The Yoga Vasishta.
Translation by Sri Samvid.
Chapter 20 Contemplation of the Self that is Pure Consciousness Vasishta said,
I am only Brahman,
Or the Supreme Spirit,
Not divided by space,
Time,
And the like,
Tranquil,
Pure consciousness only,
And imperishable.
Thus remaining in meditation,
Be silent,
Happy in your own self.
As long as there is the assumption of spiritual ignorance,
As long as there is the idea that one is not Brahman,
Or the Supreme Spirit,
As long as there is regard or care for the web of illusion of the world,
As long as there is the idea of reality in the scene or in the visible object,
And as long as there is the sense of I in the body,
So long there is the imagination,
The mind,
And the like.
To one whose mind is indifferent to enjoyments,
Who has satisfaction which is cool and stainless,
And whose snare consisting of chains of hopes has been cut,
The delusion of the mind is destroyed.
To the sage who is offering as oblation all the straw in the form of the three worlds and the fire of consciousness inwardly,
The delusions of the mind and the like turn away from within.
The mind burnt by the fire of knowledge does not spring up again.
This immutable or imperishable consciousness is verily existing in all living beings,
But on account of ignorance of this consciousness,
All have fallen into wretchedness.
Ignorance is the basis of calamities.
What indeed is not a misfortune to one who does not understand?
This course of worldly existence flows on account of the inattention or insanity of the ignorant.
There exists here that reality which consists of the light of being consciousness,
Abandoned by knowing,
Untouched by the known,
Tranquil and of the nature of whole.
There arises by itself from that being consciousness a small part of the nature of knowing.
That is produced or arranged in three ways,
The subtle,
The middling,
And also the gross.
Only this appearance from the pure being consciousness is regarded as prakriti or nature,
Constituted by the three energies or qualities,
Sattva or light,
Knowledge and harmony,
Rajas or agitation,
Passion and activity,
And tamas or darkness,
Ignorance and inertia.
Only this is the course of worldly life of a living being.
Its furthest limit is the supreme abode or reality.
What have been mentioned here as the three gunas or qualities,
They are also regarded in each three ways.
Thus spiritual ignorance is divided in nine ways on account of difference in quality.
Of the part which has the nature of sattva,
Nagas or mythical semi-divine beings having a human face and a serpent tail,
Inhabiting the netherworlds,
And vityadharas or a class of demigods constitute the tamas or ignorance subdivision.
The rajas subdivision is constituted by sages and the accomplished ones.
The sattva subdivision is constituted by gods like hara or shiva.
The pure sattva portion of avidya or spiritual ignorance is declared as vidya or spiritual knowledge.
Sages endowed with spiritual knowledge remain liberated as long as the body resides in the world.
An object like the mountain,
Which is a mass of stupidity,
Has gone to the limit of the quality of tamas.
There,
The state free from the mind is not obtained.
It has also fallen from the state of the thinking mind.
Where the consciousness remains asleep with its eightfold body,
The five subtle elements,
The mind,
The intellect,
And the ego,
It is the giver of sorrow.
It remains there merely as existence,
Like a dumb,
Blind,
Or dull person.
Sri Rama said,
Is not firmly abiding as mere existence close to liberation?
Vasistha said,
Having already investigated intentionally,
So that,
On account of looking out for or inquiring into reality,
There is no knowledge of the totality of existence,
That would be liberation,
Not otherwise.
The renunciation of mental impressions is required after having thoroughly known them.
Where the dull mental impression remains asleep within,
Like the sprout within a seed,
Know that to be thorough sleepiness or insensibility,
Causing birth again.
These stationary objects,
Such as stones,
Trees,
And the like,
Have indeed resorted to the state of thorough sleep or insensibility.
The mental impressions just exist within them in seed form.
Where there is the seed or germ of mental impression,
That is the state of sleep that does not bring about fulfillment or self-realization.
Where the mental impression is without seed,
That is the fourth state of consciousness,
Turiya.
That is regarded as producing spiritual perfection.
Even a little of the residue of mental impressions,
As well as that of fire,
Debt,
Disease,
Enemy,
Affection,
Hostility,
Or poison oppresses.
One who has burnt the seed of mental impressions and has the nature of the generality or totality of existence will not be unhappy again,
Whether they are with the body or without the body.
When this knowledge of the self has not manifested,
It is the producer of the delusion of worldly existence.
When manifested,
It causes the destruction of all sorrows.
The non-manifestation of this self-knowledge is called avidya,
Or spiritual ignorance by the wise.
This avidya is indeed the cause of the world.
From that,
Everything arises.
So much only is the state of spiritual ignorance,
Which is the conviction that this is not Brahman,
Or the supreme spirit.
This alone is its end,
Which is the conviction that this is Brahman.
Perception,
Or direct knowledge of Brahman,
Does not arise without spiritual practice.
Brahman is pure consciousness.
Brahman is the world.
Brahman is the succession of living beings.
I am Brahman.
Brahman is my enemy.
Brahman is my friends and relatives.
Everything is indeed Brahman only.
One indeed becomes extremely happy when this is meditated upon.
The world consists of a multitude of sorrows to the ignorant.
To the wise,
The world is full of bliss.
The world is dark to the blind,
But bright to one with eyes.
We meditate on the self that is pure consciousness,
In which all thought has ended.
We meditate on the self that is pure consciousness,
Which has come to appearance through the five senses.
Sound,
Form,
Taste,
Touch,
And smell is free from them and is calm.
We meditate on that self that is pure consciousness,
Which is endowed with great glory,
Is free from all births,
And a non-doer even when there is possibly doership.
Thus having resolved,
Those who are happily established in the abode of truth or reality neither rejoice at nor condemn life as also death.
But their mind is free from passion,
Without limitation by factors like time and space.
With delusions departed,
Not attached to worldly life,
Liberated,
Tranquil all around,
And gone to the highest abode of pure existence.
When the usual practice is obtained,
Performing the work entirely,
They remain free from agitation,
Like meru mountains in other forms.
Sri Rama said,
When the dissolution of mental impressions is produced by the restraint of the movement of prana,
Or the vital air,
How does one repose in the state of liberation while living?
Tell me that,
Revered sage.
Vasishtha said,
The means for crossing over the course of worldly existence is called by the name yoga.
Know that yoga,
As having the characteristics of the cessation of mind,
To be of two kinds,
The way of self-knowledge and the control of the pranas,
Or vital airs.
Though both ways are spoken of by the word yoga,
Even then,
This word has very much attained traditional usage in the harnessing or use of prana.
The two equal means are told by the scriptures.
Certainly they give the same result.
To some person,
Yoga is not feasible or attainable.
To some other person,
Certainty of knowledge is not attainable.
Rama,
My accepted view is that certainty of knowledge is easily attainable.
Of the two,
Knowledge has been told to you.
This yoga is now described.
