:

O Rama, even as from the waking state experience, there is no materiality in the objects seen in a dream (though while dreaming the objects appear to be solid); this world appears to be material, yet in reality it is pure consciousness. There is not even a temporary or subtle river in the mirage. Even so, there is in no sense a real world, but only pure consciousness. Only knowledge based on ignorance clings to the notion of a world. In reality, there is no difference in the meaning of the words 'world', 'Brahman or the infinite', and 'self'. The world is as true in relation to Brahman as the dream-city is true in relation to the experience of the waking consciousness. Hence, 'world' and 'cosmic consciousness' are synonyms.

To make all this crystal clear, O Rama, I shall now narrate to you the story of Mandapa: pray, listen attentively.

Once upon a time, O Rama, there was a king on earth called Padma. He was perfect in every respect; and by his own nature and conduct he enhanced the glory of his dynasty. He honoured religious traditions even as the ocean respects the authority of the shore. He subdued his enemies even as the sun routs darkness. Even as fire reduces hay to ashes, he destroyed evil in society. Holy men resorted to him even as gods resort to heaven. He was the abode of virtue. He made his enemies tremble on the battlefield even as a gale ruffles a creeper. He was highly learned and a master of arts. To him there was nothing impossible of achievement, even as to lord Narayana there was no impossibility.

This king had a wife by name Lila. She was highly accomplished as a woman, and was very beautiful. It appeared as if she was goddess Laksmi (consort of Narayana) incarnate on earth. She was soft-spoken, her gait was slow and graceful, and her smile radiated the cool delight of moonlight. She was fair. She was sweet as honey. Her arms were soft and delicate. Her body was as pure and clear as the waters of the holy river Ganga; and even as a touch of the waters of the Ganga gives rise to bliss, to touch her was to experience bliss. She was highly devoted to her husband Padma, and knew how to serve him and to please him.

She was one with the king, and shared his joy and sorrow. She was in fact the alter ego of Padma - except that when the king became angry, she merely reflected fear.

section III - chapter 16 - tapo japa yamair devi samastah siddhasiddhayah samprapyante maratvam tu na kadacana labhyate (24) 

Vasistha continued:

King Padma and the queen Lila lived an ideal life. They enjoyed their life in every possible and righteous way. They were young and youthful like the gods, and their love for each other was pure and intense, without any hypocrisy or artificiality.

One day, the queen Lila thought: "The most handsome king who is my husband is dearer to me than even my own life. What should I do in order that he and I may live for

ever, enjoying the pleasures of life? I shall immediately undertake such austerities as the holy ones would suggest, in order that I may fulfil my ambition." She sought the counsel of the holy ones.

The Holy ones said to her: "O queen, austerities or penance, repetition of mantras, and a disciplined life, will surely bestow upon you all that is possible for one to attain in this world. But physical immortality is not possible of attainment in this world!"

The queen pondered this advice and decided: "If I should die before my husband, then I should attain self-knowledge, and be free from sorrow. But, if he should leave before me, then I shall so strive now as to obtain a boon from the gods that his jiva does not leave our palace. I shall be happy to live in it in the knowledge that he is always with me."

Thus resolved, Lila began to propitiate the goddess Sarasvati immediately, without even discussing this project with her husband. Once in three nights she used to eat, after devoutly worshipping the Lord, the holy ones, the preceptor, the learned ones and the sages. She was utterly convinced that this penance would prove fruitful, and this conviction greatly strengthened her application to the penance undertaken. Though she did not reveal her intention to the king, she did not let her service to her husband suffer in the very least on account of this penance. After one hundred such three-nightly worship, the goddess Sarasvati appeared before her and granted her the boons of her choice. Lila prayed: "O Divine mother, grant me two boons: (1) when my husband departs from his body, let his jiva remain in the palace, and (2) whenever I pray to you, let me see you." Sarasvati granted these two boons and disappeared.

Time inexorably passed. King Padma, who was mortally wounded on the battlefield, died in the palace. Queen Lila was inconsolable with grief. When she was thus sunk in grief, an ethereal voice spoke to her.

section III - chapter 17 - cittakasam cidakasam akasam ca trtiyakam dvabhyam sunyataram viddhi cidakasam varanane (10) 

The ethereal voice of Sarasvati said:

My child, cover the king's dead body with flowers, then it will not decay. He will not leave the palace.

Lila did so. Yet, she was not satisfied, and she felt like a wealthy man (who had the wealth) who had been tricked into poverty-stricken existence. She invoked goddess Sarasvati who appeared before her and said:

My child, why do you grieve? Sorrow, like water in mirage, is an illusion.

Lila asked her: Pray, tell me where my husband is.

O Lila, there are three types of space - the psychological space, the physical space, and the infinite space of consciousness. Of these the most subtle is the infinite space of consciousness. By intense meditation on this infinite space of consciousness, you can see and experience the presence of one (like your husband) whose body is that infinite space, even though you do not see him here. That is the infinite space which exists in the middle when the finite intelligence travels from one place to another; for it is infinite. It you give up all thoughts, you will here and now attain to the realisation of oneness with all. Normally, only he who has realised the utter non-existence of the universe can experience this; but you will do so, by my grace.

Vasistha continued:

Lila began to meditate. Immediately she entered the highest state of consciousness, free from all distractions (nirvikalpa). She was in the infinite space of consciousness. There she saw the king once again, on a throne, surrounded by many kings who adored him, by many sages and holy men who chanted the Vedas, by many women, and by armed forces. She saw them, but they did not see her, as one's thought-forms are visible only to oneself, not to others. She saw that the king had a youthful body. She also saw in his court very many members of the court of king Padma. She wondered: are they all dead, too!

Again, by the grace of goddess Sarasvati, Lila came back to her palace, and saw her attendants asleep. She woke them and asked them to request the members of the royal court to assemble at once. Messengers were quickly despatched to summon all. And very soon the royal court of king Padma was teeming with the ministers, sages, civil servants, relations, and friends. Seeing them all there, Lila rejoiced.

section III - chapter 18 - adarse ntarbahiscaiva yatha sailo nubhuyate bahirantas cid adarse tatha sargo nubhuyate (5) 

Vasistha continued:

Seeing all the members of the royal court, Lila was puzzled. She thought, 'This is strange, for these people seem to exist in two places at the same time - in that region which I saw in my meditation and here in front of me. Just as a mountain is seen both inside the mirror and outside it, this creation is seen both within consciousness and outside it. But, which of these is real and which the reflection? I must find out from Sarasvati'. She adored Sarasvati and saw her seated in front of her.

Lila asked:

Be gracious, O Goddess, and tell me this. That on which this world is reflected is extremely pure and undivided, and it is not the object of knowledge. This world exists both within it as its reflection, and outside as solid matter: which is real and which the reflection?

Sarasvati asked:

Tell me first: what do you consider real and what unreal?

Lila answered:

That I am here and you are in front of me - this I consider real. That region in which my husband is now - that I consider unreal.

Sarasvati said:

How can the unreal be the effect of the real? The effect is the cause, there is no essential difference. Even in the case of a pot which is able to hold water, whereas its cause (clay) cannot, this difference is due to the co-operative causes. What was the material cause of your husband's birth? For, only material effects are produced by material causes.

Hence, when you find no immediate cause for an effect, then surely the cause existed in the past - memory. Memory is like space, empty. All creation here is the effect of that emptiness - and hence the creation is empty, too. Even as the birth of your husband is an illusory product of memory, I see all this as the illusory and unreal effect of imagination.

I shall narrate to you a story which illustrates the dream-like nature of this creation. In pure consciousness, in a corner of the mind of the Creator, there was a dilapidated shrine, covered with a blue dome. It had the fourteen worlds for rooms. The three divisions of space were holes in it. The sun was the light. In it, there were little anthills (the cities), little piles of earth (mountains), and little pools of water (the oceans). This is creation, the universe. In a very small corner of it, there lived a holy man with his wife and children. He was healthy, and free from fear. He performed his religious and social duties well.

section III - chapter 19 20 - prakttani sa smrtir lupta yuvayor udita nyatha svabne jagrat smrtir yadvad etan maranam angane (20/16) 

Sarasvati continued:

That holy man was known as Vasistha and his wife was Arundhati (though they were different from the Vasistha and Arundhati of legendary fame). One day, when that holy man was seated on the top of a hill, he saw at the foot of that hill, a colourful procession on the move, with a king riding a stately elephant, followed by an army and other royal paraphernalia. Looking at this, a wish arose in the heart of the holy man: "Indeed, the life of a king is rich and full of delight and glory. When will I ride a royal elephant like that, and be followed by an army like this?"

Some time after this, the holy man grew old, and then death overtook him. His wife, who was highly devoted to him, prayed to me and asked for the same boon that you had asked for: that her husband's spirit should not leave her house. I granted her that boon.

Though that holy man was an ethereal being, on account of the power of his constant wish during the previous life-span, he became a mighty king, and ruled over a great empire which resembled heaven on earth. He was dreaded by his foes, he was indeed a cupid to womenfolk, he was stable and firm against temptations like a mountain, he reflected all the scriptures within himself like a mirror, he was the wish-fulfiller of everyone in need, and he was the resting place of holy men. He was indeed the full moon of righteousness.

(Arundhati had also given up her body and attained reunion with her husband.) It is eight days since this happened.

Lila, it is the same holy man who is now your husband, the king; and you are the same Arundhati who was his wife. On account of ignorance and delusion, all this seems to take place in the infinite consciousness. You may regard all this as true or as false.

Lila asked:

O Goddess, all this seems so strange and incredible to me. It is like saying that a huge elephant is bound in the centre of a mustard seed, or that in an atom a mosquito fought with a lion, or that there is a mountain in a lotus pod.

Sarasvati said:

My dear, I do not utter falsehood, but am telling the truth. It sounds incredible, but this kingdom appears to be only in the hut of the holy man on account of his desire for a kingdom. The memory of the past is hidden, and you two have risen again. Death is but waking from a dream. Birth, which arises from a wish, is no more real than the wish, like waves in a mirage!

section III - chapter 20 21 - yathaitat pratibhamatram jagat sargavabhasanam tathaitat pratibhamatram ksanakalpavabhasanam (20/29) 

Sarasvati continued:

Lila, your house, you, I, and all this, is pure consciousness, naught else. Your house was itself in the house of the holy man Vasistha. In the space of his jiva existed the rivers and the mountains and so on. Even after the 'creation' of all this in the holy man's house, it remained as it was before. Indeed, in every atom there are worlds within worlds.

Lila asked:

O Goddess, you said that it was only eight days ago that the holy man had died; and yet my husband and I have lived for a long time. How can you reconcile this discrepancy?

Sarasvati said:

O Lila, just as space does not have a fixed span, time does not have a fixed span either. Just as the world and its creation are mere appearances, a moment and an epoch are also imaginary, not real. In the twinkling of an eye, the jiva undergoes the illusion of the death- experience, forgets what happened before that, and in the infinite consciousness thinks 'I am this' etc., and 'I am his son, I am so many years old, I ...' etc. There is no essential difference between the experiences of this world and those of another - all this being the thought-forms in the infinite consciousness. They are like two waves in the same ocean. Since these worlds were never created, they will never cease to be. Such is the law. Their real nature is consciousness.

Even as in a dream there is birth, death, and relationship, all in a very short time, and even as a lover feels that a single night without his beloved is an epoch, the jiva thinks of

experienced and non-experienced objects in the twinkling of an eye. And, immediately thereafter, he imagines those things (the world) to be real. Even those things which he had not experienced nor seen present themselves before him as in a dream.

This world and this creation is nothing but memory, dream. Distance, measures of time, like a moment and an age, all these are hallucinations. This is one kind of knowledge -

memory. There is another which is not based on memory of past experience. This is the fortuitous meeting of an atom and consciousness which is then able to produce its own

effects.

Liberation is the realisation of the total non-existence of the universe as such. This is different from a mere denial of the existence of the ego and the universe! The latter is only

half-knowledge. Liberation is to realise that all this is pure consciousness.

section III - chapter 21 - mahacidrupam eva tvam smaranam viddhi vedanam karyakaranata tena sa sabdo na ca vastavah (23) 

Lila asked:

O Goddess, without prior hallucination, how was the creation of the holy man and his wife possible?

Sarasvati said:

Indeed, that was due to the thought-form of Brahma, the creator. He himself had no hidden thought-forms (memory), for, before creation, there was dissolution, and at that

time the Creator had attained liberation. At the beginning of this epoch, someone assumes the role of creator and thinks "I am the new Creator" - this is pure coincidence, even as one sees a crow alighting on a palm tree and the cocoanut falling, though these two are independent of each other. Of course, do not forget that even though all this seems to happen, there is no creation! The one infinite consciousness alone is thought-form or experience. There is no cause and effect relationship, these ('cause' and 'effect') are only words, not facts. The infinite consciousness is forever in infinite consciousness.

Lila said:

O Goddess, your words are truly enlightening. However, since I have never been exposed to them before, the wisdom is not well grounded. I wish to see the original house of the holy Vasistha.

Sarasvati said:

O Lila, give up this form of yours and attain the pure spiritual insight. For only Brahman can really see or realise Brahman. My body is made of pure light, pure consciousness. Your body is not. With this body of yours you cannot even visit the places of your own imagination, then how can you enter the field of another's imagination? But if you attain the body of light, you will immediately see the holy man's house. Affirm to yourself, "I shall leave my body here and take a body of light. With that body, like the scent of incense, I shall go to the house of the holy man." Even as water mixes with water, you will become one with the field of consciousness.

By the persistent practice of such meditation, even your body will become one of pure consciousness and subtle. For, I see even this, my body, as consciousness. You do not, for you see the world of matter, even as an ignorant man might mistake a precious stone for a pebble. Such ignorance arises of its own accord, but is dispelled by wisdom and enquiry. In fact, even such ignorance does not exist! There is neither unwisdom, nor ignorance - neither bondage, nor liberation. There is but one pure consciousness.

section III - chapter 22 23 - taccintanam tatkathanam anyonyam tat prabodhanam etad eka paratvam ca tad abhyasam vidur budhah (24) 

Sarasvati said:

Dear Lila, in dream, the dream-body appears to be real. But when there is an awakening to the fact of dream, the reality of that body vanishes. Even so, the physical body which is sustained by memory and latent tendencies is seen to be unreal when they are seen to be unreal. At the end of the dream, you become aware of the physical body. At the end of these tendencies, you become aware of the ethereal body. When the dream ends, deep sleep ensues. When the seeds of thought perish, you are liberated. In liberation the seeds of thought do not exist. If the liberated sage appears to live and to think, he only appears to do so, like a burnt cloth lying on the floor. This is, however, not like deep sleep nor unconsciousness, in both of which the seeds of thought lie hidden.

By the persistent practice (abhyasa) egotism is quietened. Then you will naturally rest in your consciousness; and the perceived universe heads towards the vanishing point. What is called practice?

Thinking of that alone, speaking of that, conversing of that with one another, utter dedication to that one alone - this is called abhyasa or practice by the wise. When one's intellect is filled with beauty and bliss, when one's vision is broad, when passion for sensual enjoyment is absent in one - that is practice. When one is firmly established in the conviction that this universe has never even been created, and therefore it does not exist as such, and when thoughts like "This is world, this I am" do not arise at all in one - that is abhyasa or practice. It is then that attraction and repulsion do not arise. The overcoming of attraction and repulsion by the use of willforce is austerity, not wisdom.

At this stage, evening set in: and the court dispersed. Early next morning the court assembled, and Vasistha continued his discourse.

Vasistha continued:

O Rama, Sarasvati and queen Lila immmediately sat in deep meditation, or nirvakalpa samadhi. They has risen above body-consciousness. Because they had given up all notions

of the world, it had completely vanished in their consciousness. They roamed freely in their wisdom-bodies. Though it seemed that they had travelled millions of miles in space, they were still in the same 'room', but on another plane of consciousness.

section III - chapter 24 25 - iti jaladhi mahadri lokapala tridasa purumbara bhutalaih paritam jagadudaram aveksya manusi dragbhuvi nijamandirakotaram dadarsa (25/35) 

Vasistha continued:

Holding each other's hands, Sarasvati and Lila, slowly ascended to far distant scenes in space. This space was intensely pure and totally empty. They rested on top of the mount Meru, the axis of the earth. They saw countless interesting sights, as they proceeded away from the orbit of the moon. They roamed within huge cloud-formations in space. They entered infinite space, the womb and source of infinite beings in infinite worlds.

They saw the seven great mountains in the cosmos which were radiant like the fire of dissolution; they saw golden plains near Meru; and they saw the densest form of darkness; they saw siddhas (beings with supernatural powers); they saw crowds and crowds of demons, goblins and other spirits; they saw space vehicles come and go everywhere; they saw celestial nymphs sing and dance; they saw a variety of birds and also animals; they saw angels and gods; they saw great yogis endowed with all auspicious qualities; they saw the abode of the Creator, the abode of diva, and others. Like a couple of mosquitoes, they roamed all these planes.

In short, they saw all that was already in the mind of Sarasvati, and which Sarasvati wanted to show to queen Lila. It was like the lotus of the heart, with the directions for its petals, the netherworld for the mud in which it grows, held by the divine serpent which is the root.

In this lotus, they saw what is known as Jambudvipa, in which there are very many countries and continents. It is surrounded by a salty ocean. Beyond that is Sakadvipa, surrounded by an ocean of milk. Beyond that is Kusadvipa with an ocean of curd. Then Krauncadvipa and an ocean of ghee. Then Salmalidvipa, surrounded by an ocean of wine. Then Gomedakdvipa, surrounded by an ocean of sugarcane juice. Then there is Puskaradvipa, surrounded by an ocean of sweet water. Then there is a cosmic hole. Beyond that is the Lokaloka mountain shining resplendently. Beyond that is the infinite forest, etc. Lastly there was infinite space, sheer emptiness.

Having thus seen the oceans, mountains, the protectors of the universe, the kingdom of the gods, the sky and the very bowels of the earth, Lila saw her own house.

section III - chapter 26 - brahmatmaika cidakasamatra bodhavato muneh putra mitra kalatrani katham kani kada kutah (54) 

Vasistha continued:

O Rama, the two ladies then entered into the holy man's house. The whole family was in mourning. On account of their grief the house itself had a depressing atmosphere. By the practice of the yoga of pure wisdom Lila had acquired that faculty by which her thoughts instantly materialised. She wished that 'These, my relations, should see me and Sarasvati as if we are ordinary womenfolk'. They appeared so to the mourning family. But the two ladies were of supernatural radiance which dispelled the gloom that pervaded the house.

The eldest son of the departed holy couple welcomed the two ladies, taking them to be two angels of the forest! He said to them: "O angels of the forest, surely you have come here to relieve us of our grief in our bereavement. For such is the nature of divinities: they are eager to relieve the distress of others."

The two ladies asked the young man: "Tell us the cause of your sorrow which seems to afflict all these people here."

The son of the holy couple replied: "O ladies, in this very house there lived a pious man and his devoted wife, who were both devoted to a righteous life. Recently, they abandoned their children and grandchildren, their house and their cattle, and ascended to heaven. Therefore, to us this whole world appears to be empty. Look, O ladies, even the birds are crying for the departed ones. Even the gods are crying in grief (raining tears!). The trees are shedding tears every morning (the dew-drops). Abandoning this earth, my parents have surely gone away to the world of the immortals."

Hearing this, Lila laid her hand on the young man's head: instantly he was relieved of his sorrow. Seeing this, all the others were also relieved of sorrow.

Rama asked:

O Holy one, why is it that Lila did not appear to her own son as his real mother?

Vasistha replied:

Rama, he who has realised the unreality of material substances sees only the one undivided consciousness everywhere. A dreamer does not see this world, a man in deep coma may even see the other world. Lila had realised the truth. He who has realised the truth that Brahman, the self, etc., are all one infinite consciousness - unto him where is son, friend, wife, etc.? Even her laying her hand on the young man's head was the spontaneous expression of Brahman's grace.

section III chapter 27 - paramanau paramanau sargavarga nirargalam mahaciteh sphuranty arkaruciva trasarenavah (29) 

Vasistha continued:

Having thus blessed the family of the deceased holy man, the two ladies disappeared. The consoled members of the family returned to their abodes. Lila turned to Sarasvati to ask her a question: in this state, of course, their bodies were made neither of matter like earth nor psychosomatic factors like life-breath. It was like two dream-objects conversing with each other.

Lila asked Sarasvati:

"How was it that we were seen by this family of mine here, and we were not seen by my husband who was ruling a kingdom when we visited him?"

Sarasvati answered:

"Then you were still clinging to your notion 'I am Lila'; now you have overcome that body-consciousness. Till the consciousness of duality is completely dispelled, you cannot act in the infinite consciousness; you cannot even understand it, even as one standing in the sun does not know the coolness of the shade of a tree. But, now if you go to your husband, you will be able to deal with him as before."

Lila said:

O Divinity! It was here itself that my husband was the holy man and I was his wife; here again I was his queen; here he died and here again he rules now! Pray, take me where I can see him.

Sarasvati said:

Lila, you and your husband have been through many incarnations, three of which you now know. In this incarnation, the king has slipped deep into the snare of worldliness and he thinks 'I am the lord, I am strong, I am happy, etc.' Though from the spiritual standpoint the whole universe is experienced here, from the physical point of view, millions of miles separate the planes. In the infinite consciousness, in every atom of it, universes come and go like particles of dust in a beam of sunlight that shines through a hole in the roof. These come and go like ripples on the ocean.

Lila reminisced:

O Divinity! Since emerging as a reflection in the infinite consciousness I have had 800 births. Today I see this. I have been a nymph, a vicious human woman, a serpent, a forest tribal woman, and on account of evil deeds I became a creeper, and by the proximity of sages I became a sage's daughter; I became a king, and on account of evil deeds done then, I became a mosquito, a bee, a deer, a bird, a fish; and again I became a celestial, after which I became a tortoise, and a swan, and I became a mosquito again. I have also been a celestial nymph when other celestials (males) used to fall at my feet. Just as the scales of balance seesaw constantly I have also been caught up in the seesaw of this repetitive existence, samsara.

section III - chapter 28 29 - ihaiva ngustamatrante tad vyomny eva padam sthitam mad bhartr rajya samavagatam yojanakotibhak (29/36) 

Rama asked:

Holy sir, how was it possible for the two ladies to travel to distant galaxies in the universe, and how did they overcome the numerous barrier on the way?

Vasistha replied:

O Rama, where is universe, where are galaxies, where are barriers? The two ladies remained in the queen's inner apartment. It was there that the holy man Vasistha was ruling as king Viduratha; it was he who was king Padma before. All this happened in pure space: there is no universe, no distance, no barriers.

Conversing with each other, the two ladies emerged from the room and proceeded towards a village on top of a mountain. The beauty and the glory of that mountain are indescribable. All its houses were literally covered with flowers that continually dropped from the trees. Young women slept in their rooms on beds made of clouds. The houses were illuminated by lightning.

On account of the intensity of her practice of the yoga of wisdom, Lila had acquired full knowledge of the past, present and future.

She recollected the past and said to Sarasvati:

"O Divinity, some time ago I was an aged woman and I lived here. I was devoted to righteousness in every way; but I had never practised enquiry into the nature of the self ("Who am I, what is this world?"). My husband was also a good, righteous and learned man; but, his inner intelligence had also not been awakened. We were exemplars in conduct; and by such conduct we taught others how they should live." After saying this, Lila showed to Sarasvati her previous dwelling, and continued: "See, this is my favourite calf. On account of my separation, it does not even eat grass and has been constantly weeping for the past eight days. In this place, my husband ruled the world. Because of his strong will power and since he was determined to be a great king soon, he had indeed become an emperor within the short span of eight days, though it looked like a long long time. Just as air moves about unseen in space, even so in the space of this house, my husband lives, unseen. Here, in the space of the size of a thumb, we imagined the kingdom of my husband to be a million square miles. O Divinity, surely both my husband and I are of pure consciousness; yet, on account of the mysterious illusory power Maya, my husband's kingdom appears to encompass hundreds of mountains. This is truly marvellous. I wish to enter into the capital city where my husband rules. Come let us go there: for what is impossible of achievement to the industrious?"

section III - chapter 29 30 - utpadyotpadyate tatra svayam samvit svabhavatah svasankalpaih samam yati balasankalpajalavat (30/8) 

Vasistha continued:

Along with Sarasvati, the queen Lila rose into the sky. They went beyond the region of the pole star, beyond the realms of the sages of perfection, even beyond the realm of the gods, of Brahma (the creator), Goloka and the realms of Siva, and of the manes and of the liberated ones. From there Lila saw that even the sun and the moon were far below, and were barely visible. Sarasvati said to Lila: "Dear one, you have to go beyond even this to the very top of the head of creation; all that you have seen is just a few particles that have emanated from there." Soon they had reached this summit, for their will becomes adamantine whose consciousness is pure and unveiled.

There, Lila saw that this creation was enveloped by layers of water, fire, air and space, and beyond that was pure consciousness. This supreme infinite consciousness is pure, peaceful, free from illusions, established in its own glory. In that Lila saw countless creations floating like dust-particles in light. The self-projections of the jivas dwelling in those universes give them their forms and nature. Because of the essential nature of this infinite consciousness, all these keep arising and again arising, and by their own thought- force, return to a state of tranquillity; all this is like the spontaneous play of a child.

Rama asked:

What do people mean by 'above' 'below' and so on, when only the infinite is truth?

Vasistha replied:

O Rama, just as when little ants crawl all over a round rock, what is under their feet is always 'below' and what is behind their back is al ways 'above'; so people talk of these directions. Of those countless universes, O Rama, in some there are only plants; some have Brahma, Visnu, Rudra and others as the presiding deities, and some have none at all; in some there are only animals and birds; in some there is only an ocean; some are solid rocks; some are inhabited only by worms; some are pervaded by dense darkness; in some gods dwell; some are forever illumined. Some seem to be heading towards dissolution; some seem to be falling in space towards destruction. Since consciousness exists everywhere for ever, creation of these universes and their dissolution also goes on everywhere for ever. All these are held together by a mysterious omnipresent power. Rama, everything exists in the one infinite consciousness; everything arises from it; it alone is everything.

section III - chapter 31-40 - prajopadravanisthasya rajno rajno thava prabhoh arthena ye mrta yuddhe te vai nirayagaminah (30) 

Vasistha continued:

Having seen all this, Lila saw the inner apartment of the palace where the corpse of the king lay buried under a heap of flowers. There arose in her an intense wish to behold her husband's other life. Instantly, she broke through the summit of the universe and entered into the realm where her husband now ruled.

At the same time, a mighty king who ruled over the Sindhu region was laying a siege to her husband's kingdom. As the two ladies were coursing the space above the battlefield they encountered countless celestials who had assembled there to witness the battle and the exploits of the great heroes.

Rama asked:

Holy one, tell me: who is a hero among soldiers and who is a beast or a war criminal?

Vasistha replied:

O Rama, he who fights a battle which is in accordance with the scriptural injunctions, on behalf of a righteous king of unblemished conduct, whether he dies in battle or wins, he is a hero. He who fights for an unrighteous monarch, who tortures people and mutilates their bodies, even if he dies fighting in battle, he is a beast or criminal and goes to hell. He who fights to protect the cattle, holy men, friends, or they who have taken his asylum, he is an ornament of heaven. On the other hand, they who fight for a king who delights in harassing the people (whether he be a king or not, or just a landlord), they go to hell. Only the hero who dies in battle goes to heaven; they who fight unrighteously, even if they die in battle, do not go to heaven.

O Rama, still standing in the sky, Lila saw the two great armies closing in on each other, ready to engage themselves in battle. There follows a graphic description of the state of readiness of the armies, and of the different formations of the battalions, as also of the fierceness of the battle, and the gruesome scene of destruction that followed it.

As evening set in, Lila's husband held a council with his ministers concerning the events of the morning; and then he went to sleep.

The two ladies left the place where they stood watching the fierce battle and travelling like a breath of air, entered into the apartment where the king was asleep.

section III - chapter 40 - yatha samvit tatha cittam sa tatha vasthitim gata paramena prayatnena niyate nyadasam punah (13) 

Rama asked:

Holy one, the body seems to be so large and heavy; how does it enter through a minute hole?

Vasistha replied:

O Rama, indeed it is impossible for one who is rooted in the idea that he is a physical body to pass through a subtle hole or tube. It is the innermost conviction that "I am the body which is obstructed thus in its movement that in fact manifests as such obstruction: when the former is absent, the latter is absent, too."

Just as water ever remains water and flows down, and fire does not abandon its nature of rising up, consciousness remains for ever consciousness. But, he who has not understood this does not experience its subtlety or true nature. As is his understanding so is his mind, for it is the understanding that is the mind; yet, its direction can be changed by great effort. Normaly, one's actions are in accordance with one's mind (i.e. one's understanding).

But he who knows that his body is ethereal, how can his movement be obstructed? In truth, everyone's body everywhere is pure consciousness: but on account of an idea that arises in someone's heart, there seems to be all this coming and going. For, the same infinite consciousness is also the individual consciousness (mind) and the cosmic space (material). Therefore the ethereal body can enter anything anywhere, and it goes where the wish of its heart leads.

O Rama, everyone's consciousness is of this nature and power. In everyone's consciousness there is a different idea of the world. Death and such other experiences are like cosmic dissolution, the night of cosmic consciousness. When that comes to an end everyone wakes up to one's own mental creation, which is the materialisation of one's ideas, notions and delusions. Even as the cosmic being creates the universe after the cosmic dissolution, the individual creates his own world after his death.

However, divinities like Brahma, Visnu, and Siva, as also holy sages, attain final liberation during cosmic dissolution and their creation of the next cycle is not from memory. In the case of other beings, the new creation after the death in the previous one is conditioned by the impressions left in the mind by the various experiences during that life- span.

section III - chapter 40 - sukrtam duskrtam ce dam mameti krtakalpanam balo bhuvam aham tvad ya yuveti vilasadd hrdi (50) 

Vasistha continued:

Immediately after death, the state in which it may be said that one is neither here nor there, when the consciousness, as it were, slightly opens the eyes though it seems not to do so - that state is known as pradhana or the material or inert state of consciousness. It is also known as ethereal nature, unmanifest nature; and it is regarded both as sentient and insentient. It is this which is responsible both for memory and its absence, and therefore for the next birth.

When that ethereal nature becomes awakened, and when in its consciousness the ego- sense manifests itself it gives rise to the five elements (earth, water, fire, air, and ether), space-time continuum and all the rest of the material needed for physical birth and existence. These then condense into their material counterparts. During dreaming and waking states they give rise to the feeling of a physical body. But in fact all this constitutes the ethereal body of the jiva.

When the idea 'I am the body' becomes deeply ingrained, this same ethereal body develops the physical characteristics of a body - like the eyes, etc. - though all this happens only like vibrations or movements in air. Even if all these appear to be real, they are as (un)real as the experience of sexual pleasure in a dream.

Wherever one dies, there itself that jiva sees all this happening. In that space, in that field of consciousness itself, he imagines "This is the world, this am I"; and, believing that he is born, he experiences the world which is nothing but space - he the jiva is space, too! He thinks "He is my father, she is my mother, this is my wealth, I have done this wonderful deed, alas I have sinned." He imagines "I have become a small child, and now I have become a youth," and sees all these in his heart.

This forest, known as creation, arises in the heart of every jiva. Wherever a person dies, there and then he sees this forest. In this manner, countless worlds born in the consciousness of individual jivas have in time vanished; even so countless Brahmas, Rudras, Visnus and suns have vanished. In this manner, the illusory perception of creation has taken place countless times, is taking place now, and will take place in the future. For all this is non-different from the movement of thought which, again, is not independent of the infinite consciousness. In reality, what is mental activity but consciousness, and that consciousness is the supreme truth.

section III - chapter 41 - pasyasivaitad akhilam na ca pasyasi kincana sarvatmakataya nityam prakacasyatmana tmani (55) 

Vasistha continued:

The two ladies entered the apartment of the king like two divinities, resplendent like two moons. By their grace the king's attendants were fast asleep. As they took their seats, the king awoke and beheld them. He sat down and worshipped their lotus-like feet with flowers. Sarasvati wished that his minister should acquaint Lila with the king's ancestry: by her will, the minister awoke.

When Sarasvati asked the king who he was, the minister informed the ladies that he was a descendant of the great king Iksvaku, that his father was Nabhoratha who when the son was ten years old had entrusted the kingdom to him and retired to the forest to lead a spiritual life. The king' s name was Viduratha. Sarasvati then blessed Viduratha by laying her hand on his head and inspired him to recollect the facts of his own previous lives.

Instantly, the king remembered everything and asked Sarasvati:

"O Goddess, how is it that though it is hardly one day since I died, it seems that I have lived in this body a full seventy years, and how is it that I remember all the things that happened when I was young in this life-span?"

Sarasvati replied:

O king, at the very moment of your death and in the very place of your death, all this that you are seeing here manifested. All this is where the holy man Vasistha lived, in the village on the hill. That is his world, and in that world is the world of king Padma, and in that world of king Padma is the world that you are in. Living in it you think "These are my relations, these are my subjects, these are my ministers, these are my enemies;" you think that you are ruling, you are engaged in religious rites; you think that you have been fighting with your enemies and you were defeated by them; you think you are seeing us, worshipping us, and that you are receiving enlightenment from us; you think "I have overcome all sorrow and I enjoy supreme bliss, I shall be established in the realisation of the absolute."

All this took no time to happen, even as in no time during a dream a whole life's drama is enacted. In reality, you are unborn nor do you die. You see all this, as it were, though you do not see: for when all this is naught other than the infinite consciousness, who sees what? Viduratha asked: Then, are not these, my ministers independent beings? To the enlightened person there is only one infinite consciousness, and there is no notion of 'I am' or 'these are'. While Vasistha said this, another day came to an end.

section III - chapter 42 - dirgha svapnam idam visvam viddhy ahantadi samyutam atra nye svapna purusa yatha satyas tatha srunu (8) 

Sarasvati continued:

To an immature and childish person who is confirmed in his conviction that this world is real, it continues to be real - even as a child who believes in a ghost is haunted by it throughout his life. If a person is enamoured of the appearance of the bracelet, he does not see that it is just gold: he who sees the glory of palaces, elephants and cities does not see the infinite consciousness which alone is true.

This universe is but a long dream. The ego-sense and also the fancy that there are others, are as real as dream-objects. The sole reality is the infinite consciousness which is omnipresent, pure, tranquil, omnipotent, and whose very body and being is absolute consciousness (therefore not an object, not knowable): wherever this consciousness manifests in whatever manner, it is that. Hence when the seer fancies seeing a human being, a human being happens there. Because the substratum (the infinite consciousness) is real, all that is based on it acquires reality, though the reality is of the substratum alone. This universe and all beings in it are but a long dream. To me you are real, and to you I am real; even so the others are real to you or to me. And, this relative reality is like the reality of the dream-objects.

Rama asked:

Holy one, in the case of a city which appeared in one's dream, it continues to be if it is a real city: is this what you imply in your teaching?

Vasistha replied:

You are right, O Rama. Since the dream of a city etc., is based on the real substratum of infinite consciousness, these dream-objects appear to be real. But, then there is no real difference between the waking state of consciousness and the dream state. What is real in the one is unreal in the other - hence, both these states are essentially of the same nature.

Therefore, the objects of the waking or the dreaming consciousness are equally unreal, except for the infinite consciousness on which they are all superimposed.

After having imparted this teaching to the king, Sarasvati blessed him and said: "May all auspiciousness attend you. You have seen what is to be seen. Give us leave to go."

Viduratha said:

"Soon, O Goddess, I shall go from here, just as one goes from one dream to another in sleep. Pray, grant that my ministers and my virgin daughter may go with me." Sarasvati granted his prayer.

section III - chapter 43 - ka iva smin paritrata syad ityadinaviksitaih utpalaniva varsadbhih parirodita sainikah (59) 

Sarasvati said:

O king, you shall die in this war and then you will regain your previous kingdom. After your death in this body, you will come over to the previous city with your daughter and your ministers. We two shall go now as we came; and all of you will of course follow us in due course: for the nature of the motion of a horse, an elephant and a camel is different!

Vasistha continued:

Even as Sarasvati was saying this to the king, a royal messenger rushed in to announce that the enemy forces had entered the capital and were destroying it. There was an incendiary raid in progress, and the entire city was ablaze. The two ladies, the king and his ministers moved to a window to witness that dreadful scene.

Looting of the city had commenced; and the robbers were yelling fiercely everywhere. The entire city was enveloped in dense smoke. Fire was raining from the sky. (Anti-aircraft?) missiles described 'half-moon' shaped flaming streaks in the sky. Heavy rock-like missiles (bombs) were falling on the houses, destroying them and the roads around.

The king and the others heard the pitiable cries of the citizens. Everywhere there was weeping and wailing, the heart-rending cries of women and children. Someone was crying: "O dear, this woman has lost her father, mother, brother and her little infant: though she has not perished, the tragedy of her life is burning her heart." Another shouted: "Get out of that house quickly; it is about to collapse." Yet another: "Look, bombs and weapons rain into every house." Missiles were raining like the downpour that precedes cosmic dissolution. All the trees around the houses had been burnt and the whole place looked desolate. What looked like elephants had been propelled into the air from the battlefield and they were raining fire on the city. And, there were roadblocks everywhere. Bound by attachment, men tarried in burning houses looking for their wives and children. Even women of the royal household were being dragged about by the invading soldiers. Weeping and wailing, these noble ladies did not know what to do. They cried: "Alas, who will help us in this terrible situation?" and they were surrounded by soldiers.

Such is the glory of sovereignty, kingdoms and empires.

section III - chapter 44 - mrtir janmany asadrupa mrtyam janma py asanmayam visared visararutvad anubhutes ca raghava (26) 

Vasistha continued:

In the meantime, the queen arrived there. The lady-in-waiting announced her to the king. She said: "Your Majesty, all the other ladies of the harem have been violently dragged away by the enemy. From this indescribable calamity that has befallen us, only Your Majesty can redeem us."

The king bowed to Sarasvati and excused himself: "I shall myself go to the battlefront, O Goddess, to deal with the enemy; and this, my wife, will wait upon you during that time."

The enlightened Lila was amazed to see that the queen was a complete replica of herself. She asked Sarasvati: "O Divinity, how is it that she is exactly what I am? Whatever I was in my own youth, she is now. What is the secret of this? Also: all these ministers, etc., who are here, are the same that were there, in our palace. If they are but a reflection or the objects of our fancy, are they sentient and are they also endowed with consciousness?"

Sarasvati replied:

O Lila, whatever vision arises within oneself, that is immediately experienced. Consciousness (as subject) itself becomes, as it were, the object of knowledge. When in consciousness the image of the world arises, at that very instant, it becomes so. Time, space, duration and objectivity do not arise from matter; for then they would be material. What is reflected in one's consciousness shines outside also.

What is regarded as the real objective world experienced in the waking state is no more real than that experienced during sleep (dream). During sleep, the world does not exist;

and during the waking state, the dream does not exist! Even so, death contradicts life: while living, death is non-existent, and in death, life is non-existent. Because, that which holds together either experience is absent in the other.

One cannot say that either is real, or unreal, but one can only say that their substratum alone is real. The universe exists in Brahman only as a word, an idea. It is neither real nor unreal: just as a snake-in-the-rope is neither real nor unreal. Even so is the existence of the jiva. This jiva experiences its own wishes. It fancies that it experiences what it had experienced before; and some others are new experiences. They are similar at times and dissimilar at times. All these experiences, though essentially unreal, appear to be real. Such is the nature of these ministers and others. Even so this Lila exists as the product of the reflection in consciousness. Even so are you, me and all others. Know this and rest in peace.

section III - chapter 45 46 - tapo va devata vu pi bhutva svaiva cid anyatha phalam dadaty atha svairam nabhah phala nipatavat (45/19) 

The second Lila said to Sarasvati:

O Divinity, I used to worship Sarasvati and she used to appear to me in my dreams. You look exactly like her: I presume that you are Sarasvati. I humbly beg of you to grant me a boon - when my husband dies on the battlefield, may I accompany him to whichever realm he goes, in this very body of mine.

Sarasvati replied:

O dear lady, you have worshipped me for a long time with intense devotion: therefore, I grant you the boon sought by you.

The first Lila thereupon said to Sarasvati:

Truly, your words never fail, your wish always comes true. Pray, tell me why you did not allow me to travel from one plane of consciousness to another with the same body.

Sarasvati replied:

My dear Lila, I do not really do anything to anyone. Every jiva earns its own state by its own deeds. I am merely the deity presiding over the intelligence of every being; I am the power of its consciousness and its life-force. Whatever form the energy of the living being takes within itself, that alone comes to fruition in course of time. You longed for liberation, and you obtained it. You may consider it the fruit of your austerity or worship of the deity; but it is consciousness alone that bestows the fruit upon you - even as the fruit that seems to fall from the sky really falls from the tree.

Vasistha continued:

As they were talking among themselves like this, the king Viduratha ascended his resplendent chariot and proceeded to the battlefront. Unfortunately, he had not assessed the relative strength of his and the enemy's forces right up to the moment he actually entered into the enemy ranks. The two Lilas, Sarasvati, as also the princess who had received the blessings of Sarasvati, were watching the terrible war from their apartment in the palace.

The sky was crowded with the missiles from both the armies. The battle-cries of the warriors were heard everywhere. There was a pall of smoke and dust over the entire city.

Even as the king Viduratha entered the ranks of the enemy, there was an intense tut-tut sound of intense crossfire. As the missiles collided, there were sounds like khut-khut, tuk-tuk, jhun-jhun.

section III - chapter 47-50 - yo yatha prerayati mam tasya tisthami tat phala na svabhavo nyatam dhatte vahner ausnyamivaisa me (47/5) 

The second Lila asked Sarasvati:

O Goddess, please tell me, why is it that though we are blessed by you, my husband cannot win the battle?

Sarasvati replied:

No doubt, I was adored by king Viduratha for a considerable time; but he did not pray for victory in battle. Being the consciousness that dwells in the understanding of every person, I bestow upon that person that which he seeks. Whatever it be that a person asks of me, I bestow upon him that fruit: it is but natural that fire gives you heat. He had asked for liberation; and he shall attain liberation.

On the other hand, the king of Sindhu worshipped me, and prayed for victory in battle. Hence, the king Viduratha will be slain in battle, and he will rejoin you both and in course of time will attain liberation. This king of Sindhu will win the war and will rule the country as the victorious monarch.

Vasistha continued:

As the ladies were witnessing the battle, the sun rose in the eastern horizon, as if eager to witness the concluding phase of this terrible battle. Surrounded by a thousand soldiers each, the two kings fought each other. Their missiles had several different shapes and sizes. Some of them, though they were single-headed when they left the ground, multiplied into a thousand in the air and rained literally in tens of thousands when they hit their target.

Both the kings were well matched in strength and valour: Viduratha' s was inborn, while the strength of the enemy was derived from a boon he had obtained from lord Narayana.

While they fought, their armies watched dumbfounded.

At one stage, when it looked as though Viduratha was winning, the second Lila was highly elated and pointed him out to Sarasvati; but the very next moment, the enemy emerged unscathed. For every deadly missile of one the other used a countermissile. The missile that created depression was countered by one that inspired the warriors. The serpent-missile had its antidote. The water-missile was met with the fire-missile. And the Visnu-missile was used by both the kings.

Both the kings lost their vehicles, and they continued to fight standing on the ground. As Viduratha was about to ascend a new one he was cut down by the king of Sindhu. Viduratha's body was soon brought to the palace which the pursuing enemy could not enter on account of Sarasvati's presence.

section III - chapter 51 52 - trijagac cid anv antar asti svapnapuram yatha tasya py antas cid anv astesvapy ekaikaso jagat (52/20) 

Vasistha continued:

Soon after the king Viduratha fell, there was utter post-war confusion and chaos in the city. The king of Sindhu announced that his son would be the new ruler. There was great rejoicing among his subjects and his ministers quickly got ready for the coronation. Immediately the new administration proclaimed martial law in the new state, which restored peace and order to it.

Seeing Viduratha fall, the second Lila fell down unconscious.

The first Lila said to Sarasvati:

"O Goddess, see, this my husband is about to give up the ghost."

Sarasvati said:

Dear one, all this terrible war, this destruction and death, are as real as a dream; for there is neither a kingdom nor the earth. All this took place in the house of the holy man Vasistha on top of the hill. This palace and this battlefield and all the rest of it is nowhere but the inner apartments of your own palace. In fact, the entire universe is there. For, within the house of the holy man is the world of the king Padma; and within the palace of that king in that world is all that you have seen here. All this is mere fancy, hallucination. What is, is the sole reality - which is neither created nor destroyed. It is that infinite consciousness that is perceived by the ignorant as the universe.

Just as a whole city exists within the dreamer, the three worlds exist in a small atom; surely there are atoms in those worlds, and each one of those atoms also contains the three worlds.

The other Lila who fell down unconscious has already reached that world in which your husband Padma's body is lying.

Lila asked:

O Goddess, tell me: how did she go there already, and what are the people there telling her?

Sarasvati replied:

Just as both of you are the fancied objects of the king, even so the king himself and I are dream-objects. One who knows this gives up looking for 'objects of perception'. In the infinite consciousness we have created each other in our fancy. The other youthful Lila was indeed yourself. She worshipped me and prayed that she would never be widowed: hence, before the king Viduratha died she left this place. Dear one, you are all individualised cosmic consciousness, but I am the cosmic consciousness: and I make all these things happen.

section III - chapter 53 - mahacit pratibha satvan mahi niyati niscayat anyonyam eva pasyanti mithah sampratibimbitat (25) 

Vasistha continued:

O Rama, the second Lila who had obtained a boon from Sarasvati rose into the sky and there met her daughter. The girl introduced herself to Lila. And Lila requested her to guide her to where her husband the king was. The girl thereupon flew away with her mother.

First, they passed through the region of the clouds, then they passed through the region of air. Beyond that they went through the orbit of the sun into the starry heaven. They proceeded still further to the realms of Brahma the creator, Visnu, and Siva, and after all that into the summit of the universe. They were able to do all this even as the coolness of ice is able to radiate from the ice-jar without breaking it. Of course, Lila who had an ethereal body composed of materialised thought, experienced all this within herself.

Passing beyond even this universe, Lila crossed over the oceans and other elements that envelop this universe, and entered into the infinite consciousness. In that infinite consciousness there are countless universes which do not know of one another's existence.

Lila entered one of those universes in which lay the body of king Padma covered with a heap of flowers. She again passed through the regions of the gods (Brahma, etc.), entered the city and the palace in which the body lay. But, alas, when she looked around she could not see her daughter - who had disappeared mysteriously. She recognised the king as her husband and thought that having died a warrior's glorious death on the battlefield he had ascended to the hero's heaven. She thought: "By the grace of Sarasvati, I have physically reached this place. I am the most blessed among persons." She began to fan the king's body.

The first Lila asked Sarasvati:

Seeing her, what did the servants of the king do?

Sarasvati answered:

The king, the servants of the royal household and all the rest of them, are only infinite consciousness. However, since the substratum is the reflection of the infinite consciousness which is real, and since there is a conviction in the order of fanciful creation, they recognise one another. The husband says, "She is my wife" and the wife says, "He is my husband".

She could not go in her own physical body to the new realm because light cannot co- exist with darkness, and as long as there is in oneself the blind notion of ignorance, wisdom does not arise. When the wisdom concerning one's ethereal body arises, the physical body ceases to be recognised as true. This is the fruit of the boon that I granted her. The recipient of the boon thinks, "Just as you have made me think by your boon, so I am". Therefore, she thinks she has reached her husband's abode in her physical body. One may ignorantly see a snake in the rope; but the rope cannot behave like a snake.

section III - chapter 54 - tasmin prathamatah sarge ya yatha yatra samvidah kacitas tas tatha tatra sthita adya pi niscalah (13) 

Sarasvati said:

Only one who has arrived at wisdom can ascend to the ethereal realms, O Lila, not others. This Lila does not possess such wisdom; hence, she only fancied that she had reached the city where her husband dwelt.

The enlightened Lila said:

Let that be as you say, O Goddess. But, please tell me: how did the objects acquire their characteristics - like heat in fire, coolness in ice, solidity of earth? How did the world order (niyati) first arise, as also birth and death?

Sarasvati said:

Dear one, during the cosmic dissolution, the entire universe having disappeared, only the infinite Brahman remains in peace. This infinite being of the nature of consciousness feels 'I am' and then 'I am an atom of light'. Thus it experiences the truth of that statement within itself. It also fancies the existence within itself of the diverse creatures: and since its nature is pure and absolute consciousness, that fanciful creation appears to be a real creation, with objects of diverse characteristics in strict accord with the fancy of the infinite consciousness.

Whatever wherever and however was conceived or fancied by the infinite consciousness during that first creation, all that has remained there and in that manner and with those characteristics even now. Thus was a definite order brought into being here.

In fact, this order is inherent in infinite consciousness. All these objects and their characteristics were potentially present in it even during the cosmic dissolution: into what else could they dissolve? Moreover, how can something become nothing? Gold that appears as bracelet cannot become formless entirely.

Thus, although all the elements of this creation are utter emptiness, yet whatever element was conceived of in the beginning with whatever characteristic, such order has persisted until now. All this is only from the relative point of view: for the universe has not been created at all, and whatever is, is the infinite consciousness and naught else. It is the nature of appearance to appear to be real, even though it is unreal.

Such is the order (niyati) in the universe, that nothing until now has been able to alter it. It was the infinite consciousness itself that thought of all these elements within itself and it experienced them within itself, and that experience appears to have materialised.

section III - chapter 54 - ko dya yavanmrtam bruhi cetanam kasya kim katham mriyante dehalaksani cetanam sthitam aksayam (69) 

Sarasvati continued:

According to the order that existed in the first creation, human beings were endowed with a life-span of one, two, three or four hundred years. The shortening or the lengthening of the life-span is dependent upon the purity or impurity of the following factors - country, time, activity, and the materials used and consumed. He who adheres to the injunctions of the scriptures enjoys the life-span guaranteed by those scriptures. Thus, the person lives a long or short life and reaches its end.

The enlightened Lila said:

O Goddess, kindly enlighten me concerning death: is it pleasant or unpleasant, and what happens after death?

Sarasvati said:

There are three types of human beings, my dear: the fool, one who is practising concentration and meditation, and the yogi (or intelligent one). The two latter types of human beings abandon the body by the practice of the yoga of concentration and meditation and depart at their sweet will and pleasure. But, the fool who has not practised concentration or meditation, being at the mercy of forces outside himself, experiences great anguish at the approach of death.

This fool experiences a terrible burning sensation within himself. His breathing becomes hard and laboured. His body becomes discoloured. He enters into dense darkness and sees the stars during the day. He gets dizzy. He is confused in his vision: he sees the earth as space and the sky as the solid earth. He experiences all sorts of delirious sensations - that he is falling into a well, entering into a stone, riding a fast vehicle, melting away like snow, being dragged with a rope, floating away like a blade of grass, etc. He wishes to express his suffering, but is unable to do so. Gradually, his senses lose their power; and he is unable even to think. Therefore he sinks in unwisdom and ignorance.

The enlightened Lila asked:

Though every person is endowed with the eight limbs, why does he experience all this agony and ignorance?

Sarasvati replied:

Such is the order established in the beginning of creation by the infinite consciousness. When life-breath does not flow freely, the person ceases to live. But all this is imaginary. How can infinite consciousness cease to be? The person is nothing but infinite consciousness. Who dies and when, to whom does this infinite consciousness belong and how? Even when millions of bodies die, this consciousness exists undiminished.

section III - chapter 55 - jiva ity ucyate tasya nama nor vasanavatah tatraiva ste sa ca savagare gaganake tatha (6) 

The enlightened Lila said:

Kindly proceed with your discourse on birth and death: listening to it again will certainly deepen my wisdom.

Sarasvati said:

When there is cessation of the flow of the life-breath, the consciousness of the individual becomes utterly passive. Please remember, O Lila, that consciousness is pure, eternal and infinite: it does not arise nor cease to be. It is ever there in the moving and unmoving creatures, in the sky, on the mountain and in fire and air. When life-breath ceases, the body is said to be 'dead' or 'inert'. The life-breath returns to its source - air - and consciousness freed from memory and tendencies remains as the self.

That atomic ethereal particle which is possessed of these memories and tendencies is known as the jiva: and it remains there itself, in the space where the dead body is. And they refer to it as 'preta' (departed soul). That jiva now abandons its ideas and what it had been seeing till then, and perceives other things as in dreaming or day-dreaming.

After a momentary lapse of consciousness, the jiva begins to fancy that it sees another body, another world and another life-span.

O Lila, there are six categories of such 'departed souls': bad, worse and worst sinners; good, better, best of virtuous ones. Of course, there are sub-divisions among these, too. (In the case of some of the worst sinners, the momentary lapse of consciousness may last a considerable time.)

The worst among the sinners undergo terrible sufferings in hell and then are born in countless living species, before they see the end of their agony. They might even exist as trees for a long time.

The middling among sinners also suffer lapse of consciousness for a considerable time; and then are born as worms and animals.

The light sinners are soon reborn as human beings.

The best among the righteous ascend to heaven and enjoy life there. Later they are born in good and affluent families on earth.

The middling among the righteous go to the region of the celestials, and return to the earth as children of brahmanas, etc.

Even the righteous among the departed ones, after enjoying such heavenly pleasures, have to pass through the realms of the demi-gods to suffer the consequences of the iniquities they might have committed.

section III - chapter 55 - iti sarvasarirena jangamatvena jangamam sthavaram sthavaratvena sarvatma bhavayan sthitah (54) 

Sarasvati continued:

All these departed souls experience within themselves the fruition of their own past actions. At first there is the notion 'I am dead', and then 'I am being carried away by the messengers of the god of death'. The righteous among them fancy that they are taken to heaven; and the ordinary sinners fancy that they are standing in the court of the god of death where, with the help of Citragupta (the hidden record of one's deeds), they are being tried and judged for their past life.

Whatever the jiva sees, that the jiva experiences. For in this empty space of infinite consciousness there is nothing known as time, action, etc. Then the jiva fancies, 'The god of death has sent me to heaven (or hell)' and 'I have enjoyed (or suffered) the pleasures (or tortures) of heaven (or hell)', and 'I am born as animal, etc., as ordained by the god of death'.

At that moment, the jiva enters into the body of the male through the food eaten; it is then transferred to the female and delivered into this world, where it undergoes life again in accordance with the fruition of past actions. There it grows and wanes like the moon. Once again it undergoes senility and death. This goes on again and again till the jiva is enlightened by self-knowledge.

The enlightened Lila asked:

O Goddess, but please tell me how all this began in the very beginning.

Sarasvati replied:

The mountains, the forests, the earth and the sky - all these are but infinite consciousness. That alone is the very being of all, the reality in all; and hence that pure infinite consciousness appeared to become whatever form it took whenever it manifested itself. Till now it continues to be so. When the life-breath enters into the bodies and begins to vibrate the various parts of the bodies, it is said that those bodies are living. Such living bodies existed right in the beginning of creation. When those bodies into which the life- breath had entered did not vibrate, they were known as trees and plants. It is indeed a small part of the infinite consciousness that becomes the intelligence in these bodies. This intelligence, entering into the bodies, brings into being the different organs like the eyes.

Whatever this consciousness thinks it is, it takes that form. Thus, this self of all exists in all bodies, with motion as the characteristic of moving bodies, immovability as the characteristic of the immovable bodies. Thus do all these bodies continue to be even now.

section III - chapter 55 - na tu jadyam prthak kincid asti na pi ca cetanam na tra bhedo sti sargadau satta samanyake na ca (57) 

Sarasvati continued:

When that intelligence, which is part of the infinite consciousness, fancied itself to be a tree, it became a tree; or a rock, it became a rock; or grass, it became grass. There is no distinction between the sentient and the insentient, between inert and intelligent: there is no difference at all in the essence of substances, for the infinite consciousness is present everywhere equally. The differences are only due to the intelligence identifying itself as different substances. The same infinite consciousness is known by different names in these different substances. In the same way, it is the same infinite consciousness that the intelligence identifies as the worms, ants and birds. In it there is no comparison, nor a sense of difference: just as the people living in the north pole do not know (and therefore do not contrast themselves with) the people of the south pole. Each independent substance identified as such by this intelligence exists by itself, without distinction from the other substances. Ascribing distinctions to them as 'sentient' and 'insentient' is like a frog born in a rock and a frog born outside it considering themselves different, one insentient and the other sentient!

The intelligence which is a part of the infinite consciousness is everywhere, and it is everything: whatever that intelligence thought of as itself, it became that in the very beginning of creation and so it has remained ever since.

It thought of itself as space, it thought of itself as the moving air, it thought of itself as the insentient, it thought of itself as the sentient beings. All this is nothing but the fancy of that intelligence. Such appearance is not the reality, though it appears to be real.

O Lila, I think that now the king Viduratha wishes to enter into the heart of the body of king Padma. He is proceeding towards it.

The Enlightened Lila said:

O Goddess, let us also proceed in the same direction.

Sarasvati said:

Tuning himself to the ego-principle in the heart of Padma, Viduratha fancies that he is proceeding to another world. Let us proceed along our own paths: one cannot tread the path of another!

section III - chapter 56 - yatha vasanaya jantor visam apy amrtayate asatyah satyatam eti padartho bhavanat tatha (31) 

Vasistha continued:

In the meantime, the life-breath left the body of the king Viduratha even as birds abandon a tree that is about to fall. His intelligence rose into space, in an ethereal form. Lila and Sarasvati saw this and followed it. In a few moments, that ethereal form became conscious, when the period of post-mortem unconsciousness came to an end. And, the king fancied that he saw even the gross form which had been put together by the funeral rites performed by his relatives.

With this he travelled towards the south and reached the abode of the god of death, who declared that the king had not committed any sinful action at all and ordered his messengers to let him enter his own previous body (of Padma) which lay embalmed.

Instantly, the jiva of Viduratha crossed over to the other universe in which Padma's body lay, and reached the palace. Obviously Viduratha had been linked with Padma's body through the ego-sense of the latter, even as a man travelling in distant countries is still attached to the place where he has buried his treasure!

Rama asked:

O Holy sir, if one's relatives fail to perform the funeral rites properly, then how can that one obtain the ethereal form?

Vasistha answered:

Whether the funeral rites had been duly performed or not, if the departed one believes that they have been performed, he gets the benefit of the ethereal form. This is a well-known truth: whatever be one's consciousness, that one is. Things (objects or substances) come into being on account of one's fancy (thought or idea); and one's fancy also arises from the things. Poison turns into nectar through one's fancy (or faith); even so, an unreal object or substance becomes real when such intense faith is present. Without a cause no effect is produced anywhere at any time; and therefore there is no fancy or thought either. Hence, but for the one causeless infinite consciousness nothing whatsoever has ever arisen or been created. Rest assured of this.

If the funeral rites are performed by one's relatives with the right faith it helps the intelligence of the departed soul, unless the latter is overpoweringly vicious.

Let us return to the palace of king Padma. As I said, Lila and Sarasvati re-entered that beautiful palace and the room in which the embalmed body of Padma had been kept. All the royal attendants were fast asleep.

section III - chapter 57 - dehad dehantara praptih purva deham vina sada ativahika dehe smin svapnesv iva vinasvari (22) 

Vasistha continued:

There, seated near the body of king Padma they saw the second Lila who was devoutly fanning the king. The first Lila and Sarasvati saw her, but she did not see them.

Rama asked:

It was said that the first Lila had temporarily left her body near the king and travelled with Sarasvati in an ethereal body: but now the first Lila's body is not mentioned at all.

Vasistha replied:

When the first Lily became enlightened, the egoistic fancy of her ethereal real being abandoned its link with the gross physical form, and it melted away like snow. In fact, it was Lila's ignorant fancy that made it appear as if she had a physical body. It was as if one dreams and thinks "I am a deer": on waking up and finding the deer missing, does one go about searching for it? In the mind of the deluded the unreal manifests itself; and when the delusion has been dispelled (like the realisation that it is rope and not snake!) there is no longer an ignorant fancy. This fanciful conviction that the unreal is real is deep-rooted by repeated imagination.

Even without destroying it, one can move from one ethereal body to another just as in dream one can take one form after another without abandoning the previous one. The yogi's body is truly invisible, ethereal, even though it appears to be visible in the eyes of the ignorant beholder. And it is such a beholder who, on account of his own ignorance, thinks and says "This yogi is dead". For, where is the body, what exists and what dies? That which is - is: only delusion vanished!

Rama asked:

Holy sir, does a yogi's physical body then become an ethereal body?

Vasistha replied:

How many times I have told you, O Rama: yet you do not grasp it! The ethereal body alone is: by persistent fancy, it appears to be linked to a physical body. Just as when an ignorant man (who thinks he is the physical body) dies and the body is cremated, has a subtle body, even so the yogi on being enlightened while living, has an ethereal body. The physical body is only the creation of one's ignorant fancy, and is not real. There is no difference between the body and the ignorance. To think they are two - this indeed is samsara (repetitive history).

section III - chapter 58 - sad vasanasya rudhayam ativahika samvidi deho vismrtim ayati garbhasamstheva yauvane (16) 

Vasistha continued:

In the meantime, Sarasvati restrained Viduratha's jiva from entering into the body of king Padma. The enlightened Lila asked Sarasvati: O Goddess, from the time I sat here in contemplation till now, how much time has elapsed?

Sarasvati replied:

Dear one, it is a month since you entered into contemplation. During the first fifteen days, your body, on account of the heat generated by pranayama, became vaporised. Then it became like a dry leaf and fell down. Then it became rigid and cold. The ministers then thought that you had died of your own accord and cremated that body. Now, on account of your own wish you appear here in your ethereal body. In you there are no memories of past life nor latent tendencies brought forward from previous incarnation. For when the intelligence is established in the conviction of its ethereal nature, the body is forgotten, even as in youth one forgets life as a foetus. Today is the thirty-first day and you are here. Come, let us reveal ourselves to this other Lila.

When the second Lila saw them before her, she fell at their feet and worshipped them.

Sarasvati asked her:

Tell us how you came here.

The second Lila replied:

When I fainted in the palace of Viduratha, I did not know anything for some time. I then saw that my subtle body rose to the sky and was seated in an aerial vehicle which brought me here. And, I saw that Viduratha was lying here asleep in a garden of flowers. I thought he was fatigued from battle and without disturbing him, I fan him.

Sarasvati immediately let Viduratha's jiva enter the body. The king at once awoke as if from slumber. The two Lilas bowed to him.

The king asked the enlightened Lila: "Who are you, who is she, and from where has she come?"

The enlightened Lila replied: "Lord, I am your wife in your previous incarnation and your constant companion, even as a word and its meaning are. This Lila is your other wife; she is my own reflection, created by me for your pleasure. And she who is seated on yonder golden throne is the goddess Sarasvati herself. She is present here on account of our great good fortune."

Hearing this, the king sat up and saluted Sarasvati. Sarasvati blessed him with long life, wealth and so on, and enlightenment.

section III - chapter 59 60 - duhkhitasya nisa kalpah sukhitasyaiva ca ksanah ksanah svapne bhavet kalpah kalpas ca bhavati ksanah (60/22) 

Vasistha continued:

After granting the desired boons to the king, Sarasvati vanished at that spot. The king and the queen fondly embraced each other. The royal attendants who were guarding the king's body woke up and rejoiced that the king had come back to life.

There was great rejoicing in the state. People far and wide recounted for a long time how the queen Lila returned from the other world with another Lila as a gift to the king. The king heard from the enlightened Lila all that took place during the previous month. He continued to rule and enjoy the blessings of the three worlds through the grace of Sarasvati, which he had no doubt earned by his own self-effort.

Thus is the story of Lila, O Rama, which I have narrated in detail to you: contemplation of this story will remove from your mind the least faith in the reality of what is perceived. Truly, if only that which is true can be removed, how can one remove what is unreal? There is nothing to be removed, for all that appears to be in your eyes (the earth, etc.) is nothing but the infinite consciousness; and if something has been created even that has taken place by it, within it itself. Everything is as it is; nothing has ever been created. You may say that what appears to be is the creation of Maya, but then Maya itself is not real!

Rama said:

Lord, what a grand vision of the ultimate truth you have given me! But, Holy one, there is an insatiable hunger in me for the nectar of your enlightening words. Pray, explain to me the mystery of time: in the story of Lila sometimes a whole life-time was spent in eight days, sometimes in one month. I am puzzled. Are there different time-scales in different universes?

Vasistha replied:

O Rama, whatever one thinks within oneself in his own intelligence, that alone is experienced by him. Even nectar is experienced as poison by him who fancies it is poison. Friends become enemies and enemies become friends, depending upon one's inner attitude. The object is experienced by one strictly in accordance with one's inner feeling. To a suffering person a night is an epoch; and a night of revelry passes like a moment. In dream a moment is non-different from an epoch. A life-time of Manu is but an hour an a half to Brahma; Brahma's life-time is a day of Visnu. Visnu's life-span is Siva's day. But to the sage whose consciousness has overcome limitations, there is neither day nor night.

section III - chapter 60 - tivra vegavati ya syat tatra samvid akampita saiva yati param sthairyam amoksam tv eka rupini (53) 

Vasistha continued:

The yogi knows that it is one's own mentality that turns sweet things into bitter things and vice versa, and friends into enemies and vice versa. In the same way, by changing the angle of vision and by persistent practice one can develop a taste for the study of scriptures and for japa, etc., which were uninteresting earlier. For these qualities are not in the objects but only in one's own thinking: just as a sea-sick man sees the world go round, the ignorant man thinks that these qualities abide in the objects. A drunken man sees empty space where a wall stands; and a non-existent goblin kills a deluded person.

This world is nothing but a mere vibration of consciousness in space. It seems to exist even as a goblin seems to exist in the eyes of the ignorant. All this is but Maya: for there is no contradiction between the infinite consciousness and the apparent existence of the universe. It is like a marvellous dream of a person who is awake.

O Rama, in the autumn the trees shed their leaves; in springtime the same trees sprout new leaves which were surely within the trees themselves. Even so this creation exists all the time within the absolute consciousness. It is not seen: even as the liquidity that exists in gold is not always evident. If the creator of one epoch attains liberation and if the creator in the next epoch projects the new universe from his memory, even that memory is none other than the infinite consciousness.

Rama asked:

Lord, how is it that the king and also the citizens experienced the same objective facts?

Vasistha replied:

That is because the intelligence of all the jivas is based upon the one infinite consciousness, O Rama. The citizens, too, thought that he was their king. Thought-vibrations are natural and inherent in the infinite consciousness and they are not motivated. Even as it is natural for a diamond to sparkle, the king's intelligence thinks "I am king Viduratha" and so do all the beings in the universe. If one's intelligence is established in this truth concerning the infinite consciousness, it reaches the supreme state of liberation. This depends upon one's own intensity of self-effort. A man is pulled in two different directions: towards the realisation of Brahman the absolute and towards the ignorant acceptance of the reality of the world. That which he strives to realise with great intensity wins! Once he overcomes ignorance, the deluded vision of the unreal is for ever dispelled.