VI.2 Nirvana Prakaranam - Section Dealing with Liberation - chapters 51 to 100

  section VI.2 - chapter 51 - na kascideva kurute sarirani kadacana na mohayati bhutani kascideva kadacana (6)

Rama asked:

Lord, how does the pure wakeful state arise, and how do beings exist in such a state without any cause or motivation whatsoever?

Vasistha replied:

O Rama, without a cause, no effect is produced. Therefore, the pure wakeful state does not happen, nor does all the rest of this apparent creation come into being at all. Nothing is created and nothing perishes; all these descriptions are incidental to instruction.

Rama asked again:

Who is it that creates the bodies, the mind, etc. , and who deludes all these beings with bondage known as friendship, likes, etc.?

Vasistha replied:

O Rama, no one creates these bodies at any time, and no one deludes beings at any time. Consciousness is beginningless and eternal, and it alone exists as all these diverse beings. Nothing is outside of this consciousness, though it appears to be outside itself. This appearance, too, arises within itself, like a sprout from a seed. This universe exists within consciousness, even as a figure exists in a marble slab. This consciousness which is everywhere, within and without, spreads itself as the world-appearance, on acrount of time and space, just like the fragrance of a flower spreads out. 'This' itself is 'the other world'. Let there be an end to the mental conditioning that creates the other world. When the notion of the other world has been given up, from where do such notions arise?

The self alone is real, devoid of the concepts of time, space and such other notions; the self is not a void. This truth is realised only by those who are established in the supreme state, not by those who rest in the ego-sense. To one who has realised the truth, the fourteen worlds are his own limbs. In his vision, the division between dream-state and wakeful state ceases to exist. When this world-appearance is seen to be pure consciousness, it becomes similar to a dream. Just as all that is thrown into the fire becomes one (ash), all the states and the world-appearance are reduced to oneness by the fire of wisdom.

Consciousness alone appears as this gross universe. When this is realised, the belief in the existence of matter ceases. With it ceases desire to possess such matter. Then one remains in one's own inner peace. When the self is realised as neither the world nor the void, everything remains as it truly is. The sage of self-realisation has crossed this samsara, and has reached the end of all karma.

  section VI.2 - chapter 52 - iyam dreyabharabhrantirnanvavidyeti cocyate vastuto vidyate naisa tapanadyam yatha payah (5)

Vasistha continued:

The notion of the existence of the world arises in the ignorant, just as the awareness of its various limbs may arise in the 'mind' of a tree! This illusory apprehension of the objective world, which goes by the name 'avidya' or 'ignorance', does not in fact exist; it is as real as water in the mirage (sound without substance). However, just for the sake of clear understanding, take this ignorance as real, and listen! Then you will yourself understand that it does not exist in fact.

Whatever appears to be here, perishes at the end of the world-cycle. No one can avert this total destruction. Brahman alone exists then. This realisation is not like drug-induced experience; we know with certainty that the body is like a dream-object, and that consciousness alone is real. This world-appearance perishes again and again. What has perished, and how does it come into being again and again? If it is said that all these objects remained hidden in space, then one has to admit that they were not destroyed even in the cosmic dissolution.

There is similarity between cause and effect. Since there is no cause for this world-appearance, it is not an effect. One alone is. The numerous branches, leaves, flowers, and fruits of a tree, are but the expansion of the single seed. There is no need to invent a causal relationship. The seed alone is the reality. When the truth is investigated, we realise that the one consciousness alone remains as the truth.

At the end of the world-cycle, all these objects of perception cease to be. The one self which is consciousness alone remains, and this is indescribable, being beyond thought and description. Only the sage of self-knowledge experiences this; others merely read these words. For it is neither time nor mind, neither being nor non-being, neither consciousness nor unconsciousness. I have thus described it negatively, because the scriptures have done so. In my vision, it is pure and supreme peace. In this, there are infinite potentialities, like figures in an uncut marble. Thus the supreme self is at the same time diverse and non- diverse. It is when you do not have direct self-knowledge that there arises in you doubt concerning this.

The perception of diversity is due to the division that arises in the self. However, the self is devoid of any division into time, space, etc. The self is the very substratum and undivided reality of time, space, etc., just as the ocean is of the waves. Hence, the reality is undivided and divided, it is and it is not. The uncut images in the marble may be carved out of it, but it is not possible to carve the world out of the infinite consciousness. Hence, divided though undivided, it merely appears to be different from the totality, though really non-different from it.

  section VI.2 - chapter 53 54 - samudragirimeghorvivisphotamayamapyajam kasthamaunavadevedam jagadbrahmavatisthate (54/3)

Vasistha continued:

The reality is the infinite, undivided consciousness which, not being an object of observation, is unknowable. Brahma, Visnu, Rudra, etc., are names which have, by repeated use, come to be regarded as real. Creation, not having a cause or a reason, is non- existent. But one cannot assert that there is non-existence, or that there is something.

When one's mind rests in perfect tranquillity, what it is is the reality. In that reality, this world appears to be. The world-appearance does not arise out of nothing! Hence, one has to conclude that Brahman alone is, even in the form of this creation. Creation is but a word, a name. The reality is Brahman. 'I' , 'you', and 'the world', are names that exist in Brahman as Brahman.

The ocean, the mountain, the clouds, earth, etc., are all the unborn and untreated. This universe exists in Brahman as the Great Silence (kastha mauna - silence of a log of wood).

The seer exists in the scene as seeing, on account of his own essential nature. The doer exists as the deed, since there is no reason for him to do anything. In it, there is neither a knower nor a doer, neither inertness nor experiencer, neither void nor substance. Life and death, truth and falsity, good and evil - all these are of one substance, like waves in the ocean. The division between the seer (subject) and the scene (object) is fanciful.

However much one may try, the cause for this creation is not found. That which shines without reason or cause, is surely non-existent, except as an illusion. It exists as itself, and it shines because it is it, without creator-creation relationship.

Rama asked:

One sees that the whole tree is hidden in the banyan seed. Why should we not accept that even so is the world hidden in Brahman?

Vasistha replied:

Where such a seed exists and where co-operating causes exist too, there is the possibility of a creation. When all the elements are dissolved during cosmic dissolution, where is the seed-form, and where are the co-operating causes? When the infinite, indivisible consciousness alone is the truth, there is no scope for the existence, even of the subatomic particle, much less the seed for this creation. Whatever is the supreme being, that itself is this universe. The one infinite consciousness conceives of itself as the false in the false, and as pure consciousness in pure consciousness. Just as space (distance) exists in space, all this exists in Brahman.

  section VI.2 - chapter 55 - adisarge hi citsvapno jagradityabhisabdyate adyaratrau citeh svapnah svapna ityapi sabdyate (9)

Vasistha continued:

Since, right in the very beginning, there was neither a cause nor a motivation for creation to arise, there is neither being nor non-being, neither gross matter nor subtle mind, neither moving objects nor immobile objects. Consciousness is without form, and cannot create this world of name and form, since cause and effect are identical, and only that which has form can create or change into some other form. The self remains the self all the time, fancying within the undivided consciousness all these diverse objects. Whatever that consciousness experiences as if within itself, that and that alone is 'called' the world or this creation.

Before all this happened (that is, when one realises that all this is unreal and non- existent), know that the one Brahman alone existed, utterly peaceful and homogeneous. Infinite consciousness is infinite consciousness, water is water: and since this 'creation' is conjured up by consciousness, it appears to be so created. Just as the world, one dreams of is an illusory appearance in one's consciousness, even so in the wakeful state, this world appears in consciousness, as consciousness.

In the original creation, the dream of the undivided consciousness is known as the wakeful state (the world which is experienced in the wakeful state). The dream that rises in the consciousness of the beings that arise in that ignorance, is known as the dream state. This fanciful dream has 'materialised' into this world order by constant repetition. The river is but the movement of water; creation is the fancy of the infinite consciousness.

It is not right to consider that 'death' is a state of bliss on account of the total destruction of the self. It is a state of void (like space). This vision of samsara will arise again. If there is fear on account of evil actions, the consequences are the same here or 'there'. Hence, there is no vital distinction between life and death. Knowing this, one attains peace of mind. When thus perception of division ceases, the vision of oneness arises. This is known as liberation. Whether this creation is or is not, there is then both a total understanding of the absence of objects and the experience of the indivisibility of the infinite. When thus the object and therefore the subject is unrealised, then there is great peace. In the supreme self, of course, there is neither bondage nor liberation.

One who thus realises the truth, attains nirvana. This very world-appearance, which is but the slight movement in consciousness, is also realised as nirvana by him. He realises that this creation is not diversity, but is pure Brahman only.

  section VI.2 - chapter 56 - tacchatam tatra varsanam nimesamiva me gatam bahvyo 'pi kalagatayo bhavantyekadhiyo manak (41)

Vasistha continued:

The pure void exists everywhere in every way at all times in this space which is consciousness. Consciousness exists here and there in the form of this creation; there is no unconsciousness anywhere, because all this is but pure consciousness. Even that which appears to be matter is but pure consciousness. In this connection, O Rama, listen to the following story of the rock which was seen by myself.

Once upon a time, I desired to renounce all the activities of the world, having clearly understood whatever there was to know. I wished to meditate, in total seclusion, without ceasing, and without interruption. Resorting to a secluded spot, I contemplated as follows:

The entire world is devoid of any worth or value. Nothing in this world in capable of giving me the least happiness. What am I seeing and who am I? In order to find the right answers, I must go away to that place which is beyond the reach of even the demons and the gods, and there, meditate in total seclusion, without fear of distraction.

Where shall I find such a spot? The forests are full of the noise of flowing water and of roaming lions. Just as the city, full of people, is distracting, the ocean is also full of various sources of distraction. Even the caves are not free from distraction; they resound with the movement of wind, and they are full of creepers. etc. The lakes are often the sport grounds for people as well as the celestials, and are therefore full of distractions. Having thus examined all the spots on earth, I decided to go away into the outerspace. But even there I found distractions caused by the clouds, by the celestials and the demons, by the celestial bodies and the departed souls.

Having abandoned all these, I went to a lonely spot far, far away, where even the natural elements could not reach. In that empty place, I fancied the existence of a hermitage. In my own mind, I made it inaccessible to any being. I sat in the lotus posture. I made my mind tranquil. I resolved that I would sit in samadhi for a hundred years. In accordance with the rule that what one contemplates for a long time, my fanciful wishes materialised, and were spread out in front of me. These one hundred years passed as if the twinkling of an eye, because when one's mind is perfectly concentrated, the passage of time is not noticed.

When this period came to an end, my mind began to expand and spread out. All the goblins of 'I' and 'you' reached me slowly with the help of the life-forces, which began to move in me. Immediately, desire entered my heart; I do not know from where it came, and how it came into me.

  section VI.2 - chapter 57 - ahambhavam vina dehasthitistajjnajnayoriha adheyasya niradhara na samsthehopapadyate (2)

Rama asked:

O sage, how is it that, even in the case of a person who is established in nirvana, the ego- sense could thus arise?

Vasistha replied:

Whether one is a knower of the truth or ignorant of it, without the ego-sense, the body cannot exist. That which needs to be sustained cannot exist without a support. But there is a vital difference, which I shall presently explain to you.

The little boy, known as ignorance, has created this goblin, known as ego-sense, which seems to exist within oneself unperceived. This ignorance is a non-entity, too, because it is not seen to exist when investigated; darkness does not exist when it is seen with the help of a lamp. When one looks for this goblin known as ignorance, it does not exist. But, in the absence of such investigation, when it is taken for granted, and when one is under its influence, it expands and gets established. This world is created by that ignorance, which is real only to the ignorant; it is not real. That (infinite consciousness or Brahman) which is beyond the mind and the senses, cannot be the seed nor the cause for the coming into being of that which is the object of the mind and the senses. When there is no seed, how can there be a sprout?

In this infinite consciousness, it is a mere fancy that appears to be the created universe. This consciousness alone is known as isvara or god, and also as this creation. It is like one's own dream-creation, which is everybody's daily experience. Because the dreamer is a conscious being, the dream-objects appear to have an intelligence and a mind of their own. Even so, this non-creation, known as the universe, seems to possess independent existence and intelligence, as if it had been created. There is no creation as such; the one Brahman exists as Brahman. Whatever notion arises in this Brahman, is experienced by Brahman, as if it were an object of experience. That Brahman itself fancies that all this is 'creation'. But then, the experiencer, experiencing, and experience, are one and indivisible; even so, Brahman, the notion of creation, and creation, are only Brahman. Such being the case, how can ego-sense or the false notion of 'I' arise?

Thus have I told you how to lay this ghost of ego-sense, which vanishes on being rightly understood. The ego-sense has thus been clearly understood by me. Hence, even though the ego-sense seems to arise in me, it is inoperative, like a painting of fire. Thus have I abandoned the ego-sense. I exist in space as if outside it, in creation as if out of it. I do not belong to the egosense, nor does it belong to me, or exist in me. I am not, nor is there another in my vision; all is and nothing is.

  section VI.2 - chapter 58 59 - nirvanamevamakhilam nabha eva drsyam tvam cahamadrinicayasca surasurasca tadrgjagatsamavalokaya yndrganga svapne 'tha jantumanasi vyavaharajalam (58/23)

Vasistha continued:

In the story of the rock that I am going to narrate to you, O Rama, it will become clear that, within the core of the rock, there are thousands of creations. In this physical space, too, there are similarly countless creations. In fact, in every element or object, there are countless creatures. But all these exist only in the indivisible infinite consciousness, not as real substances or entities. Nothing has ever been created right from the beginning. Brahman alone exists in Brahman, as space, air,fire, water, earth, mountains, etc. There is no division or duality between Brahman and creation, which are but two words without meaning. Even unity and duality are words without meaning. That which creates these notions of unity and diversity also creates the notions of Brahman and creation. When these notions have ceased, there is great inner peace, even if one is engaged in activity. Everything is nirvana. The perceived creation is like the sky (void though appearing to have a form and colour). Behold the entire universe composed of you, I, mountains, gods and demons, etc., as you would behold the creations and the happenings of a dream.

After having remained in samadhi for one hundred years, I returned to body- consciousness, and heard a sigh. I listened to it, and tried to guess what it might be. I was far, far in the outerspace; so, how could any person or even a bee exist so near me there? Moreover, I could not see anyone. I decided to investigate it further. I decided to enter into samadhi again. I silenced the mind and the senses. I merged in the infinite consciousness. I saw reflected in that consciousness the image of countless universes. I was able to go anywhere and to see everything. I saw countless creations, though they did not know of one another's existence. Some were coming into being, others were perishing; all of them had different shielding atmospheres (from five to thirty-six atmospheres). There were different elements in each; they were inhabited by different types of beings, in different stages of evolution, with different natures and cultures; some had other universes within them; in some there were creatures you would not believe possible to exist; in some there was apparent natural order, and in others there was utter disorder; in some there was no light and hence no time-sense. All these are but the fruits of the one indivisible infinite consciousness. How and when they arose, it is impossible to say; but this much is certain that they are the creations of ignorance. In this creation, there are gods and demons numerous as mosquitoes. Whether one regards these universes as the creations of the supreme Creator or as false notions, it is certain that they are in fact the infinite consciousness, non-different and not independent of it. They rest like inert realities in the descriptions found in the scriptures. Thus did I behold all these infinite creations.

 section VI.2 - chapter 60 - na vicetanti kalpantan sarvanyeva parasparam ekamandirasamsuptah svapne ranarayaniva (20)

Vasistha continued:

Eventually, my attention was directed to the source of the sound. I saw a woman, who was radiant, and who illumined all the directions of space. She was highly cultured. She approached me gently, and said in a sweet voice: "O sage, you have truly conquered the evils, like lust, anger, and greed. Your mind is totally free and unattached. Hence, I salute you from all sides." Now that I knew the source of the sound, I decided to move on, considering that I had nothing to do with this woman.

Then I saw many universes, and their diversity aroused my curiosity. I wanted to roam more and more, to see the magnitude of creation. After some time, I abandoned that idea, knowing that it was delusion, and remained established in the infinite consciousness. Instantly, all this perception of diversity vanished from my sight. There was the pure consciousness, nothing else. This is the truth; all else is imagination, notion, delusion, or illusory perception.

Because the entire creation is enveloped by this ignorance or delusion, the inhabitants of one creation or one universe or one world do not even know of the existence of others. These diverse worlds are unaware of the notions or creations of others, even as people sleeping in the same room are unaware of the battle cries uttered by one another in their dreams. In these universes, I saw thousands of Brahmas, Vispus, and Rudras. All these are in consciousness, all these are consciousness, and consciousness alone is all this; hence, as consciousness, I saw all this.

Rama, when you look at something and say, "It is such and such", consciousness shines there as such and such, though in truth this consciousness alone exists as itself, and no such name and form exist there. This space or plane of consciousness alone exists everywhere at all times; and that itself is called the world. The perception of objects here (which we call knowledge of that object) is the only ignorance or delusion. I saw that the truth, on the other hand, is that the space or plane of consciousness alone exists. With the enlightened intelligence, I also experienced the final truth concerning all this - that all this is pure, indivisible, infinite consciousness. On account of the persistence of the perception of diversity, I saw in it countless Vasisthas, countless ages and world-cycles and many ages in which Rama flourished. When there is perception of diversity, all these arise; when there is realisation of the truth, all these are seen to be pure, indivisible, infinite consciousness. In the infinite, of course, there are no name and no form which could be referred to as 'This is the world or creation'. Brahman alone exists as Brahman.

  section VI.2 - chapter 61 62 - esa hi paramarthasamvidacchedya adahya 'kledya 'sosya sa hyatadvidamadrsaya tasya yaddhrdayam tattadeva bhavati yatha 'sau na nasyati tadantarvartijagadadyanubhavo na jayate na nasyatyeveti kevalam smaranavismaranavasena svabhavarupenanubhavananubhavau kalpayativa (61/10)

Vasistha continued:

Brahman is one, and all these are appearances, which the light of Brahman makes manifest, without intending to do so. On account of this, there arises great diversity of experience. For instance, in some universes, moonlight is hot and sunlight cool, there is sight in darkness and blindness in daylight, good is destructive and evil constructive, poison promotes health and nectar kills, in accordance with the notions that arise in consciousness. In some universes, there are no women, and therefore no sexuality, and in others, people have pitiless hearts. In some universes, people do not possess one or more of the senses. In some, only one or two of the elements exist, though they, too, are inhabited by living creatures, adapted to suit local conditions.

All these arise as consciousness in consciousness through consciousness; and this is known as the mind.

Rama asked:

Since everything attains liberation at the end of a world-cycle, during the cosmic dissolution, how does the notion of the next creation arise?

Vasistha replied:

O Rama, Brahman is an indescribable mass of cosmic consciousness. The creation is its very heart, and therefore non-different from it. It is apprehended as creation mysteriously, not really. Since its creation is false, how can one say that it perishes at some time? Even cosmic dissolution, etc., are the limbs of Brahman, as it were. Such divisions appear only in ignorance. Therefore, nothing perishes at any time, nor does anything come into being. The supreme truth or consciousness is indestructible by weapons, fire, wind, and water. It is not realised by those who do not know it. The universe, which is the heart of this truth, is also like it; it is neither born, nor does it die. Experience of its existence and non-existence arises with the rising and cessation of the appropriate notion. Hence, even words like 'world-cycle', 'cosmic dissolution', etc., are sound without substance. The ghost exists or disappears only in the heart of one who thinks of it. What are seen as birth, death, pain, pleasure, form, and formlessness, are all limbs of the one being. There is no division among them, even as there is no division in the several parts of the one tree. When this truth is not realised, then the apparent divisions seem to arise. In Brahman, there is neither knowledge nor ignorance; it is beyond bondage and liberation. Realising this is liberation.

  section VI.2 - chapter 62 - naikasthanasthitamayo naham gatimayo 'bhavam tadanena sva evasmin drstametanmayatmani (3)

Rama asked:

Did you see all this from one spot where you were, or did you roam about in space?

Vasistha replied:

I had attained infinite consciousness then. In it, there is no coming or going. I did not remain in one spot, nor did I roam about. I witnessed all this within the self, which had assumed the form of what I witnessed. Just as you see your body from head to foot with even closed eyes, thus I saw everything with the eye that is consciousness. This is like the dream: whatever is experienced in the dream, is pure space (dimension) of consciousness. Even now, on account of enlightenment, I behold all this. I am now one with all the enlightened beings; I know them all as my own self, without the division of subject, object, and observation, since the one consciousness alone exists indivisibly.

In answer to the question concerning the lady, Vasistha said: She, too, with a space- body, stood with me in space. I had not noticed her earlier. Though she was endowed with a space-body, she was able to communicate with me (who also had a space-body) in a cultured voice and diction, even as in dream one speaks to another. What sort of certainty do you have to assert the existence of the inner senses? We had bodies similar to them. This is true in my case, yours, hers, and everything else. Just as one experiences warfare in one's dream, even so do people experience the events in this creation as if they were real. However, all illustrations are inadequate, and truth is beyond words. If one were to ask, "How do you see a dream?", the answer would be, "As you see it". All this is for your understanding. The truth is that this universe, as well as all that you see in your dream, is but Brahman.

There is no essential difference between the dream state and this visible creation. That experience which immediately precedes the waking state is known as a dream; that experience or knowledge which arose in the beginning of this world-creation is known as the waking state. The experience of the existence of the world is a long dream, or it is a void. It is pure consciousness, because it is established in the eternal reality. You are the witness or observer of your own dream; even so, the infinite consciousness is the observer of the long dream known as creation. Even as the observer and the observed are consciousness, that which is in the middle (the observation) is also pure, indivisible, and unmodified consciousness. Such being the case, how can this creation be considered solid and substantial or material? Even the dream of embodied (with form) beings like you is immaterial. How can the long dream of infinite consciousness, which has no form, come to have form? Hence, it is untreated Brahman alone.

  section VI.2 - chapter 63 - tesamantarjanah santi janam prati punarmanah punarmanah prati jagajjagatprati punarjanah (33)

Rama asked:

O sage, how could that formless woman utter words?

Vasistha replied:

Of course, they who are endowed with a space-body, cannot utter audible sounds. If that were possible, then your dream conversation could be heard by another sleeping near you. Hence, it is clear that what is seen in a dream is an illusion, based on pure consciousness alone. What is experienced as the waking life is not entirely different from the dream-experience. It is but the play of consciousness; the notions that arise in that consciousness appear to be clothed in solid reality.

The seeds of past experience are in consciousness, and they sprout new experiences, which are sometimes identical with past experience, and sometimes somewhat different. The worlds that thus sprout from those seeds are not aware of one another. During the course of life in this dream-world, the demons are killed by the gods, and the demons remain in their dream-state. Not being enlightened, they do not attain liberation. Not being insentient, they do not become insentient, but retain awareness. Hence they live in a space-body in a dream-world. Even so is the case with the so-called human beings. Their world, their life, and their mentality are like ours, and vice versa. We exist as their dream-objects. Their own compatriots, though they are also dream-objects, are considered to be real entities by them. In the same way, the objects that appear in every one of my dreams are real to me.

Because of the very nature of the infinite consciousness, these dream-creations seem to exist in the waking state, too. Their reality is of course the sole reality, Brahman. Everything exists everywhere at all times, as the indivisible, pure consciousness; but it is nothing, and nothing is therefore destroyed.

In the eternal space (dimension) of infinite consciousness, in the infinite play of the infinite, there are infinite minds and infinite worlds in them. In every one of them, there are continents and mountains, villages and cities, with houses inhabited by people, who have their own time-scale and life span. When these jivas reach the end of the life span, if they are not enlightened, they continue to exist in infinite space, creating their own dream- worlds. Within them are other people, within whom are minds; within those minds are worlds in which there are more people, ad infinitum.

This illusory appearance has no beginning and no end; it is Brahman and Brahman alone. O Rama, in all these diverse objects, there is nothing but pure consciousness. Consciousness alone is this universe. Then, how is it possible to say that there are worlds which seem to exist in the minds of the ignorant?

  section VI.2 - chapter 64 - drstani kundamandarakumudani himani ca maya kamagnidagdhanam bhasmaniva disam prati (70)

Asked by Vasistha who she was, the Celestial replied:

O sage, in this vast universe, in a corner, you have the world in which you live. Beyond the boundaries of this universe are mountains known as the Lokaloka mountains. That region has every form of climatic and elemental permutation and combination. (The description in the text is elaborate and interesting.) Somewhere in it, only humans dwell, elsewhere, gods dwell; in it, there are goblins as also very long-lived beings. In it, there are self-luminous places and others of utter darkness, fertile fields and deserts, densely populated places and uninhabited areas.

I dwell within a solid rock which lies on the north-eastern slopes of that mountain- range. I am bound by destiny to live within the heart of this rock. I have thus lived in it for countless aeons. My husband, too, is destined to live here. Till today, we have not been able to attain liberation, on account of our intense desire (kema), and on account of our intense attachment for each other. Similar is the fate of our relatives.

My husband, who is thus in bondage, is a brahmana by birth. He is ancient. He does not move from his seat, though he has been sitting there for countless centuries. He is a celibate from birth (brahmacari), educated, and lazy. He lives in seclusion, as he is not moved by craving for pleasure. Being his wife, I lead a miserable life; yet, I cannot live without him even for a single moment.

I shall tell you how I became his wife. When he was young, he was partially awakened inwardly. He desired to have as his wife one who would help him in his spiritual quest. I was born of that wish, a mental creature to be his mental wife. As such, I grew up to be a young woman. I began to delight in hearing good music, and enjoying myself in different ways.

I support not only my husband, but all the three worlds which exist in him. Though I had come of age, and my body was bursting with signs of beauty and youth, my husband remained in the state of deep sleep over long periods of time, or he was engaged in religious activities. He did not consummate our marriage, though I crave for such consummation all the time. I am burning with desire. My attendants do their best to alleviate my suffering, but all such efforts only add to my anguish. Burning with desire, I shed tears constantly. O sage, there are lovely flowers and cool snow all around here; but because I am burnt by the fire of desire, I experience them as useless ashes. Lying in the bed, decked with flowers and garlands, which are meant to enhance my delight, I experience a dryness and an emptiness, and my youth is being wasted.

  section VI.2 - chapter 65 - varam vaidhavyamabalyad varam maranameva ca varam vyadhirathapadva nahrdyaprakrtih patih (3)

The Celestial continued:

After a considerable time, the same attachment and affection I had for my husband, became non-attachment and dispassion. My husband had grown old; he was interested only in seclusion, and was devoid of all attachment and taste for sensual pleasures; he was ever silent. Of what use is life itself to me? I consider child-widowhood, even death, or disease, or even the worst calamity, preferable to a husband whose nature is not after one's own heart. Indeed, the greatest blessing and the fruition of the life of a woman are that she obtains a young husband who enjoys life, and whose conduct and behaviour are sweet and agreeable.

A woman whose husband does not enjoy life is frustrated. The uncultivated intellect is destructive. Wealth which falls into the hands of wicked people is misfortune. When one's shame has been extinguished by a prostitute, there is great harm. She is a woman who follows the husband. That is wealth which seeks the good people. That alone is intelligence which is sweet and not limited, noble and endowed with equal vision.

If the husband and wife are fond of each other, then neither diseases of the body nor those of the mind, neither calamities nor natural disasters, afflict their minds. To the woman whose husband is of bad character, or who does not have a husband, the pleasure-gardens of the world are burning sands. A woman can abandon everything in this world for one reason or another, but she cannot abandon her husband.

You yourself see, O sage, what unhappiness I have endured all these yours. But now I have cultivated dispassion. Now I have only one desire: to be instructed by you, so that I may attain nirvana. Death is preferable to life to one whose desires are frustrated here and whose heart is agitated, and who is slowly proceeding towards death. My husband, too, is desirous of attaining nirvana. He is endeavouring to control the mind by the mind. Lord, awaken self-knowledge in both of us with your words of the highest wisdom.

Because my husband had no interest in me, I developed dispassion. The mental conditioning became weak, and I practised yoga which conferred on me control over space, so that I can move in space. Thereupon, I practised such concentration as would bring about my meeting with the perfected ones. All these have borne fruit.

When I flew away from my own world, I saw a rock on the Lokaloka mountains which I had not seen before. We had no desire to see this before. My husband and l now desire to attain self-knowledge. I beg of you to grant this boon, for holy men do not decline such a request. I have seen many perfected ones, but none like you. I take refuge at your feet; do not abandon me.

  section VI.2 - chapter 66 67 - istavastvarthinam tajjnasupadistena karmana paunahpunyena karanannetaraccharanam mune (67/23)

When asked by Vasistha how she lived in the rock, the Celestial said:

O sage, that world of ours within that rock is just like your world out here! In our world, too, there are heaven and hell, gods and demons, the sun and the moon, the firmament and the stars, the mobile and the immobile creatures, hills and oceans, and the particles of dust that are known as living beings. Come, why don't you bless that rock with a visit; sages are always interested in wonders. (This earth is also a pebble in the vast space!)

Vasistha continued:

Accompanied by her, I coursed the space, and reached the Lokaloka, and saw the rock. I saw it was but a rock, and there was no world in it. I questioned her: where is your world with all its gods and demons, mountains and oceans, the world which you described so graphically?

The Celestial replied:

Truly, O sage, I now see that what I previously saw in the rock is only in me. It was, by repeatedly projecting that vision and experiencing it in the rock, that I thought that I saw it; now that I do not so experience it, that vision has gone. In you, the sense of duality had ceased long ago; hence you do not entertain any false notions. Even in me, the long- standing illusion has been dispelled by right perception; hence I do not see that world clearly. The present realisation of the truth being stronger than the past illusory notion, the latter has become dim.

O sage, this is the only path to salvation: one should be totally devoted to the one desirable cause, one should be instructed in the right effort for its attainment, and one should again and again engage oneself in such right action. By the right effort (abhyasa), ignorance is dispelled, and the ignorant become enlightened. It is by right effort that even bitter things are relished. It is by repeated practice that a stranger becomes a friend; and when a close relative is separated from oneself, it is through the absence of such repeated contemplation that the relationship is lost. It is by repetition that the subtle body becomes the physical body. By persistent effort, the impossible becomes possible. False relationships have been forged by persistent effort; they should also be resolutely abandoned by persistent effort till the end of one's life. By persistent effort, one brings the desired object close to himself. Such effort enables him to attain it without obstacle.

Persistent and repeated effort is known as abhyasa. That alone is the greatest goal of man (purusartha), and there is no other path. Only by persistent and determined self-effort, and by one's own direct experience, is perfection attained, not by any other means. It is by such abhyasa that one becomes utterly fearless everywhere in the world.

  section VI.2 - chapter 68 - bodhah kalena bhavati mahamohavatamapi yasmanna kiricanapyasti brahma tattvadrte 'ksayam (12)

Vasistha continued:

When the celestial said thus, I sat in the lotus-posture, and entered into samadhi or deep contemplation. I abandoned all material and physical concepts, and held on to the vision of the pure consciousness. I had become the infinite consciousness, as it were, and had attained cosmic vision which is of the greatest purity.

On account of this realisation of the truth, the delusion concerning the material or physical ceased in me. In its place, there was the great consciousness which neither rises nor sets. There was awareness in which I saw neither space nor the rock, but I was aware of only the infinite. Whatever was seen before, was but the one self; and now I realised the self alone was all that was seen and experienced. What appeared to be the rock before, was nothing but the (space of) infinite consciousness (cidakasa).

Man is but the dream-object of another, and he dreams he is a man. However, in course of time, even they who are victims of the worst form of delusion, are enlightened (awakened), because there is nothing but the truth or Brahman, which is eternal. Therefore, that which I saw earlier as the rock, I knew now to be a mass of pure consciousness. There is no such thing as earth or matter.

The self of the elements or beings is the body of Brahman. That concept alone is now seen as a notion or imagination. The cosmic subtle body appears to be on account of the rising of this notion. The first-arising notion or thought is the body of the jiva. That ignorant thought (viz. , the I-thought) now thinks that the mind is an obvious reality. For no reason or purpose at all, these notions that the mind is an obvious reality (pratyaksa) arise; consciousness thus becomes other than itself. What is called obvious reality now (the body, etc.) is an obvious unreality. Paradoxically, the obvious is unreal, and the unreal becomes obvious. Such is the mysterious power of illusion.

The subtle body is the first among these obvious truths. The truth is omnipresent and matter is but illusion, even though it may be experienced - just as 'the braceletness' of gold is an illusory appearance of gold, though people may point to it and proclaim that it is a bracelet. The subtle cosmic body (ativahika) is not material. It is on account of non- understanding that the jiva falls under the sway of this illusion; what foolishness! The material or physical body is not found on enquiry; and the subtle body exists unchanged, even in the two worlds (the here and the hereafter).

  section VI.2 - chapter 68 - yatra pratyaksamevasadanyat kim tatra sadbhavet kva tatsatyain bhavedvastu yadasiddhena sadhyate (36)

Vasistha continued:

The gross physical body exists in the ativahika or the subtle body - even as water exists in a mirage. On account of the erroneous perception of the body, this physical body comes to be accepted as an entity - even as a piece of wood is taken to be a man. How mysterious and how powerful is illusion, that it makes the unreal appear real, and the real appear unreal! This illusion exists only because of the non-understanding of the truth.

The activity and the behaviour of beings in this world are governed mainly by the vision of the yogis, and to a small degree by the perception of the mind. Hence, these two may be accepted as true. But, he who abandons the former, and clings to the reality of matter, endeavours to quench his thirst with the water of the mirage.

Momentary pleasure is pain. Real delight is unmodified, beginningless, and endless. Hence, investigate the truth with the help of direct experience; behold the primordial truth by direct experience. One who abandons this experience and runs after illusory 'realities' is a fool.

The subtle immaterial body alone is real; in it, the perception of the material or physical body is unreal and illusory. How can the latter be experienced as real when it is only notional and has never been created? When you know that what is obviously seen is illusory and unreal, what else can be accepted as real? How can that be accepted as real, which is established by what is unreal?

When such is the case of the first and foremost proof (pratyaksa or direct experience), what value can be placed in inference?

Hence, the existence of the objective universe said to have been proved by these methods (direct sense-experience, inference, and scientific investigation) is false and unreal. Duality or diversity is false; the one mass of infinite consciousness alone is real. Just as an object seen in a dream is unreal, even so, what was seen by us as a rock is unreal; it is pure consciousness only. Realise that this mountain, this space, the world, and the 'I', are all but the one infinite, indivisible consciousness.

One who is enlightened (awakened) realises this, not the unenlightened. It is because of the false feeling 'I am not enlightened' that this ignorance of the reality has come to be firmly established. He who abandons the realisation of the direct experience of the Lord who is of the nature of the indivisible, infinite consciousness, and clings to other forms of experience, is surely foolish. What have we to do with such people?

  section VI.2 - chapter 69 - yadayam tvam mamahante yadidam kathanam mithah tattarangastarangagre ranativeti me matih (30)

Vasistha continued:

Then, that celestial entered into the world within the rock. I, too, went with her. There, she went to where the Creator of that world was seated, and sat in front of him. She then said to me: "O sage, this is my husband. He created me in order to have me as his wife. However, he did not consummate that marriage. Now, he and I are both aged. I have attained dispassion. He is not distracted from his meditation. Pray, enlighten both of us concerning the root-cause of this samsara, so that we may be liberated from it." Having said this, she 'awakened' her husband, the Creator, to ordinary consciousness, and said to him: "Lord, behold the sage who has arrived at our abode. He is our guest. He is the son of the creator of another world. It is our duty as householders to honour and worship our guests."

The Creator of the other world (of the rock) opened his eyes. He became aware of his own 'limbs' . These limbs were in fact different 'created' beings, who arose in that awareness. At once, there appeared before him different types of beings - gods, demons, humans, etc. He saw me, and also his wife seated in front of him. He welcomed me, and bade me be seated on a bejewelled seat. I returned the salute, and sat on the seat. There were celestial music and also singing of hymns. We all appropriately greeted one another.

Then I asked the second Brahma: "Lord, this celestial brought me here, and she said to me that I should instruct both of you in a way that you may both be enlightened. Is that right and appropriate? For, you yourself are the Lord of all creatures, and the master of the highest wisdom; she is not overcome by desire. How is it that you created her to be your wife; and, if that is a fact, how is it that you ignored her and did not consummate the marriage?"

The Creator in the rock replied:

O sage, listen and I shall tell you everything as it happened. There is only one consciousness which is unborn and tranquil. There arose in it a little movement, a vibration, or a ripple. That is what I am. I am of the essential nature of pure space. I rest in the self. Since I arose without any cause or material, I am known as self-born. I have not been created at all, and I do not see anything. What is seen here as you and I, and what is seen as this dialogue between us, are like two waves colliding in the ocean and making a sound. We are like the waves of the ocean, non-different from the ocean of infinite consciousness. We are but notions that spontaneously arise in it. This lady here, who appears to be different from it, has never been created, has not come into being at all; she is but a notion, a concept, a thought-wave or psychological conditioning. This body is made of the trace of ego-sense which existed in me, and she is but the presiding deity, as it were, of this ego-sense. She is, therefore, neither my wife, nor was she created as one.

  section VI.2 - chapter 70 - desakalakriyadravyamanobuddhyadikam tvidam cicchilangakamevaikam viddhyanastamayodayam (20)

The other world's Brahma continued:

Now I wish to enter into the plane or space of infinite consciousness; hence, I have manifested this dissolution which signals the cosmic dissolution. Hence, there is this dispassion in us. When I abandon the cosmic mind and merge in the infinite consciousness, the destruction of all vasanas (notions, etc.) is certain. Hence, this woman (who is the embodied vasana) has become dispassionate, and follows me.

Now, the world-cycle comes to an end, and with it, the end of the gods. This is also the moment of cosmic dissolution. It is the end of my own conditioning (vasana) and the utter transmutation of the body into space. Therefore, this vasana is about to perish. The desire for liberation arises in the vasana for no apparent reason; that is how vasana finds its own destruction. She had undertaken the practice of meditation, etc., but could not realise the self. She then saw the world in which you (the enlightened sage) lived.

At that time, she even saw the corner-stone of this my creation. This corner-stone of creation can only be perceived when the mind is ready to abandon perception of diversity, not while it is bound to such perception. There are countless worlds, within worlds, within all these objects and elements at all times, as if in this rock. Its appearance as 'the world' is of course an illusion, for it is pure consciousness. This illusory vision of 'the world'

vanishes for one who has understood its true nature; but, it continues to exist in the eyes of others.

By the previous practice of concentration, meditation, etc., she (the vasana) had gained dispassion; then, in order to gain self-knowledge, she sought you.

Thus it is the power of the infinite consciousness alone that exists here as the impassable illusory power or Maya. This power is beginningless, endless, and imperishable. Time, space, matter, motion, mind, intellect, etc. , are but parts of the consciousness, like parts of the rock. The infinite consciousness alone exists as the rock of consciousness; its limbs are the worlds. This mass of consciousness thinks of itself as the world. Though it is beginningless and endless, it thinks it has a beginning and an end. Thus it seems to become. This mass of consciousness is formless; yet, it assumes the form of a rock. There are no rivers here. There is no revolving wheel nor matter undergoing change and transformation. All these are but appearances in the space or plane of infinite consciousness (cidambaram). Just as in the cosmic space, there appears to exist the space called house, and another called a pot (though surely space is indivisible and the existence of the space within the house does not diminish the total' space); all these 'worlds' seem to exist in the infinite which is indivisible and which does not undergo any diminution thereby.

  section VI.2 - chapter 71 - yavatsankalpanam tasya virasibhavati ksanat tathaiva ‘su tathaivorvyah sadridvipapayonidheh (5)

Vasistha continued:

Having said this, the Creator (of the world-in-the-rock) entered into the deep and final state of meditation. He uttered 'Om', and contemplated on the last phase of its intonation. His mind was utterly calm. He remained as if he were a painted picture. Vasana (the embodiment of the psychological conditioning in the form of the lady) also followed the Creator, and entered into deep meditation. She attained the form of space. I, too, entered into deep meditation, and witnessed all these, having become the omnipresent, infinite consciousness.

As the notions in the cosmic mind of the Creator began to die down, at that very moment itself, the earth, with its mountains, continents, and oceans, began to disappear. The grass and the trees ceased to be. The earth is one of the limbs of the cosmic person, the Creator. Hence, when the cosmic person withdrew his awareness from it, the earth ceased to be, even as in a state of paralysis when our awareness of a limb is withdrawn, it withers away and disintegrates.

The earth was hit at the same time by numerous natural catastrophes. The evil-doers were burnt by fire, and they headed for hell. The earth had lost all its charm and its fruitfulness. The women had become immoral, and men had lost their self-respect. A dense dust-storm arose, veiling the sun. The people were distressed by the pairs of opposites, which, in their foolishness, they subjected themselves to. On account of floods and famine, wars and pestilence, humanity had been decimated. On account of numerous sufferings, people had become uncivilised and uncultured. Because of the suddenness with which all these terrible things happened, the noble people of the earth perished, and there was hue and cry everywhere. There was scarcity of water, and people began to dig deep wells. There was indiscriminate mixing between men and women, and the social order broke down. Everyone lived by trade. Women lived (earned their living) by exhibiting the beauty of their hair. Kings followed the dictum 'might is right'. There was unrighteousness everywhere. The leaders were devoted to intoxicating drinks. They harassed and tortured the learned and the saintly men. People resorted to other ways of living or other faiths than that which was natural to them. The learned men became subject to violence and aggressiveness. Temples were looted. Even the holy ones abandoned the performance of the religious rites on account of laziness.

The cities had been burnt down by the fire that showered from the skies. Seasons became erratic. Thus had the earth-element reached its destruction, since the Creator had merged himself in the infinite consciousness.

  section VI.2 - chapter 71 - yada viksubhitatmasittada niyatilanghanat samutsaryaryamaryadamarnava vivrtarnasah (27)

Vasistha continued:

Once the earth-element had thus been absorbed in the infinite consciousness and had transcended its limitation, the water-element turned towards its own dissolution. When the water got agitated, it exceeded its own natural bounds, and the oceans transgressed their bounds, overflowing in all directions. Making dreadful sounds, the waves lashed at the forests and began to destroy them. These mighty waves mingled with the clouds in the space, and it became one mass of water. All the mountains were submerged under water. The aquatic creatures were in panic, and ran helter-skelter, in an attempt to escape from the calamity. When the waves destroyed the mountain caves, lions ran out of them, destroyed other creatures, and were eventually themselves destroyed. The tumult raised by all this reached even the region of the sun.

It appeared as if the oceans had invaded the regions of the gods themselves, and had occupied them. On account of the destruction of the forests and mountains caused by the power of the tidal waves, it looked as if the whole space were a big forest of trees and mountains. The great mountains were being dissolved in the waters of the ocean. At one stage, it looked as though the mountains were laughing with their teeth bared, because, washed by the tidal waters, the precious and semi-precious stones that remained underground, had become exposed on the mountain sides.

It looked as though even the celestial bodies were affected by this. The earth-mountains fell on some of them, making a loud noise. Even the fires of cosmic destruction appeared to be afraid of being put out by these tidal waves. At one stage, there was terrible warfare between the earth-elephants and sea-elephants! The single ocean shone with a supernatural radiance at that time when so many earthly objects were getting drowned in it.

Then it looked as if the space itself were falling into the waters of cosmic dissolution. The firmament, with all its light and its precious jewels, fell into the flood.

Flames of fire spread out in all directions, consuming all that existed in space. Since the Creator had withdrawn his realisation of the world, the demons and others were let loose to cause what havoc they pleased. All the gods (Indra, etc., who are the deities presiding over the natural elements to maintain order among them) had been overpowered by the demons. There was chaos. Even the abodes of Siva, etc., were shaken and disturbed. The stars and planets collided with one another, and there was cosmic destruction.

  section VI.2 - chapter 72 - athakrstavati pranan svayambhuvi nabhobhavah viradatmani tatyaja vataskandhasthitah sthitim (1)

Vasistha continued:

When the creator Brahma withdrew his prana (the life-forces), the air which moves in space abandoned its natural function of motion in space. What else can sustain the elements and other beings? When thus the force that held all the heavenly bodies had been withdrawn, the stars began to fall away from their orbits, like flowers from trees. The satellites that were coursing the outer space also disintegrated on account of the time- space continuum being withdrawn when the life-forces were withdrawn. Even the path of the siddhas or the perfected ones was obliterated. Like bits of cotton wool, these siddhas began to fall in space. Even Indra (the chief of the gods) and his heaven began to fall and disintegrate.

Rama asked:

Consciousness is pure, and the cosmic person is but a notion. How does this cosmic person or Brahma come to acquire limbs like earth, heaven, and the netherworld?

Vasistha continued:

In the beginning, O Rama, there was but pure consciousness which could not be said to be either existence or non-existence. Within itself it became aware of itself as its object of awareness. Without abandoning its position as the subject, it seems also to become the object. That is the jiva from which the mind, etc., arise. However, all these are non- different from pure consciousness.

When the mind which is also pure consciousness thinks 'I am space', it experiences space, though such space is non-existent. The self or pure consciousness is void and immaterial. As long as there is the notion of the physical universe, consciousness experiences it as if it were real; when it so wills, it winds up this creation which then comes to an end.

Vasana or psychological conditioning, which gives rise to notions and to experiences of all kinds, ceases to be when the vision of the truth or the understanding of the reality arises. There is egolessness - and therefore oneness. Liberation or moksa alone remains after that.

This is the nature of Brahma. This is how the world exists as the body of Brahma, the cosmic person. The notion that arises in that cosmic person appears to be this universe. It is pure void; in fact, there is no such thing as the world, nor what can be regarded as 'you' or 'I'. In pure and indivisible consciousness, what is the world, how and by whom is it created, and with what materials or co-operating causes? It appears, but it is no more than an illusory appearance. It is neither one with the infinite consciousness, nor different from it. There is neither unity nor diversity. Infinite, indivisible consciousness alone is the reality. Hence, live free from all conditioning, acting spontaneously and appropriately in each situation.

  section VI.2 - chapter 73 - sailendrapeksaya suksma yatheme trasarenavah tatha sirksmataram sthulam brahmandam yadapeksaya (9)

Rama said:

Lord, I have clearly understood whatever you have been telling me so far, but there is no satiety in your discourse. It is like immortalising nectar. Hence, describe the experience of creation again.

Vasistha continued:

During what is known as the cosmic dissolution, whatever appears to exist now is dissolved. What remains is the eternal. It is beyond description. In comparison with a mustard seed, the Meru-mountain is immense; so, in comparison with that eternal infinite consciousness, the space is like a mustard seed. In comparison with the greatest among mountains, a subatomic particle is minute; even so are the comparative dimensions of this whole universe and that eternal infinite consciousness. During the cosmic dissolution, when all world-appearance has ceased, the eternal infinite consciousness remains aware of every subatomic particle that exists in the cosmic space. It sees them (though they are unreal) as if in a dream; then it imagines itself to be 'Brahman'. It even conceives of itself as the infinite consciousness. Considering itself as the atomic particle of consciousness, it exists as the subject, apparently seeing the atomic particle which becomes the object. This is like a man seeing himself dead in a dream. Thus, consciousness apparently polarises itself into the subject and the object, without ever abandoning its own indivisibility.

At that moment, the following principles arise spontaneous: time, space, action, matter, the seer (subject), sight, and the scene (object). However, the forces that restrain or obstruct these do not arise. Where the consciousness-particles shine, space manifests there; when this happens, there is time; and the way in which it happens becomes action; whatever is experienced as existing becomes matter; the experiencer becomes the subject; the experiencing or the seeing of this matter is the sight; and that which is responsible for this seeing or experiencing becomes the object. Thus do all these apparently come into being, though they are all false. Space alone appears in space, without any particular order of sequence or principle.

Similarly, that material in which this consciousness shines is known as the body; that by which it sees is known as the eye. Even so with regard to the other senses, etc. That state in which this consciousness shines without name and form is known as the tanmatra (pure element), which is of the nature of space or void alone. This radiance of the atomic particle of consciousness itself becomes gross, and comes to be known as the body; then there arise the five senses in it. That which is aware of all this, is known as buddhi or intelligence. With thinking arises mind in which the ego-sense is rooted.

  section VI.2 - chapter 73 - evam sampadyate brahma tatha sampadyate harih evam sampadyate rudra evam sampadyate krmih (37)

Vasistha continued:

As the particle of consciousness moves in space, it does 'there' what it did 'here' earlier. Thus, sequence of time arises, as well as spatial distinctions like 'above', 'below', and the directions. Though it is of the nature of space or void, it seems to become time, space, action, matter, and awareness of the meaning of words, etc. Thus the ativahika (subtle) body comes into being. This itself, by continued awareness of itself, seems to condense into the material body.

Consciousness becomes embodied, though it is truly like space, incapable of being contained. In it, there arise the ideas of 'head' and of 'feet', and it sees these as existing organs. Even so with the other limbs of the physical body. The same consciousness considers itself to be being and non-being, taking and rejecting, order and all the rest of it. It sees these notions as if they were real. Even so does it become Brahma the creator; even so does it attain (to the state) of Hari or Visnu; even so does it attain (or seemingly become) Rudra or Siva; even so does it seemingly become a worm. In truth, however, it has not become any of these; it is as it is, pure void in void, consciousness in consciousness.

That is the seed of all bodies in the three worlds. It is the seed of even the samsara (world-illusion), which bars the gate to liberation. It is the cause of all, and it is the leader of time and action. It is the first person who, though unborn, seems to be born. It does not have a material or physical body; hence it cannot be caught. Just as a man who is fighting with a lion in a dream shouts in that dream, though in truth he is silent and asleep, the infinite consciousness which entertains all these notions is at peace and silent within itself. The universe which extends to millions of miles in all directions, exists in the minutest subatomic particle, and the three worlds exist within one strand of hair (in comparison to the infinite consciousness).

Even Brahma the creator, though he presides over the universe, which is unimaginably vast and which is his body, exists in an atom; in fact, he does not occupy any space at all, just like the mountains seen in a dream. The cosmic person has been called svayambhu Brahma (the self-born creator), also as virat (cosmic person); but in truth, O Rama, he is but pure consciousness. Because this consciousness becomes aware of motion, it experiences such motion or life-force. This is the prana and the apana, whose whirling motion comes to be known as wind in the universe, which is the very heart of the universe. The exudations, as it were, of this prana, are known as vata or wind, pitta or heat, and slesma or moisture (the three humours of the body), and their cosmic counterparts - wind, sun, and the moon.

  section VI.2 - chapter 74 - jagadbrahma virat ceti sabdah paryayavacakah samkalpamatramevaite suddhacidvyomarupinah (25)

Vasistha continued:

The cosmic person (virat) has two bodies: the superior body is pure consciousness, which is without beginning, end, or 'middle', and the other body is this world. Hence, he is able to view the world (like an egg) from outside it (as a hen does). He divided the egg into two: the upper part he called the sky or the heaven, and the lower part he called the earth. The upper part is known as the head of the virat, the lower part is his feet, and the middle (atmosphere) is his back or buttocks. The upper part, because it is so far away, is seen as the blue and empty sky.

The firmament is the palate of the virat, and the stars are drops of blood. The 'particles of air' that course the body are gods, demons, and humans. The germs and viruses in the body are the ghosts and goblins. The holes in the body are other worlds. His loins are the oceans. The nadis are rivers, and the continent known as jambudvipa is his heart. The empty space is his stomach. The mountains are his liver and spleen. The clouds are his flesh. The sun and the moon are his eyes. The world of Brahma is his face. Soma is his energy. The snow-bound mountains are his phlegm, the subterranean fire is his bile, the winds are his prana and apana. All the trees and the snakes are his hairs.

Since he is himself the cosmic mind, he has no mind. Since the infinite self alone apparently becomes the experience which is but pure consciousness, there is no experiencer apart from it. In the same way, since he is the experiencer in all the senses, there are no indriyas or senses in him. Therefore, the distinctions among the senses are but notions. The concept that indriyas (senses) stand in relation to the mind as the limbs to the body, is erroneous; there is no such distinction - even the body and the limbs are one unit. Whatever actions take place in this world, originate in him. On account of him, the world is seen to be real; if he ceases to be, the world ceases to be. The world (creation), Brahma the creator, and virat (the cosmic person) are figures of speech; they are but notions that arise in the pure, infinite consciousness.

Rama asked:

When this cosmic person is a mere notion, how does He exist in that body.

Vasistha replied:

In exactly the same way as you exist in your heart when you are in meditation. Just as the jiva exists in the bodies of all beings, and just as a reflection exists in the mirror, this cosmic person exists in his own cosmic body. Though he appears to have all these limbs, etc., there is no division in him, and he exists as a rock exists - whole and undivided, pure, infinite consciousness.

  section VI.2 - chapter 75 - akrandarodanasrantamurdhanihsaranamaram nakalokajvalajjalapatalottaptabhutalam (24)

Vasistha continued:

When Brahma the creator was thus meditating, I looked around. I saw a sun rising in every direction. While I was looking at this extraordinary phenomenon, a sun arose right from the bowels of the earth, like a subterranean fire. There were eleven in all, with three more satellite-suns, like the three eyes of lord Siva, which together formed the twelfth sun. It was getting too hot there. So, I left that place, and went away to a far-off place. The entire firmament was ablaze with the light of these suns. There was 'kat kat' and 'cat cat' sound everywhere.

Living beings were everywhere, being scorched by the heat. Even the aquatic creatures were not exempt. The destruction was colossal and complete. Mountains fell on burning cities, grinding them into a paste. At that time, people were weeping and wailing aloud. Others (yogis) who were able to make their life-force depart through the crown of their head, attained immortality. The earth was scorched by the fire that arose from above and below.

The entire world with all the beings in it was set ablaze by the fire that emanated from the eyes of Rudra. There was the sound 'bhum bhum bhum' everywhere, and it looked as if the demonesses were playing by throwing streams of fire at one another. Meteors began to fall on the mountain-tops, and began to 'dance' - the dance of death and destruction. The fire that arose in the earth seemed to link the earth with the heaven or the entire universe. Even the Sumeru mountain, which was made of solid gold, began to melt. The snow-bound mountain (Himalaya) melted away. Only the Malaya mountain remained unharmed. Like the heart of a noble man who, even in his own suffering seeks to promote the happiness of others, that mountain stood spreading joy and peace - just as sandalwood gives of its fragrance, even to one who burns it.

Only two objects remained unaffected: space, being all-pervading, could not be destroyed, and gold, being pure, could not be destroyed. Hence, I believe that only satva (purity) is good and desirable, not rajas (activity or impurity) and tamas (inertia, stupidity).

When thus everything else had been destroyed, not even the ashes were seen. Even as when ignorance and its consequences are destroyed by the fire of the sage's wisdom, only the absolute purity remains without even the 'ashes' of past ignorance. For some time, these fires could not reach Kailasa, the abode of lord Rudra; but then he turned his fiery gaze on it; and it began to burn.

Nothing was left. Future generations could only wonder, "Perhaps there was a world, a universe, a creation before".

  section VI.2 - chapter 76 - udyadbrhaccatacataravapuritaso bhimo 'bhavatsaliladanalasannipatah durvaravairivisamo mahatam balanam sangrama ugra iva hetihatograhetih (39)

Vasistha continued:

Then there arose the terrible winds of dissolution, which blew so violently that the mountains and the oceans became exceedingly agitated, and lost their natural behaviour, and even the netherworld seemed to fall into something far below it. The entire creation became dried and essenceless.

After this, there arose like an irate demon an enormous cloud, which produced dreadful noise. It was like the sound that was made when Brahma the creator broke the golden egg, which gave rise to the created universe. The sound struck terror in everyone's heart because of the added sound of the disintegrating worlds and the oceans. It filled the entire created universe, and united the earth with the heaven and the netherworld. It was unmistakably the sound of cosmic dissolution.

I heard that sound of the cloud. I wondered, "How could this cloud coexist with the fires of cosmic dissolution?" I looked in all directions. I saw all round me showers of adamant and thunderbolt. In a moment, I experienced the sensation of something cold above, and something very hot and burning below. The cloud was so high above that it could neither be seen, nor could the fire reach it.

After consuming the worlds, the fires had become pure sparks, and shone with an extraordinary radiance. When the cloud of dissolution descended, it appeared to be made of the most brilliant lightning. The waters of the seven oceans equalled only a very small part of a corner of that cloud. It appeared as though these very oceans had risen into the sky. The twelve suns were whirlpools in that cloud, and the aquatic creatures were the lightning flashes that moved in it.

The rains came. Every drop of that rain was like a thunderbolt. These raindrops filled the entire space. They fell with such force that they destroyed whatever was left of the universe. The whole sky was one mass of water. The rain put out the fires, and reached the earth-plane.

The waters of this extraordinary and supernatural rain mixed with the fires that were still burning. The two could not defeat or conquer each other, and hence they were ill-matched enemies (because their equal prowess made the conflict interminable and inconclusive). They were of great strength and power. Therefore, their collision was extremely fearsome to witness.

  section VI.2 - chapter 77 - puramandaladaityagnisuranagavivasvatam nlkurambam dadhadvyomni masakanamivoccayam (24)

Vasistha continued:

At that time, the entire space was clothed in the ashes of destruction. These ashes were churned by terrible winds. Falling rain was making more dreadful noise everywhere, which sounded like the victory cries of the demons of dissolution. The winds were carrying away the burnt remains of the cities of Indra (the god of heaven) and other deities.

Thus the three elements - water, fire, and wind - were completely out of control, alignment, or harmony; and it looked as though they were fighting with each other. The tumult and the sound of this chaos were deafening. The torrential rain put out the fires, producing the sound 'cham cham cham'. The mighty rivers that flowed down the mountains carried away other mountains, continents, and cities. The planets and stars in the heavens were also rolling out of their orbits. The great tidal waves were everywhere, breaking down mountains, and the wind was blowing these mountains away.

There was utter darkness everywhere, as the rays of the sun were veiled by the rain and the clouds, which were of dark blue colour. The very support of the earth had completely disintegrated, and therefore the mountains were disintegrating, too. The tidal waves were picking up these mountains, and were hurling them at the clouds. It appeared as if the three worlds were weeping and wailing aloud.

The gods and the demons were all subject to these dreadful calamities, end yet they were still flying at one another's throats in interminable enmity.

Only the vital air or prana which presides over the disintegration of material or physical bodies, sustained these disintegrating objects, and wafted them here and there. At that time, the entire space was filled with flying cities, demons, fire, serpents, and suns, which looked like so many flies and mosquitoes.

Even the deities presiding over the different directions were approaching destruction, and there was confusion in those directions. The dust of destroyed creation was everywhere. The entire universe was filled with the debris of 'temples' made of different precious stones and metals of different colours. It was difficult to see the universe.

Devoid of the veil of creation, that (truth or god) which remains after the total destruction of what is known as creation, alone existed. Once again there was fullness, the fullness that becomes apparent when the diverse creatures are destroyed, the fullness that was there all the time. By this time, of course, the cosmic fires of destruction had been completely put out by this torrential rains from the cosmic clouds.

  section VI.2 - chapter 78 79 - tasmatsvabhavah prathamam prasphuranvetti samvidam vasanakaranam pascadbuddhva sainpasyati bhramam (33)

Vasistha continued:

There was no space. There were no directions. There was neither 'below' nor 'above'. There were neither elements nor a creation. There was but one limitless ocean.

Meanwhile, I saw Brahmaloka, as the sun beholds the earth at sunrise. There, Brahma the creator was seated in samadhi or meditation, as if he were an unshakable mountain, surrounded by the pradhana or the first principles, the gods and the sages, the celestials and the siddhas, who were also seated in the meditation-posture, deeply engrossed in meditation, as if they were without life. The twelve suns also arrived there, and entered into meditation.

After a brief period, I saw Brahma and the others, as one sees one's dream-objects on waking up. I saw them as so many manifestations of mental conditioning, not as the materialisation of the dream-objects.

I then realised that all these gods, etc., were also pure void. Without leaving that place, they had vanished from sight. I realised that they too had attained nirvana after having abandoned name and form, like Brahma the creator. When the vasana or self-limiting conditioning had ceased in them, they had become invisible. This body is but pure void; it seems to exist on account of the vasana or mental conditioning. When the latter ceases, the body ceases to be seen or experienced, just as the dream-object is not experienced on waking up. Even so, neither the subtle (ativahika) body nor the gross (adhibhautika) body is seen, even in the waking state, when the mental conditioning ceases. The example of the dream-state is given here, because that is something everybody experiences. He who rejects his own experience, is fit to be shunned from a great distance; who can wake up a man who pretends to sleep?

If it is argued that when the body which causes dream ceases to be, dream ceases, then in the absence of the body there is no life in the otherworld. Then surely there is no creation! If it is said that the world has never been what it is not, then it does not exist even now. If it is said that consciousness is an exudation of the body, etc., then the teachings of the scriptures become utterly useless. If you decide against their authority, why have any authority at all? If you accept that delusion exists as long as the body exists, then delusion becomes a reality. If consciousness arises in the body accidentally, why should not that consciousness realise its infinite nature?

Anyhow, whatever consciousness becomes aware of within itself, it experiences (whether one calls it real or unreal). Therefore, in the first instance, the self-nature knows itself as consciousness, on account of its own inherent movement. Then, on account of mental conditioning vasana, it experiences deluded perception. Conditioned awareness is bondage; when there is no awareness of conditioning (or conditioned awareness), there is nirvana.

  section VI.2 - chapter 80 - kakutstharudranamasavahankaratayotthitah visamaikabhimanatma murtirasyamalam nabhah (19)

Vasistha continued:

When thus all the gods and also the twelve suns had become one with Brahma, these suns began to burn away even the world of the Creator, as they had done with the earth. After burning the world of the Creator, and entering into deep meditation, like Brahma, they entered into nirvana, like a lamp without fuel. Everything was then enveloped in dense darkness.

Meanwhile, I saw there a fearsome form. He was like embodied dissolution of the universe, like embodied darkness. However, he shone by his own radiance. He had five faces, ten arms, and three eyes. He had a trident in his hand. He was moving in the space of his own being. He was dark like the rain-bearing cloud. It was as if he rose out of the cosmic ocean, and as he himself were the embodiment of that cosmic ocean. He looked like a winged mountain. From his trident and three eyes, I thought 'This is Rudra', and I bowed to him from a great distance.

Rama asked:

Who is this Rudra, and what are his five faces, ten hands, etc.?

Vasistha continued:

O Rama, he is known as Rudra, and he is the ego-sense. He is devoted to the disturbance of the equilibrium. His form is pure space or void. He is of the form of space, and therefore his colour is like that of space. Since he is pure, indivisible (like space) consciousness, he is known as the space-self (akasa-atma). Since he is the self of all, and is omnipresent, he is known as the great self or the supreme self. The five senses (of knowledge) are his faces. The five organs of action and their five fields are his ten arms.

Only when the infinite consciousness becomes aware of itself does this form become manifest. Again, this form as the Rudra is but a small particle, as it were, of the infinite consciousness, and hence does not exist as much in reality. The form is but an illusory perception.

He exists as the unfoldment or movement in cidakasa (infinite consciousness), and as air in both the space in creation and in living beings (as the life-breath). In course of time, when all his movements come to an end, he attains supreme equilibrium. The three gunas (satva, rajas, and tamas), the three periods of time (past, present, and future), the three inner instruments (citta, buddhi, and ahamkara), the three aspects of Aum, and the three vedas, are the three eyes of Rudra. The trident implies that he holds the three worlds in his hands. Since he is attained by satva or goodness, and his very existence is for the good of all, he is known as Siva. He then attains to the state of supreme peace, and is therefore known as Krsna. He himself air creates (as kalpana, imagination) the whole universe, and he drinks the one ocean of cosmic being, and attains to that supreme peace.

  section VI.2 - chapter 80 - sa eva vadavo bhutva vahnirakalpamarnave ahanikarah pibatyambu rudrah sarvam to tattada (35)

Vasistha continued:

I then saw that this Rudra began to drink the cosmic ocean with the speed of the life- force or prana. The waters of the cosmic ocean entered into his mouth, in which a great fire was burning fiercely. That Rudra or ego-sense exists as the fire in the bowels of the ocean (or earth), and then, at the end of the world-cycle, he drinks the ocean. Indeed, this ego- sense is the all at all times.

At that time, there were only four things in that pure and limitless space: (1) the black- coloured Rudra, who stood without any support and without any motion, (2) the earth, which was rather muddy, and which was the abode of all the worlds, from the netherworld to the heaven, (3) the upper part of the creation, which being far, far away was beyond sight, and (4) among all these, everywhere, there was the pure Brahman, or the infinite consciousness pervading the different parts of the creation. Nothing else existed.

Rama asked:

What is the abode of Brahma, the creator; what are its veils and how does it exist?

Vasistha replied:

The abode of Brahma (the centre of the earth-plane) is enveloped by water which is ten times the extent of the earth-plane. Even so, the region of fire is ten times the extent of the water-plane. The region of air beyond it is ten times the extent of the fire-plane. Lastly, the space-plane is ten times the extent of the air-plane. Beyond that is the limitless space of Brahma-akasa.

Rama asked:

O sage, who holds this creation from above and from below?

Vasistha continued:

The earth, etc., are held in their position by the great body of the brahma-anda (the golden egg or the cosmic person).

Rama asked again:

O Lord, tell me by whom is the brahma-anda sustained.

Vasistha replied:

O Rama, it is not supported by anyone at all, whether you regard it as falling or not-falling. For, this universe has no form, no body, no materiality, though it seems to have a form. What exactly do we mean by 'it falls' and by 'holding it'? Whatever be the notion in the infinite consciousness, it remains in that manner. This creation is but the dream-city of the infinite consciousness. When it is thought of as 'falling', it seems to fall all the time; when it is thought of as existing in space, it stands and moves in space; when it is thought of as unmoving, it remains motionless. When it is thought to have been destroyed, it appears to have been destroyed.

19. The World Within the Rock (The Story of Kalaratri)

  section VI.2 - chapter 81 - kalaratririyam seti maya 'numitadehaka kali bhagavati seyamiti nirnitasajjana (24)

Vasistha continued:

Then I saw that Rudra begin to dance in space, as if he were intoxicated. It was as if the waters of the cosmic dissolution had assumed a form, and were dancing in that form. Lo and behold! Even as I was watching the dance of Rudra, I saw a shadow behind him. How could shadow exist without sun, I asked myself. As I was reflecting over this phenomenon, that shadow (female) stepped in front of Rudra, and she was also dancing.

She had three eyes. She was of dark colour. She was thin. But she was huge. Her mouth emitted fire. She looked like the dark night or the limitless space embodied as a female. Her arms extended to the farthest reach of space. She was so thin that her nerves were visible, and it appeared that since she was thin and tall, someone had bound her with those nerves so that she might not collapse. She wore a garland made of the heads of gods, suns, and demons. She wore earrings of snakes.

Now she had one arm, a moment later she had many arms, and a moment later she hurled her arms on the dance-floor. Now she had one mouth, a moment later she had many mouths, and a moment later still she had no mouth at all. Now she had one foot, a moment later she had many feet, and a moment later still she was without feet. I concluded from all this that she was Kalaratri (the Night of Death). Holy men call her Kali or Bhagavati.

She had three eyes which were pits of fire. She had high cheek bones and a chin. She had a necklace of stars strung on air. With her mighty arms, which had sparkling and radiant nails, she filled the directions. Her breathing was so powerful that the biggest mountains could be blown away by it.

Her body seemed to swell enormously when she was dancing. While I was witnessing this dance, she playfully strung the mountains into a garland for herself. The three worlds became mirrors in the three (upper, middle, and lower) parts of her body. Cities, forests, mountains, etc., became so many flowers for the garland she wore around her body (neck).

In her limbs were cities and towns, the seasons, the three worlds, the months, and the day and night. Dharma and adharma became her earrings. Vedas were her breasts filled with the milk of the highest knowledge. She held many different weapons in her hands. The fourteen types of beings, like the gods and all the rest of them, were hairs on her body. All these beings with their cities, and villages were dancing with her, delighted at the thought of being born again. The entire universe was in constant motion because she was dancing; from another point of view, of course, they were firmly established (in her).

The whole universe was reflected on her body as if in a mirror. Even as I was looking they appeared, disappeared and reappeared.

  section VI.2 chapter 81 - dimbamdimbam sudimbam pacapaca sahasa jhamyajhamym prajhamym nrtyanti sabdavadyaih srajamurasi sirahtekharam tarksyapaksaih purnam rakttasavanam amamahisamahasrngamadaya panau payadvo vandyamanah pralayamuditaya bhairavah kalaratrya (102)

Vasistha continued:

What was that dance? The stellar firmament was revolving, the mountains were revolving, and the gods and the demons were also revolving, like mosquitoes. The revolving firmament looked like her flowing garment. It was delightful to watch the very big trees (the kalpa tree) which were but hairs on her body revolve while she danced. They were ascending and descending between heaven and earth, as it were.

The sun and the moon, the day and the night, were reflected on her fingernails, as it were, when she danced. The big mountains like the Himalayas, the Meru, etc., were also dancing with delight. It looked as though another cosmic dissolution was about to take place.

The goddess wore the sacred thread made of three strands, which were all kinds of prosperity, perfect knowledge and sacrifice.

Though it appeared that everything was revolving, nothing really happened. The air that flowed in and out of her nostrils was making great sounds 'ghum ghum'. On account of the movement of the countless arms of the goddess, the air in the entire space was being churned. By merely watching all this, even my eyes (and mind, too) began to get fatigued and confused. When the mirrors on her body were agitated by the dancing, then the mountains began to fall, the gods and celestials began to fall, and their palaces to collapse.

In her body, all the immovable objects became movable. Still more astonishing, oceans danced on mountain peaks, and the mountain was dancing in empty space. The space danced beneath the earth-plane, and continents, with flowering gardens and cities, were dancing in the orb of the sun. All these were floating around like straw within the mirror of the goddess, as it were. Fish were swimming in the mirage, and cities were seen in space, which also seemed to hold mountains. The sky and the clouds of cosmic dissolution were resting on the mountains which had fallen.

In the body of Kalaratri were found night and day, creation and dissolution, purity and impurity. Though all the gods, etc., were tumbled by her dance, they were apparently steady because of the steadiness of the infinite consciousness. In her consciousness, there was natural knowledge. By her dance, she created and dissolved the universes moment after moment, just as a small boy shifts his attention from moment to moment. Now she is near, now she is far, now she is infinitesimal, and now she is cosmic. Such is the manifestation of her cosmic creative power. She dances, holding the horns of the buffalo, which is the vehicle of the god of death, to the accompaniment of sounds like 'dimbam dimbam paca paca jhamya'. She wears a garland of skulls, and on her head is a peacock feather. She bows to Rudra, the god of dissolution. May he protect you.

  section VI.2 - chapter 82 - cetanatvattathabhutasvabhavavibhavadrte sthatum na yujyate tasya yatha hemna nirakrti (6)

Rama asked:

Lord, when everything had been destroyed, how does she dance and with whom? And how could she have all those garlands and all the rest of it?

Vasistha replied:

O Rama, this was neither a male nor a female, nor did they dance. They wore not of any such nature, nor did they have any such form. Only the eternal, infinite consciousness, which is the first cause, and the cause of all causes, existed - as infinite, as peace, and as pervading everything by its move appearance. The Lord (Sivam) is that. The Lord himself took on the appearance or form of Bhairava when the entire universe had ceased to exist; but in fact he was as formless as the infinite space. It is not appropriate even to assume that the infinite consciousness, which had become manifest in all its glory on account of its inherent nature, would suddenly be without it; just as gold cannot be without any form whatsoever.

How can consciousness remain without being conscious? Can you see gold without any form? How can anything remain without expressing its nature'? How can sugar cane lose its sweetness? If it has lost its sweetness, it is no longer sugar cane, and its juice is not sweet.

When consciousness loses consciousness, it is no longer consciousness. Everything has to be what it is, and it is impossible to have it any other way. Hence, that infinite consciousness is pure existence at all times, and it does not undergo any diminution. It shines by its own light, it has no beginning nor middle nor end, and it is omnipotent. That itself at the end of a world cycle appears as the space and the earth-plane, etc., and seems to undergo natural calamities and wholesale destruction; though there is no reality in all these.

Birth, death, maya, delusion, blindness, non-substantiality, substantiality, wisdom, bondage, liberation, good and evil, knowledge and ignorance, embodied and disembodied states, a moment and eternity, unsteadiness and firmness, you and I and the other, truth and falsehood, cleverness and foolishness, notions concerning time, space, action and matter, form, sight and related thought, action springing from the intellect and the senses, and all the five elements by which everything is pervaded - all these are pure consciousness which, without abandoning its nature, appears to be all these (just as space seems to be cut up, though it is really not so cut up). This infinite consciousness alone is known as lord Siva, Hari, Brahma, the moon and the sun, Indra and Varuna, Yama, Kubera and fire. He who is enlightened, however, sees not the diversity, but the one infinite consciousness.

  section VI.2 - chapter 83 - maya drsta tadakasameva santam tadakrtih mayaiva tatparijnatam nanyah pasyati tattatha (3)

Vasistha continued:

The cosmic form that I described to you as lord Siva was pure consciousness; that itself was Rudra the dancer. There was no such form, nor was there formlessness. In the mass of consciousness, all this was felt to have been experienced. I saw only that space (plane) which was supreme peace; and I experienced it in the form which I described. No one else saw it that way.

What was described as the end of a world-cycle, as Rudra and as Bhairavi - all that was but an illusory appearance; they were experienced in those forms only by me. The mass of consciousness alone exists. When it is perceived as a certain form (Bhairava), it is seen in that form, and it seems to assume such a form. The comprehension of a word and its meaning (object) is not possible without consciousness. It is because of persistent use of such comprehension that you begin to feel that the object denoted by the expression is absolutely real. There was neither a Bhairavi nor a Bhairava (Kalaratri and Rudra), nor even the cosmic dissolution; all these were illusory appearances. The only reality is the infinite consciousness. Thus I have described to you the significance of the form, and the formlessness of Rudra. I shall now explain to you the significance of the dance.

Consciousness is never without some movement within itself. Without this movement, it might become 'unreal'. Thus consciousness appeared to be Rudra, on account of this movement within itself. Movement is the very nature of consciousness, and therefore inseparable from it. This movement of consciousness within itself is what was experienced as the dance of the lord Rudra. That movement was but pure movement. It was experienced by me as the dance of the Lord, on account of my own psychological conditioning. Thus, the dance of the Lord was the movement within pure consciousness.

Rama asked:

When all that is unreal is dissolved during the cosmic dissolution, how does consciousness become aware, and of what?

Vasistha continued:

Of course, consciousness does not become aware of another. What is said to be the object of observation here is only a reference to the very nature of that consciousness. Just as in a dream, the cities, etc., are all within the consciousness of the dreamer, consciousness becomes aware of its own movement within itself, right from the moment this movement arises. Thus arise in it notions of a moment, an age, a world-cycle, etc., as also, notions of 'I' and 'you', etc. Thus, there is neither a duality, nor a unity, nor a void, neither consciousness (as the subject), nor unconsciousness. There is pure silence, or not even that. The infinite consciousness alone exists.

  section VI.2 - chapter 84 - sa bhairavaicidakasah siva ityabhidhiyate ananyam tasya tam viddhi spandasakttim manomayim (2)

Vasistha continued:

The plane (space) of consciousness itself is known as Bhairava or Siva. Inseparable and non-different from him is his dynamic energy which is of the nature of the mind. Air is seen (experienced) in its motion; fire is known by its heat; the pure consciousness is pure and tranquil, and it is known as Siva. This Siva is beyond description. It is the dynamic energy of the Lord which executes all his wishes, as it were, and makes the wishes appear as visions. This energy or power or Maya is consciousness. 'She' is a living force, and therefore she is called the jiva. Since this creation-manifestation is natural to the infinite consciousness, she is known as Prakriti or nature. Since she is the cause of all things being seen and experienced, she is known as kriya or action.

Since she manifests great anger towards evil, she is known as candika. Since she is of the colour of the blue-lotus, she is known as utpala. She is is known as jaya, because she is always victorious. She is known as siddha, because perfection rests in her. Jaya is also known as jayanti, as also of vijaya, all of which signify victory. Since she is unconquerable, she is known as parajita. She is known as durga, since her form or real nature is beyond our grasp. She is known as uma, because she is the very essence of the sacred monosyllable Om. She is called gayatri, because her names are sung by all, and also savitri, because she is the creatrix of all. She is the expansion of one's vision of all things, and hence she is known as sarasvati. Since she is of white (yellow or red) colour, she is known as gauri. Since she exists as a ray of light, in one who sleeps, and in one who has been awakened by the contemplation of the subtle inner vibrations produced by the sound of Om, she is known as indukala (ray of the moon).

Since she and Siva have space as their real form, their bodies have a blue colour. Space is their flesh, bones, everything. They exist in space as space. Her dance with different gestures, etc., symbolises the creation, decay, and death of all beings. She is conceived of as having limbs, because she creates the worlds by the movement of her energy. This kali invests all things with their characteristics by the power inherent in her own limbs, as it were. But one cannot by any means apprehend her limbs, nor can her real nature be described. Just as a motion within space is experienced by us as air, even so the dynamic energy of consciousness is experienced by the action or motion that takes place in that consciousness. However, motion or action cannot be regarded as the quality of consciousness, because it has no qualities nor characteristics; consciousness is pure and utterly tranquil, beyond description. The notion of motion in consciousness is ignorance.

  section VI.2 - chapter 84 - yad yathabhutasarvarthakriyakari pradrsyate tatsatyamatmano 'nyasya naiva 'tattamupeyusah (40)

Vasistha continued:

When this dynamic energy of consciousness rests at each place as it is (without becoming something else), that itself is known as Siva, the Lord. That is, the thing in itself is the Lord. The following are the limbs of this dynamic energy of consciousness which have been created as notions in her; all these created worlds, the earth with all the continents and oceans, the forests and the mountains, the scriptures, the different forms of sacred rites, wars in which various forms of weapons are used, and all the fourteen worlds.

Rama said:

O sage, are these things which are said to be the limbs in the body of this dynamic energy real or false?

Vasistha replied:

O Rama, all these are indeed real, for they have all been brought about by the operation of this dynamic energy of consciousness, and they are all experienced by consciousness. Just as the mirror reflects a real object that exists outside, this consciousness reflects within itself that which is within itself - hence, it is real. Even the imaginary city or the illusory appearance of the city arises only in consciousness, whether the appearance arises because of persistent contemplation, or because of the purity of consciousness. This creation is real, whether it is regarded as a reflection, or a dream-object, or a fancy, because it is based on the truth which is the self - this is my opinion. If you object: "But these fanciful creations are of no practical use to me", consider of what use are they who have gone to a distant country. They are of use to the inhabitants of the village to which they have gone. Even so with everything.

Whatever there is here which exists, and functions here, is real to the self and not to another who does not perceive it, and is unaware of it. Therefore, all these creations and creatures that exist within the field of the energy of consciousness are true to the perceiving self, and are unreal to the non-perceiver. All the notions and the dreams that exist in the present, past, or the future, are all real, because the self, which is the self of all, is real. They are all experienced by those who have reached the appropriate state of consciousness, just as he who goes to a distant land, sees the sights there. However, motion of the energy of consciousness does not alter the truth, even as a dreamer transported to another place, without his sleep being disturbed, does not have his dream interrupted. When it is realised that the perception of the three worlds is but an unreal fancy, there is no question of its interruption or otherwise.

  section VI.2 - chapter 85 - sadhurvasati coraughe tavadyavadasau na tam parijanati vijnaya na tatra ramate punah (24)

Vasistha continued:

An imaginary city is imagination, not city. Even so, the creation is but the notion that arises in the energy of the infinite consciousness. Or, the notion that so arises is the creation.

Kalaratri is to the Lord what movement is to air. Just as in empty space, air moves as if it has form; she moves in the infinite consciousness, executing the will or the wish of the Lord, as it were. When there is no such movement of the energy, then the Lord alone exists.

While she continues to dance in this fashion in space, then, by accidental coincidence (the crow and the cocoanut), she comes into contact with the Lord. The moment this contact is made, she is weakened, and made thin and transparent. She abandons her cosmic form, and becomes a mountain, then she becomes a small town, and then a beautiful tree. Then she becomes like space, and lastly she becomes of the form of the Lord himself, like the river entering the ocean. Then the Lord shines as one without a second.

Rama asked:

But, holy sir, tell me why the divine mother thus becomes tranquil?

Vasistha replied:

O Rama, it is the dynamic energy of consciousness that is known as prakrti, jaganmaya, etc. She is unperverted. That which is superior to this energy is consciousness itself, which is the very self of consciousness, supreme peace. This dynamic energy functions and moves as long as there is the momentum of the Lord's wish. In a way, she dances as long as she does not see the Lord.

Since consciousness and energy are inseparably one, the energy comes into contact with (becomes aware of) the Lord, and becomes the Lord himself. When the prakrti touches the Lord, she abandons the prakrti-hood (the state of being movement). She merges in the Lord, even as the river merges in the ocean. The movement of energy is but the result of a notion arising in consciousness, and the energy naturally returns to consciousness, just as the shadow may be said to enter a person when the shadow ceases to be. A holy man may live in the company of thieves till he discovers the truth; afterwards is he does not relish such company. Consciousness revels in duality till it sees its own self. The energy of consciousness dances until it beholds the glory of nirvana. When it beholds consciousness, it becomes pure consciousness.

One roams this samsara with its birth and death only till one beholds the supreme. Having seen it, he is immediately immersed in the supreme. Who will again abandon that which frees him from all sorrow?

  section VI.2 - chapter 86 - duravatpreksyate mamsadrsa yadyeva si sila drsyate tacchtiaivaika na tu sargadi kincana (15)

Vasistha continued:

I shall now tell you, O Rama, how lord Rudra, who was standing in the cosmic space with an apparent form, cast it off and attained total tranquillity.

That Rudra stood observing the division in consciousness known as the creation. In a moment he 'swallowed the division' as it were. Then Rudra stood alone, one with the space as if he himself were space. In a few minutes, he became as light as cloud, and his size was fast shrinking. I saw through my own divine vision that he had become smaller than an atom. In a moment, he had become invisible. He had become supreme peace. He had become one with the absolute Brahman or pure consciousness.

Thus, O Rama, I saw within that rock the creation, sustenance, and the dissolution of the universe. I was amazed at all this illusory perception. Again I looked at the rock, and I saw all sorts of creations and creatures in it, like the limbs of Kalaratri. All this is seen only with the eyes of awakened intelligence, or by the divine eye which sees everything, everywhere, at all times, as everything is. If one sees the rock with the physical eyes as if it lies at a distance, only the rock is seen, but no creation, etc.

After all this, I turned my inner eye to another part of the same rock. Once again I saw a whole creation come into being, and all the rest of it. In every part of that rock, I saw a whole creation. Even so I saw innumerable creations in the very many rocks that I found on that hill.

In some of these creations, the Brahma had just begun his work of creation; in others the gods were springing from the mind of the Creator; some were populated by human beings, in some there were no gods, and in some no demons; in some the satyayuga (golden age) reigned, and in others the kaliyuga (iron age); in some the people had conquered old age and death, in some the people were all enlightened because they encountered no obstruction to their righteousness. Thus I saw the state of the universe in the past, present and future. In some I saw dense darkness and ignorance; in some I saw Rama fighting Ravana, and in some Ravana abducting Sita. Some were ruled by the gods, and some by demons.

Rama asked:

Lord, tell me, did I exist as Rama before this incarnation?

Vasistha replied:

You and I have been born here again and again, O Rama. Of course, from the point of view of the absolute reality, neither you nor I nor this world has ever come into being. All these are like ripples on the surface of water. Their particular appearance and disappearance are due to illusory perception and deluded understanding.

  section VI.2 - chapter 87 - gatam svabhavam cidvyoma yatha tvam rama nidraya jagradva svapnalokam va viganvetsi samam ghanam (10)

Vasistha continued:

After thus contemplating the infinite consciousness for some time, I suddenly realised that all this creation was within myself, my own body, just as the tree is in the seed. When one closes his eyes to sleep, he enters into an inner world created by his inner vision; when sleep comes to an end, one wakes up, and his vision enters the world of the waking state. In the same way, creation is experienced by one's entering into it within his own heart.

Having seen the appearance of this creation in pure space, I entered into other parts of myself, eager to see other aspects of creation. When thus the light of my inner intelligence was directed to that 'space', there arose in it an experience of that space. O Rama, when you enter into the consciousness of your own self, whether in sleep or in the waking state, you know that it is equally a mass of consciousness. To begin with, there is only this pure space or emptiness. In it, there arises the notion 'I am'. The condensation of that is known as buddhi or intellect, and the condensation of that is known as the mind. That knows or experiences the pure element of sound and also the other elements, the tanmatras. From these experiences arise the various senses.

Some say that there is some order in this creation, others declare that there is no such order. However, it is not possible to alter the nature and characteristics of created objects which have acquired those characteristics through the appropriate notion that arose in the infinite consciousness in the beginning.

As I was thus observing creation, I had become atomic. I realised myself as a ray of light. Contemplating that alone, I had become gross. In this grossness, there were the potentialities of sense-experiences. I began to see. The organs through which I saw became the eyes, that which I saw became the scene (object), the fruit of this experience was sight, 'when' I saw all this became time (duration), the manner in which I saw became the method or order, 'wherever' I saw became space. By conviction these become the order of creation.

When thus consciousness 'opened its eyes', as it were, or became aware of its own inherent potentialities, the tanmatras (pure elements) arose, and then all the senses, which are in fact and in truth pure void or space, came into being.

Even so, I thought "Let me hear something." From this, sound arose, as also the organ of hearing. Then there arose the sense of touch, the sense of taste, and the sense of smell, etc. Even though all these seem to have arisen in me, in fact nothing has ever happened.

  section VI.2 - chapter 87 - evamrupamaham jalam bhavayan yattadasthitah tadahankara ityadya kathyate tvadrsairjanaih (35)

Vasistha continued:

When thus the five elements and the five senses came into being, their corresponding knowledge and experience arose in me irresistibly. They were without 'form' (substantiality), and they were illusory. When I thus stood contemplating these notions and experiences, that state of my being is known by people like you as I-ness or ego-sense. When this notion of ego-sense becomes more gross, it is known as buddhi or intellect; when that becomes gross, it is known as the mind. Thus, though I am pure consciousness, I seem to have acquired a subtle body (Rivahika) and an antahkarana (inner instrument consisting of mind, intellect, etc.).

I am subtler and more empty than even the air. Hence, I do not obstruct the coming into being of anything. But, since I continue to be in this notional existence for a considerable period of time, you imagine that I have a body. It is on account of this notion existing in you that I produce this sound known as speech. You hear it even as a sleeping person hears sounds in his dream. The first sound that a child utters is Om, and hence Om has come to be regarded as the foremost among sounds. After that, whatever I have been saying as if in dream, appears to you to be my speech.

I am the absolute Brahman. I am self-contained, the creator of this creation, and the preceptor of all. I have created all this through my own thoughts and notions. Thus do I exist, but I am unborn. I have seen the universe, beyond that I have seen nothing. But all this that I have seen is but pure void. All this is but pure experiencing. Nothing (the earth, etc.) exists, nor has anything ever come into being. Nothing exists outside. Everything is in consciousness; everything is consciousness. There is no world in Brahman, but Brahman sees or experiences a world. This perception is not a fact or reality, but just a notion.

This truth cannot be seen by physical eyes, which can only see material objects. When you see with your subtle (ativahika) eyes, you will behold the creation as it is, as the truth, as pure Brahman-nirvana.

When I experienced space, I knew what earth was. I became earth. In that earth I experienced the existence of countless universes, without ever abandoning the awareness that I am the infinite consciousness. I saw the most amazing earthly phenomena and events within that earth (within me). In fact, I experienced even the farmer ploughing 'me' (the earth), and I experienced the burning heat of the sun and the cool flow of rainwater. I became the fearful space in which the Lokaloka mountains (the boundaries of the world) exist, and I experienced the actions and the movements of countless beings. Countless beings of different types - gods, demons, humans, animals and worms - filled me. I was filled with mountains, forests, etc., which exist on earth.

  section VI.2 - chapter 88 89 - idam ca manasam ca 'ham sampannah prthubhutalam nedam na manasam naiva sampanno vastutastvaham (89/2)

Vasistha continued:

While I remained in the earth-consciousness, I experienced the experiences of the earth, with all its rivers, etc. Here I experienced the weeping and wailing of those who had lost their dear and near ones; here I experienced the joy of dancing girls; there were the cries of the hungry, the joy of the affluent, drought, and earth-quake, war, and destruction, beautiful birds, and lakes, suffering worms, flourishing forests, meditating sages. O Rama, in this earth-body of mine, all these took place.

Rama asked:

When you were thus engaged in the contemplation of the earth (parthiva-dharana), was that earth real or only mental?

Vasistha replied:

Truly, this was mental, and I had myself become the earth; equally truly, this was not mental, nor did I actually become the earth. Apart from the mind, there is no earth. Whether you consider something as real or as unreal, it is but mental action. I am but the pure infinite consciousness; that notion which arises in it is known as sankalpa or thought or imagination. That notion is the mind, it is the earth, it is the world, it is the creator; this world appears in space on account of that notion, just as a fancied city exists in the sky.

What I experienced as the earth was but a simple notion, and therefore mental. It is pervaded by the mind; on account of the persistent contemplation (dharana), it remains as if it is the earth. The earth-plane is mental; it is the notion that arises in consciousness, and it is otherwise void. When this notion remains constant for some time, it apparently abandons its mental state, and it seems to become this solid, material, hard, and firm earth.

From this point of view, the earth does not exist. But it has come to be regarded as solid material existence from the beginning of creation. Just as the dream-object is nothing but the consciousness of the dreamer, this world-appearance is nothing but pure consciousness. The notion that arises in consciousness is pure consciousness, and nothing else. Hence, there is no notion as such, neither a self nor a world. When it is thus seen, the world does not exist; when it is not observed carefully, it seems to come into being.

Just as a crystal reflects colours without intending to do so, the infinite consciousness reflects in it the entire universe. Hence, the world is neither mental nor material. It is pure consciousness alone that appears as this earth. It is the false notion, entertained by countless beings in the three worlds, that has attained relative or existential reality, known as the earth. 'I am all this, and all that is within all this.' With this realisation, I saw everything.

  section VI.2 - chapter 90 - sarvatraiva 'sti prthvyadi sthulam tacca na kincana cidvyomaiva yatha svapnapuram paramajatavat (5)

Vasistha continued:

Thus, in my own heart, I experienced the earth-plane. Whatever was seen and experienced, was there, in my heart; but it looked as though it were different from me, in a subject-object relationship. That was because there is the universe everywhere, there is Brahman everywhere, and there is a void everywhere. The earth-plane exists everywhere (it is of course nothing in truth); but it is pure consciousness. Like a dream-city, it has never been truly created in fact.

There is neither a diversity nor a non-diversity. There is neither being nor non-being. There is no 'I'. How can one say that there is something? Though this creation is experienced, it does not exist in truth; or, if it is said to exist, it is Brahman alone that exists. When it is like a dream-city, how can one affirm or deny its existence?

Just as I experienced the earth-plane by the earth-contemplation (prthvi-dharana), I also experienced the water-plane by the water-dharana. By contemplation of water, I became water; though not-inert, I became inert. I dwelt in the bowels of the ocean for a long long time, making the appropriate sounds. I dwelt in the body of plants and creepers, and made my own channels within them. I entered into the mouths of living beings, and mingled with the vital organs in their bodies. I flowed restlessly along river beds, and I took rest at the dams en route. Rising as vapour, I entered into the heavens as cloud. There, I rested for some time with my friend the lightning.

I dwelt in all beings as the water-element, even as the infinite consciousness dwells in all beings. Coming into contact with the taste-buds in the tongue, I experienced different tastes; surely that experience is pure knowledge. The taste was not experienced by me, nor by the body, nor by any other. The experience happened within as the object of experiencing - and as such it is false.

When the flowers blossomed, I descended upon them as dew and tasted whatever sweetness was left in them after the bees had had their share. I dwelt in the fourteen classes of beings as awareness of taste - consciousness, though appearing to be unconsciousness. Assuming the form of droplets of water or spray, I enjoyed riding on wind and travelling from one place to another. Thus, in that state as water, I had varied and interesting experiences. I saw hundreds of worlds come into being and vanish. Whether this world has form or no form, it is pure consciousness and immaterial void. O Rama, you are nothing, but you are not non-existent. You are pure and supreme consciousness.

  section VI.2 - chapter 91 - hemadisu suvarnatvam naradisu parakramah kacakacyam ca ratnadau varsadisvavabhasanam (17)

Vasistha continued:

Then I became the fire-element through the contemplation of that element (teja- dharana). Fire or light is predominantly satva, and therefore it is always luminous, and it dispels darkness even as a king makes thieves flee his presence. I realised the misery of darkness, which destroys all good qualities, because I became the light in which everything is seen. Light bestows form on everything, even as a father bestows form on his offspring. In the netherworld, light shines at a minimum level, and there is greater darkness. In heaven, there is light alone - and always. Light is the sun that makes the lotus of action blossom.

I became the good colour (suvarna) in gold, etc., I became vitality and valour in men, in jewels sparkled as their fire, in rainclouds I became the light of the lightning, in passionate women I became the twinkle in their eyes, I became the strength of the lion. I was myself the hatred of the demons in the gods, and the hatred of the gods in the demons. I became the vital essence of all beings. I experienced being the sun, the moon, the stars, precious stones, fire (including the fire of cosmic destruction), lightning, lump. When I became fire, the burning cinders became my teeth, the smoke my hair, and fuel was my food. In the blacksmith's workshop, I became the fire that made the iron red-hot, and when it was beaten, I flew out as sparks.

Rama asked:

O sage, when you had thus become the fire-element, were you happy or unhappy?

Vasistha replied:

Just as when a person sleeps, he becomes temporarily insentient, though he is a sentient being, consciousness becomes an inert object. When it thinks of itself as the elements (earth etc.,) it thinks of itself as being inert. In fact, however, there is no such division of consciousness into subject and object.

Hence, whatever I experienced in the states of earth, water and fire, I experienced only as Brahman. If I had in fact become inert, how could I experience what it is to be earth, etc.? The sentient person thinks 'I am asleep' and he appears to be insentient. If one wakes up to the truth concerning oneself, then the materiality of the body vanishes. With the subtle (ativahika) body, he is then able to enter anything anywhere. This subtle body is nothing but pure intelligence. When one enters another state with thin intelligence out of his own wish, then obviously one does not experience unhappiness or sorrow.

Just as the world seen and experienced in a dream is enveloped by the darkness of ignorance, and is therefore unreal, even so are the other elements that one experiences. When one touches a river of sparks which he fancies in his own mind, he does not experience pain. Such was the case with my elemental experiences.

  section VI.2 - chapter 92 - sarvapatalapadena bhutalodaradharina khamurdhna 'pi tada rama na tyaktta 'tha paranuta (50)

Vasistha continued:

Then I became the air-element by vayu-dharana (contemplation of oneself as wind). I taught the grass, leaves, creepers, and straw, the art of dancing. Wafting cool breeze, I became the dear friend of young ladies. At the same time, I was dreaded for my heat wave, hurricane, and tornadoes. In pleasure-gardens, I carried sweet scent; in hell, I carried sparks of fire. My motion was so fast that people considered mind and wind to be brothers. I flowed with the waters of the holy Ganga, and it would have been tiresome, but I was happy that we were able to relieve the tiresomeness and fatigue of others. I assisted space by carrying sound-waves; and therefore I came to be known as the dear friend of space. I dwelt in the vital organs of all beings. I knew the secrets of fire, and I was also known as the friend of the fire. I was operating the body-machine of all embodied (living) beings by being their life-breath. Hence, I became their friend and their enemy at the same time.

Though I stood in front of all, I could not be perceived by any. During the cosmic dissolution, I could lift huge mountains and hurl them as I pleased. As air, I performed six functions: gathering into a mass, drying up, upholding or supporting, vibrating or causing motion, conveying scent, and cooling. I was dedicated to the task of building and destroying bodies.

Being the element air, I perceived within each molecule of air a whole universe. In each of those universes, I again saw all the elements, etc., as in this universe. They were not real existences; they were but notions that arise in the cosmic void or space.

In those worlds, too, there were the gods and the planets, mountains and oceans, and the illusory notions of birth, old age and death. I roamed all those realms to my heart's content. Countless types of beings, like the celestials and the sages, rested on my body like so many flies and mosquitoes. By my leave they obtained their various forms and colours. They derived immense pleasure when I touched them, but they could not see me.

Though the netherworlds were my feet, the earth my abdomen, and the heavens my head, even then I did not abandon my subatomic nature. I was spread in all directions everywhere, at all times, and I did everything. I was the self of all. I was all. Yet, I was pure void. I experienced being something, and being nothing, the formless state, as also form, while retaining awareness of all this, as well as being unaware of these. There are countless such universes as the one that I experienced. Just as a man dreams that he dreams countless objects, I experienced universes within every atom, and universes within the atoms of those universes. I myself became all these universes; and though I was the self of all, and I pervaded all these, I did not so envelop all these. These are but words, even as are 'There is heat in fire' (heat in fire - denotes but one fact, though three words are used).

20. The Story of the Sage From Outer Space

  section VI.2 - chapter 93 - svapnasankalpasamsatau svapnasankalpapattanam yada sa sukuti nasta matsatkalpopasantitah (15)

Vasistha continued:

After all this, I re-entered my cottage or hermitage in outer space. I looked for my physical body. It was not there. But, I found an aged sage sitting in that hermitage. He was in deep meditation. He was seated in the lotus-posture. His face was radiant and beautiful, on account of the peace and bliss that filled him. His lotus-like hands had been placed in front of his navel, and they shone with an extraordinary brilliance. His eyes were closed, and he was obviously beyond body-consciousness. Not seeing my own body, but observing the sage sitting in meditation, I began to think as follows:

Surely, this is a great and perfected sage. Like me, he must have arrived here seeking total seclusion. Since he sought seclusion, he must have seen this hermitage in space. Perhaps he expected me to return and, seeing that I had not returned for a long time, he must have thrown that body out and himself occupied the hermitage. Let me return to my own realm.

When I thus reflected, and when my desire to stay in that hermitage ceased, that hermitage disappeared, and with it even that sage disappeared. When one's thoughts (notions or concepts) cease, that which those thoughts brought into being also ceases. When my wish for the hermitage ceased, it disappeared. Like a spacecraft, that hermitage fell. The sage fell. And I too descended along with him on to the earth-plane. The sage landed in the same state and posture in which he was in that hermitage. This was because, through the union of prana and apana, he had overcome the force of gravity. He did not even wake up from his meditation. His body was strong as a rock, and light as cotton.

In order to bring him back to normal body-consciousness, I assumed the form of a big cloud which rained and thundered. Then he regained body-consciousness. I enquired of him: "Where are you, O sage? What are you doing? Who are you? Though you fell from such height, you are oblivious of it; how is that?"

After contemplating the past for a few moments, the Sage said: "I have now recognised you, O holy one; I salute you. Kindly pardon me for not having saluted you earlier. It is indeed the nature of sages to be forgiving. O sage, I have wandered in the realms of the gods for a considerable time. I am tired of this samsara. When all this is pure consciousness, what is it that we call pleasure? Hence I reside in space, free from mental distractions and attraction. None of these sense-experiences is real, independent of consciousness objects of pleasure are sources of poison, sexual delights are delusions, sweetness robs the enjoyer of sweetness; he who is overcome by them, is surely destroyed. This life is short. It is full of distractions. By sheer accident, sometimes, one gets a little happiness here. Nothing is permanent or stable here. Like a pot on the potter's wheel, this body revolves endlessly in this life. There are powerful thieves (sense-objects) everywhere. Hence, I should be vigilant."

  section VI.2 - chapter 93 - jiryante jiryatah kesa danta jiryanti jiryatah karyate jiryate sarvam trsnaivaika na jiryate (86)

The Sage continued:

'This has happened today', 'This is mine' and, 'This is his' - occupied with such thoughts, people do not realise the passing of time. We have eaten and drunk a lot, we have roamed a lot, and we have experienced pain and pleasure. What is left to be done? How shall we gain supreme peace? All trees are wood, all beings are flesh, all earth is clay, everything is tainted by pain and impermanence. In what shall I repose confidence?

Who is my protector here? Neither wealth nor friends nor relatives nor acquaintances (or pleasures); all these are themselves victims of time. Whom shall I trust, when I realise that everyone is bound to die today or tomorrow?

Even the religious rites, which are governed by injunctions and prohibitions, make a man fall into this samsara, even as water flows from a higher place to a lower one. They bewilder and confuse a person. The unreal, by persistent apprehension, seems to be real; hence, since essentially the unreal is unreal, it is unreal, though it may appear to be real. But people are deluded, and they run after the objects of sense-pleasure, even as a river runs down fast to reach self-destruction in the ocean. The ignorant mind rushes towards sense-enjoyment, like an arrow released from a bow and it is not interested in goodness.

Pleasure is dreadful pain, prosperity is adversity, sensual enjoyment is the worst disease, and pursuit of pleasure is disgusting. Adversity is a great blessing. Happiness is followed by unhappiness. Life ends in death. Aha, the power of Maya! Sensual pleasure is worse than the most poisonous snake; the former kills instantly, by the merest contact. Since wealth, etc., cause delusion, they are worse than poison. It is true that pleasure is enjoyable and affluence is beautiful, but life is fleeting, and hence they are rendered meaningless. Pleasure and wealth are pleasing on the surface, but the end is unhappiness and sorrow.

With the advancing of age, the hairs turn grey, and the teeth and everything else (the faculties and vitality etc.) decrease; only craving does not decrease. There is a similarity between childhood and youth - both pass away quickly. Life ebbs away, like a flowing river, and the past can never be recovered.

After a long time, I have attained egolessness. I am not interested in heavenly pleasures. Like you, O sage, I too longed to resort to a secluded place. Hence, I saw that hermitage in space. I did not realise that it was your hermitage, and that you would one day return to it. I did not pay attention to it. Only now I know this. Only when one's attention is directed to these facts, does one perceive them with one's inner eye of intelligence; then one knows the past, present, and future - not until then. Such is the nature of the mind, even to the gods.

  section VI.2 - chapter 94 - jano jarathabhedatvanna sankalparthabhajanam sa esa jirnabhedatvat satyakamatvabhajanam (22)

Vasistha continued:

I said to the sage: "Having heard your story, I think that you should continue to live in that hermitage in outer space. Get up and let us live in the world of the perfected beings (siddhas). It is good for each one to live in his own environment which does not cause mental distraction."

Both of us rose into space. We saluted each other and took leave of each other. He went where he thought fit, and I parted from him and went my own way.

Rama asked:

Lord, as your body had disintegrated on this earth, with what sort of body did you roam the world of the siddhas?

Vasistha replied:

When I went to the city of Indra, the king of the gods, I had a spatial body, and therefore nobody there recognised me. I could not be touched or held by anyone. I was like a thought, devoid of matter, but endowed with a form made of pure wish (sankalpa). This is comparable to the dream-experience in which dream bodies are produced of non-material substance. One who considers this impossible, ignores the experience of dream, and one who thus ignores the obvious experience is fit to be ignored. I was able to see others, especially those endowed with a material body, but they could not see me.

Rama asked again:

But, then, how was it possible for that sage to see you?

Vasistha replied:

O Rama, people like us have the power to materialise and realise our with. Nothing ever happens to us that we do not so wish. Only people who are drowned in worldly activities forget in a moment the fact that they have a subtle (ativahika) body. When I decided "May this sage see me", then that sage saw me. People in whom the perception of division has been deep-rooted, do not have the power to realise their wish. When one like the sage has weakened the perception of division, it is possible for him to realises his wish. Even among siddhas or perfected ones, he who has more psychic transparency, is able to succeed in his efforts.

To return to the story, I roamed the celestial regions like a ghost.

Rama asked:

Lord, do ghosts exist? What do they look like, and what do they do?

Vasistha replied:

O Rama, ghosts do exist in this world. I shall now tell you what they are, and what they do. Surely, he who does not deal with a subject when requested to do so, is not a worthy teacher.

  section VI.2 - chapter 94 - sattvavastambhayantrenamantrena 'radhitena va drsyante 'pi ca grhyante kadacit kenacit kvacit (39)

Vasistha continued:

Some ghosts (pisaca) have an ethereal0 body, though endowed with hands and feet, and they see people like you. Others have fearful shadowy forms; they overwhelm the bodies of human beings, and influence their minds. Some of them kill or harm people. Some are like fog or mist, and others have dream-like bodies. Some of them have bodies made of air alone. Some have bodies which are no more than the delusion of the perceiver. They cannot be grasped; nor can they grasp others. They experience heat and cold, pleasure, and pain. But they cannot eat, drink, or take anything. They have desire, hate, fear, anger, greed, and delusion. They are charmed and brought under control by mantras, drugs, penance, charity, courage, and righteousness. They are seen and also grasped if one rests on satva. Also, this can happen by the use of magical symbols (mandalas) and formulas (mantras), and by worship performed by someone, at some time, and somewhere.

Some ghosts are of a divine nature, and appear to be gods. Some are like humans, and others like serpents. Some are like dogs and jackals, and live in villages and forests, or in blind wells, roadsides, and other impure places. I shall now tell you about their origin.

In the one infinite consciousness, there arises a notion which becomes the jiva and then, by becoming more and more dense, it becomes the ego-sense, or mind (which is later called Brahma the creator). All these and the whole world arise and exist in a notion; hence they are unreal. It is experienced as real, just as one feels that one's notion is something real. In that sense, all these gods and other creatures are real. In truth, however, there is neither a field here, nor a seed, nor a farmer, nor the tree (known as creation or the world). However, in that notion of the field of creation, there exist all these beings. The resplendent ones among them are the gods; the half-baked ones are humans; they in whom there is a thick veil of impurity are the worms and such creatures; they who are devoid of any fruitfulness, who are empty and bodiless (asarira), are known as ghosts or picacas. The differentiation is due not to the whim or fancy of the creator Brahma, but to their own choice. They became whatever they wished to become. However, in fact, they are all but consciousness, appearing to be subtle (ativahika) bodies. It is on account of persistent self- deception that they seem to have physical or material forms.

The ghosts, too, exist in their own forms, doing what they have to do, according to their own nature, and experiencing various experiences. They see and communicate with one another as if in a dream. Some of them do not communicate, like the dream-objects in a person's dream. Like the ghosts, there are also the goblins and disembodied beings. The ghosts create their own circle of darkness of ignorance, which even the sun's rays cannot penetrate. They thrive in the darkness of ignorance; the light of knowledge is their enemy.

  section VI.2 - chapter 95 - moksah sitalacittatvam bandhah santaptacittata etasminnapi na 'rthitvam aho lokasya mudhata (29 )

Vasistha continued:

As I said, I was roaming the heaven like a ghost. No one could see me. Though they were under my control, they could not control me. One day I thought, "I can realise my wish; may I be seen henceforth by these gods." Immediately my wish became real. They saw me.

The gods had different notions concerning my appearance in their midst. They who did not know my identity, thought that I had risen from the earth; they called me Parthiva (Earth) Vasistha. Some thought I had descended through the rays of the sun, and I became known as Taijasa (Light) Vasistha. They who thought I wafted in with the wind, called me Vata (Air) Vasistha. They who thought that I had risen from the waters, called me Vari (Water) Vasistha.

In due course of time, I came to have a physical or material body. To me there was no difference between the subtle and the physical bodies; they were both pure consciousness in reality. Even here I appear to function in and through this body, because of this discourse. A jivanmukta (a sage liberated while living) is indeed Brahman, and he has an ethereal body; even so, one who is a bodiless sage, is also Brahman. There is no notion in me other than of Brahman. Hence, even when I am engaged in diverse activities, this realisation of Brahman does not cease. Just as to a dreamer, the unborn and bodiless- dream-object is real, even so this world is real and material to me. Even so do all these creations and worlds shine as if real and material, but they have never been created.

Because of the recurrent feeling of the ethereal Vasistha that arises in the minds of all of you and also in me, I appear to be seated here. In truth, however, all this is pure void, and all these are only notions that arise in the mind of the Creator. Notions like 'I' and 'you' have become firmly established in your consciousness, because you have not cared to investigate them. If they are investigated, and their true nature is understood, they vanish very soon. When the truth is realised, all these scenes of so-called creations vanish, even as a mirage ceases to be seen as water when its true nature is understood.

In fact, by a mere study of this Maharamayana (Yoga Vasistha), the reality is realised; there is no difficulty in it whatsoever. But he who is not interested in liberation, is a worm, not human. One should carefully investigate the bliss of liberation, and the sorrow inevitable to ignorance. By the study of the Maharamayana, one attains to supreme peace. Liberation confers 'inner coolness' (peace) on the mind; bondage promotes psychological distress (psychological scorching fire). Even after realising this, one does not strive for liberation. How foolish are the people! Such people are overcome by desire for sense- gratification. But even they can cultivate a desire for liberation by a study of this scripture.

The assembly dispersed; end of seventeenth day.

  section VI.2 - chapter 96 - na ca 'dyapi mrtam rama cinmatram kasyacitkvacit na ca sunya sthita bhumistasmaccitpuruso 'ksayah (16)

Vasistha continued:

I have narrated the story of the rock which enables you to realise the truth quite clearly. Nothing exists anywhere at any time; Brahman alone exists as a mass of Brahman without any division whatsoever. Brahman is a mass of consciousness. It does not undergo any change. The cosmic being is but a dream-object in that consciousness, whether that being is subtle or gross. Hence, there is neither a Brahma the creator nor the creation, nothing but the indivisible consciousness. The diversity perceived in a dream does not create a diversity in the dreamer; even so the notion of a creation does not create a division in consciousness. Consciousness alone is, no creation; the dream-mountain is the dreamer not a mountain. The infinite consciousness (cidakasa) is I, it is the three worlds, it is the purusa (cosmic being) and it is you.

Minus this cidakasa, the body is a corpse. This infinite consciousness cannot be cut nor burnt and hence it never ceases. Therefore, no one ever dies nor is anyone born. Consciousness is the person; if it is said that that person dies and therefore consciousness dies, it is like saying that when a son dies, his father dies too. If consciousness dies, then everything dies and the world becomes empty. O Rama, this consciousness is not dead till now, anywhere, in anyone; nor has this creation stood as a void; hence it is clear that the innermost being of everyone, which is pure consciousness, is unchanging. When this is realised, where is birth and death?

When one realises "I am pure consciousness", he is unconcerned with life or death, pleasure or pain. Fie on that wretch in whom this realisation has not arisen (or has ceased). One who realises "I am pure experiencing or consciousness" is unaffected by any calamity. He is not affected by mental distress or psychological illness. When one feels "I am the body," he forfeits strength and wisdom; he who realises "I am pure consciousness", gains them. The latter is not subjected to greed, delusion, or vanity. Alas, how foolish are they who wail "We shall die" when thinking of the death of the body. When one rests in the knowledge "I am consciousness", he feels a blow from the most powerful weapon, as if it were the touch of a flower.

If consciousness can die, then people die all the time. Please tell me how is it that you have not died already? Nothing dies. Consciousness alone entertains the twin notions 'I am alive' and 'I am dead'. Consciousness sees or becomes aware of samsara (the world-appearance), and consciousness becomes aware of liberation. It becomes aware of pleasure and pain without abandoning its true nature. In a state of self-ignorance, it gets involved in delusion; in a state of self-knowledge, it frees itself from delusion. But, consciousness itself never rises, and it never sets. There is no such thing as the reality, and there is nothing called ignorance or falsehood. Whatever is conceived of by one, that exists in that manner.

  section VI.2 - chapter 97 - tasmatsvaniscaye yasmin yah sthitah sa tatha tatah avasyam phalamapnoti na cedbalyannivartate (8)

Vasistha continued:

Since the world is the dream of the supreme self, and since everything is pervaded by Brahman, it is experienced as Brahman. The world-appearance or illusion is perceived; the supreme consciousness remains unseen. Hence, the illusion may be regarded as the real imagination of the self. From another point of view, this world-appearance is an illusion though the reality of infinite consciousness remains incomprehensible. Hence, there arises the notion of a complete void or 'sunya; this, too, is real. The infinlte consciousness (or the supreme person that arises in it) is not involved to activity; the world springs from the unmanifest cause (nature). This view is also tenable since it is experienced as such. Others hold that Brahman appears to be the world in a state of ignorance (just as a rope appears as a snake in darkness). This, too, is based on direct experience and hence real. The theory that the entire universe is the conglomeration of atoms, is also acceptable; by proper investigation, this knowledge or understanding has been arrived at.

There are some who say that the world is what one sees it to be, and that this principle applies to 'the other world', too, and that therefore this world is neither real nor unreal, but the reality is purely subjective. There are others who declare that the external world alone is real, and there is no other reality. They also express the truth, in as much as they do not reach whatever may be beyond the experience of their own and others' senses. They are also right who declare that everything is changing all the time, for the power that thus engineers constant change is omnipotent. The belief that the jiva dwells in the body, like a sparrow imprisoned in a pot, and at death flies away from it to another realm, and also a similar belief held by foreigners are also acceptable since they are accepted in their own countries and communities. Saintly men look upon all with equal vision; they who know the reality, know that it is the self of all.

There are those who assert that nature manifests itself naturally, without an intelligent creator, for one sees that in nature there are many undesired and unintelligent happenings (like natural calamities) - such a view is also reasonable. On the other hand, they who assert the existence of the one universal doer of everything, are also right; their mind is saturated with the universal power. They who say that this world exists, as also 'the other world', are right, too. In their eyes, pilgrimage, rituals, etc., are meaningful. The notion that everything is void or sunya is right, for it is the result of much investigation. The infinite consciousness is like the purest crystal; it reflects whatever notion one holds. The knowers of the truth have realised that this infinite consciousness is neither a void nor a non-void; it is omnipotent, but not that which is seen or known. Hence, whatever be one's conviction, if one adheres to that conviction, one surely reaches the same goal (attains the same fruit), as long as he does not toy with these notions or realisations in a childish manner. One should investigate the truth in the company of the knowers of the truth, and then one should stand firm in one's own realisation, without being distracted nor deflected.

  section VI.2 - chapter 97 - sarva eva 'nisam sreyo dhavanti pranino balat parinimnam payamsiva tadvicarya samasrayet (22)

Vasistha continued:

There are wise people here and there, who are wise in terms of the knowledge of the scriptures, as also in terms of their conduct. One should seek their company. There may be many who talk a lot about the scriptures, but he among them who promotes the joy and delight of all, and whose conduct is unimpeachable, is the best among them. All people, at all times, seek their own good, as if under compulsion, just as water flows downwards, one should understand this, and resort to the company of the wise.

Rama asked:

This world rests like a creeper on the tree of the supreme being. In it, who are the ones who see the ultimate truth, after having duly investigated the past and the future?

Vasistha replied:

In every community, there are a number of wise men, by whose light (or grace) there is light in this world. All the people run up and down, like dry blades of grass floating on this ocean of samsara. Forgetful of the self, the dwellers in heaven are burnt in the fire of pleasure. The deluded demons are destroyed by their enemies, the gods, and hurled into a pit (hell) by Narayana. The celestial artistes (gandharvas) do not even inhale a bit of the scent (gandha) of wisdom. They are lost in the enjoyment of their own music, etc. The celestials known as vidyadharas do not respect sages; being the supporters (adhara) of learning (vidya), they are full of vanity. The demi-gods, known as yaksas, consider themselves immortals, and they display their dexterity before aged and infirm people. The demons, known as raksasas live in delusion. The ghosts (pisacas) are forever interested in harassing people. The dwellers of the netherworld, known as the nagas, are inert and unintelligent. The demons, known as asuras, are more like worms which dwell in holes in the ground. How can they acquire any wisdom at all?

Even human beings are narrow-minded and petty minded, interested in the trivia of life. They spend most of their time in the pursuit of evil desires. They do not come into contact with anything that is good or wise at all. They are tempted away from the path of order and wisdom by their own vanities and desires. The class of people known as yogini (note: the practitioners of 'black' arts) are fallen into the pit of drinking and eating like uncultured people.

But there are some liberated beings among the gods (Visnu, Brahma, Rudra, etc.), among the leaders (like Kasyapa, Narada, Sanatkumara), among demons (Hiranyaksa, Bali, Prahlada, etc.), among raksasas (like Vibhisana, Prahasta, Indrajit), among nagas (Taksaka, etc.), and other liberated ones in other planes. Even among human beings there are liberated ones, but they are extremely rare. There are millions of beings; but a liberated one is rare.

  section VI.2 - chapter 98 - na nastikyanna castikyatkastanusthanavaidikah manojnamadhuracarah priyapesalavadinah (3)

Vasistha continued:

The enemies of holiness, which are greed, delusion, etc., are greatly weakened in the case of the wise men, who are full of dispassion, and who rest in the supreme state. They do not give way to exhilaration or to anger; they do not get involved in anything, or take anything. They neither agitate people, nor are they agitated by them. They are neither atheists, nor are they confined to a traditional belief. They do not engage themselves in torturous practices, even if they are ordained by the scriptures. Their actions and behaviour are full of common-sense and sweetness, soft (gentle), and affectionate.

They gladden the hearts of all. They point out the wise path, and instantly and spontaneously they decide what is best. They engage themselves in all kinds of activity externally; but inwardly they are cool and tranquil. They love investigating the meanings of the scriptures. They know who is who (who is a mature person and who is immature). They know what to accept and what to reject. Their actions are appropriate to the occasion.

They avoid forbidden actions. They enjoy good company. They worship, with the flowers of wisdom, everyone who seeks their company and their teaching. They rob the people of their sorrow and grief. They are kind and gentle; but when the rulers of the earth become unrighteous and oppressive, they shake them up, even as an earthquake shakes a mountain. They encourage people in distress and enhance the joy of the happy ones. They restrain the ignorant and foolish behaviour of people.

When one is afflicted by calamities and mental confusion, trials and tribelations, the saints alone are one's refuge. Recognising them by the characteristics given above, one should resort to them for peace. This ocean of samsara is impassable, except with the help of the saints. One should not become passive, fatalistically accepting whatever happens. If all the qualities described are not found in one person, if even one of these qualities is present, one should resort to such a holy man, ignoring all the other defects that may be found in him. One should learn to recognise the good in others, as well as the defects; and then one should strive to resort to the company the good and the wise. Even if a good person has some defect, one should serve him, avoiding major evil tendencies. If one does not overcome evil tendencies, even a good man becomes wicked. This is what I have observed. It is indeed a great misfortune and a calamity to the entire society when a good man turns wicked on account of circumstances.

Hence, one should abandon all other activity, and be devoted to the saint. There is no obstacle to this. This alone is capable of bestowing the best of both the worlds. One should never be far away from the saints; for, by their very proximity, the saints promote goodness everywhere.

  section VI.2 - chapter 99 - ayam so 'hamidam tanma ityakalpitakalpanam jagadyatha nrnam spharam tathaivoccairgunaih krmeh (9)

Rama asked:

We human beings have diverse means of overcoming sorrow. What about the worms and flies, as also the trees?

Vasistha said:

All beings rest in consciousness, as is appropriate to their nature. They, too, have their own cravings and desires. In our case, there are minor obstructions to the fulfilment of our desires, and in their case the difficulties are enormous. Just as the cosmic person (virat) strives, even so do worms and flies; a little boy flourishes a clenched fist - marvellous is vanity! Birds are born and die in empty space. Even an ant has to eat and look after the family needs. The little fly flitting across a room is equal in dignity to the vulture Garuda flying aloft. Notions like 'I am this' 'This is mine' are common to both human beings and worms, with all the lofty implications of such notions.

Even as we strive to gain means of livelihood, the worms strive for it. They, too, love life. A slave takes little interest in the new country; even so do the cows and other animals not take interest in their 'owner's' house. They too have pleasure and pain, but they are free from a sense of 'mine' and 'thine'. Even a seed and a young sprout experience some pain (or awareness) when bitten by a worm, even as a sleeping man experiences the annoyance of a flea. Both Indra (the king of gods) and a worm experience the same attraction, aversion, fear, desire for food, and sex, pain and pleasure, and the distress caused by birth and death. The only difference exists in understanding the meaning of words, and the nature of the elements, and the anticipation of the future events.

Trees which are asleep, as it were, and also the immovable objects, like rocks, etc., exist in the unbroken experience of infinite consciousness. In them there is no notion of division. All this is but pure, infinite consciousness, which thinks it is asleep in the rocks, etc., as it was in the previous creation. Hence, you remain as you are, and I remain as I am. There is no pleasure or pain in the supreme self or consciousness. Ignorance alone is the cause for all delusion. But when the ignorance is dispelled by understanding, then what is seen is no-thing. When the truth concerning this world-dream is understood, it ceases. What then is desirable here, and what is fit to be gained? When the wave subsides, water is not destroyed. When the body is destroyed, the consciousness remains unchanged.

Only an ignorant person persists in his notion concerning the world, and he experiences it as if real. The right understanding of this truth opens the door to self-knowledge. Just as an object is reflected in a mirror, so does this world appear in Brahman. Though the reflection seems to be in the mirror, it is not there: even so, though the world appears to be, it is not there. It seems to produce an effect, though it itself is unreal, even as there is discharge of energy when one dreams of having sex. However, only an ignorant man knows why he considers the world to be real!

  section VI.2 - chapter 100 - samvit satya 'stvasatya va tavanmatrah smrtah puman sa yathaniscayo nunam tat satyamiti niscayah (15)

Rama asked:

There are others, O Sage, who hold that, since death is inevitable, one should live happily as long as one lives, and that, once the body is reduced to ashes, there is nothing which survives. What is their way out of the sorrow inherent in samsara?

Vasistha replied:

Whatever the inner intelligence firmly believes in, that alone is experienced by it, as if it is obvious. Consciousness is universal and indivisible: that is one and that alone is diverse. Nothing else existed before the concept of creation arose; hence, nothing else is really true. They are surely ignorant who do not see the reality that is expounded in the scripture. For us, they are as good as dead. They who have realised that all this is pure consciousness (Brahman), do not need our instruction either.

Whatever arises as real in the 'body' of consciousness, is experienced as real; everyone is made of that, whether there is a real physical body or not. If it is contended that (sense-) experience alone is consciousness, then one is bound to suffer; for, as long as one lives, there are bound to be contradictory experiences. On the other hand, if one realises that this world is but a notion that arises in consciousness, the division or the contradiction ceases, and therefore there is no contradictory experience either. Even as floating dust-particles do not affect space, pleasure and pain do not touch one who is established in the realisation of the one indivisible, infinite consciousness.

We do not apprehend a body or a personality or even a jiva; all this is pure consciousness; and, whatever notion arises in it, is experienced as such. Whether it is real or unreal, it is that which experiences the existence of the body. Whether consciousness is regarded as real or unreal, the person is that alone; what that consciousness considers real is surely real (or, consciousness is real as the person or self). (That is, even the materialist does not deny the existence of the person, and hence he cannot deny the existence of consciousness). This doctrine confirms the teaching of all scriptures.

When this understanding is clouded, perverse doctrines arise; when that misunderstanding is removed, it yields the highest fruit. But even when it is not rightly understood, it does not cease to be. If it is said that even after sell-knowledge this right understanding can once again be clouded, then there is no hope of getting rid of sorrow. If consciousness is realised as real, it is resorted too by the wise. If it is considered unreal, then one becomes inert like a rock. It is when this infinite consciousness 'sleeps', as it were, that the experience of objects arises, and this world comes into being. Thus, he who considers this world and the sense-experience alone as real, is inert and 'asleep'.

  section VI.2 - chapter 100 - mrtah sa samvidatmatvadbhuyo no vetti samsrtim jnanadhauta na ya samvinna sa tisthatyasamsrtih (30)

Rama asked:

There are they, O sage, who think that this limitless universe exists on all sides. They do not see that it is a mass of consciousness. They see it as it is ordinarily seen; but they do not see that it is changing and is moving towards destruction. In the case of such persons, what method is there to overcome mental distress?

Vasistha replied:

Before answering that question, one should pose another. Does that person feel that matter is indestructible as matter, and that the body is immortal? Then, where is sorrow? But, if this body is made of its various parts, then surely it will perish.

If one knows that the self is pure consciousness (and not the physical body), then, when he dies, there is no samsara (world-appearance) in his consciousness. If one's understanding is not thus purified by right understanding or wisdom, it does not remain without the support of samsara. If, however, he thinks that there is no such thing as consciousness, then he experiences a state which is inertness. One may think that the experiences in the embodied state alone are real. Being firmly established in this conviction, he thinks that death is the final end to sorrow. But this is only because of imperfect experience. They who believe in the non-existence of consciousness, become inert substances when the body is abandoned, and thus they sink into the impenetrable darkness of ignorance. They, on the other hand, who believe that the world exists as a relative reality (as in a dream), continue to experience this world-illusion.

Whether one considers this world to be a permanent reality or a changing phenomenon, there is the experience of pain and pleasure all the same. They who think that the world is a changing but purely material substance (devoid of consciousness), are childish. Have nothing to do with them. They who realise that bodies exist in consciousness, are wise; salutations to them. They who think that there is intelligence in the body, are ignorant.

It is pure consciousness, with the jiva as its body, that keeps going up and down in this cosmic space. Whatever that jiva contemplates within itself, that it experiences. Just as clouds make different patterns in the sky, and just as waves arise on the surface of the ocean, even so do these worlds appear in the infinite consciousness. The dream-city is only the dreamer's mind; it did not even need the co-operating causes (like the building materials) to build it. Even so is the universe; it is pure consciousness, and nothing else. They who realise this, are free from delusion, from attachment (dependency) and from mental distress, while continuing to perform appropriate actions spontaneously in situations which the stream of life bears along.