Yoga Vasistha (Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana)

36. It is the extinction of being that is preceded by old age; therefore I as a man of little understanding, can have no reliance in old age (though extolled by some) 37. What then is the good of this miserable life, which lives under the subjection of old age? Senility is irresistable in this world, and defies all efforts to avoid or overcome it.

VICISSITUDES OF TIMES. Men of little understandings are found to fall into grave errors in this pit of the world, by their much idle talk, ever doubting scepticism, and schisms (in religion). 2. Good people can have no more confidence in the net work of their ribs, than little children may have a liking for fruits reflected in a mirror. 3. Time is a rat that cuts off the threads of all thoughts (prospects), which men may entertain here about the contemptible pleasures of this world. 4. There is nothing in this world which the all-devouring time will spare. He devours all things as the submarine fire consumes the over-flowing sea. 5. Time is the sovran lord of all, and equally terrible to all things. He is ever ready to devour all visible beings. 6. Time as master of all, spares not even the greatest of us for a moment. He swallows the universe within himself, whence he is known as the universal soul. 7. Time pervades all things, but has no perceptible feature of his own, except that he is imperfectly known by the names of years, ages and kalpas (millenniums).

8. All that was fair and good, and as great as the mount of Meru, have gone down in the womb of eternity, as the snakes are gorged by the greedy Garuda. 9. There was no one ever so unkind, hard-hearted, cruel, harsh or miserly, whom time has not devoured. 10. Time is ever greedy although he should devour the mountains. This great gourmand is not satiated with gorging every thing in all the worlds. 11. Time like an actor plays many parts on the stage of the world. He abstracts and kills, produces and devours and at last destroys every thing. 12. Time is incessantly picking up the seeds of all the four kinds of living beings from this unreal world, as a parrot picks up the seeds from under the cracked shell of a pomegranate. (Viz. the ovipari, vivipari, vegetables and the ephemerids). 13. Time like a wild elephant uproots all proud living beings in this world, as the other pulls up the trees of the forest with their tusks. 14. This creation of God is like a forest, having Brahmá for its foundation and its trees full of the great fruits of gods. Time commands it throughout its length and breadth.

15. Time glides along incessantly as a creeping plant, composed of years and ages as its parts, and the sable nights as black bees chasing after them. 16. Time, O sage, is the subtlest of all things. It is divided though indivisible, it is consumed though incombustible, it is perceived though imperceptible in its nature. 17. Time like the mind is strong enough to create and demolish any thing in a trice, and its province is equally extensive with it. 18. Time is a whirlpool to men; and being accompanied with desire his insatiable and ungovernable mistress and delighting in illicit enjoyments, he makes them do and undo the same thing over and again. 19. Time is prompted by his rapacity to appropriate every thing to himself, from the meanest straw, dust, leaves and worms, to the greatest Indra and the mount Meru itself. 20. Time is the source of all malice and greediness, and the spring of all misfortunes, and intolerable fluctuations of our states. 21. As boys with their balls play about their play-ground, so does time in his arena of the sky, play with his two balls of the sun and moon.

22. Time at the expiration of the kalpa age, will dance about with a long chain of the bones of the dead hanging from his neck to the feet. 23. The gale of desolation rising from the body of this desolator of the world at the end of a kalpa age, causes the fragments of mount Meru to fly about in the air like the rinds of the bhoja-petera tree. 24. Time then assumes his terrific form of fire (प्रलयाग्नि), to dissolve the world in empty space, when the gods Brahmá and Indra and all others cease to exist. 25. As the sea shows himself in a continued series of waves rising and falling one after another, so it is time that creates and dissolves the world, and appears to rise and fall in the rotation of days and nights. 26. Time plucks the gods and demigods as ripe fruits, from their great arbor of existence, at the end of the world (to make them his food). 27. Time resembles a large fig tree (Ficus religiosus), studded with all the worlds as its fruits, and resonant with the noise of living beings like the hissing of gnats about them.

28. Time accompanied by Action as his mate, regales himself in the garden of the world, blossoming with the moon-beams of the Divine Spirit. 29. As the high and huge rock supports its body upon the basis of the earth, so does time rest itself in endless and interminable eternity. 30. Time assumes to himself various hues of black, white and red (at night, day and midday) which serve for his vestures. 31. As the earth is the great support of hills which are fixed upon it, so is time the support of all the innumerable ponderous worlds that constitute the universe. 32. Hundreds of great kalpa ages (of the creation and dissolution of the world) may pass away, yet there is nothing that can move eternity to pity or concern, or stop or expedite his course. It neither sets nor rises (as time). 33. Time is never proud to think, that it is he who without the least sense of pain and labor, brings this world into play and makes it to exist. 34. Time is like a reservoir in which the nights are as mud, the days as lotuses, and the clouds as bees.

35. As a covetous man, with worn out broom sticks in hand, sweeps over a mountain to gather the particles of gold strewn over it, so does time with his sweeping course of days and nights, collect in one mass of the dead all living beings in the world. 36. As a miserly man trims and lights a lamp with his own fingers, to look into his stores at each corner of the room; so does time light the lamps of the sun and moon to look into the living beings in every nook and corner of the world. 37. As one ripens the raw fruits in sun and fire in order to devour them, so does time ripen men by their sun and fire worship, to bring them under his jaws at last. 38. The world is a dilapidated cottage and men of parts are rare gems in it. Time hides them in the casket of his belly, as a miser keeps his treasure in a coffer. 39. Good men are like a chaplet of gems, which time puts on his head for a time with fondness, and then tears and tramples it down (under his feet).

40. Strings of days, nights and stars, resembling beads and bracelets of white and black lotuses, are continually turning round the arm of time. 41. Time (as a vulture) looks upon the world as (the carcase of) a ram, with its mountains, seas, sky and earth as its four horns, and the stars as its drops of blood which it drinks day by day. 42. Time destroys youth as the moon shuts the petals of the lotus. It destroys life as the lion kills the elephant: there is nothing however insignificant that time steals not away. 43. Time after sporting for a Kalpa period in the act of killing and crushing of all living beings, comes to lose its own existence and becomes extinct in the eternity of the Spirit of spirits. 44. Time after a short rest and respite reappears as the creator, preserver, destroyer and remembrancer of all. He shows the shapes of all things whether good or bad, keeping his own nature beyond the knowledge of all. Thus doth time expand and preserve and finally dissolve all things by way of sport.

RAVAGES OF TIME. Ráma rejoined:—Time is a self-willed sportsman as a prince, who is inaccessible to dangers and whose powers are unlimited. 2. This world is as it were a forest and sporting ground of time, wherein the poor deluded worldlings are caught in his snare like a body of wounded stags. 3. The ocean of universal deluge is a pleasure-pond of time, and the submarine fires bursting therein as lotus flowers (serve to beautify that dismal scene). 4. Time makes his breakfast of this vapid and stale earth, flavoured with the milk and curd of the seas of those names. 5. His wife Chandi (Hecate) with her train of Mátris (furies), ranges all about this wide world as a ferocious tigress (with horrid devastation). 6. The earth with her waters is like a bowl of wine in the hand of time, dressed and flavoured with all sorts of lilies and lotuses. 7. The lion with his huge body and startling mane, his loud roaring and tremendous groans, seems as a caged bird of sport in the hand of time. 8. The Mahákála like a playful young Kokila (cuckoo), appears in the figure of the blue autumnal sky, and warbling as sweet as the notes of a lute of gourd (in the music of the spheres).

9. The restless bow of death is found flinging its woeful arrows (darts of death) with ceaseless thunder claps on all sides. 10. This world is like a forest, wherein sorrows are ranging about as playful apes, and time like a sportive prince in this forest, is now roving, now walking, now playing and now killing his games.

SPORTS OF DEATH. Time stands the foremost of all deceitful players in this world. He acts the double parts of creation and destruction, and of action and fate (utility and fatality). 2. Time has no other character but those of action and motion by which his existence is known to us, and which bind all beings (in the succession of thoughts and acts). 3. Fate is that which frustrates (the necessary consequences of) the acts of all created beings, as the solar heat serves to dissolve the conglomeration of snows. 4. This wide world is the stage wherein the giddy mob dance about (in their appointed times). 5. Time has a third name of a terrifying nature known as Kritántah (Fate), who in the form of a Kápálika (one holding human skulls in his hand), dances about in the world. 6. This dancing and loving Kritántah (Fate), is accompanied by his consort called Destiny to whom he is greatly attached (as his colleague). 7. Time (as Siva), wears on his bosom of the world, the triplicate white and holy thread composed of the serpent named Ananta and the stream of Ganges, and the digit of the moon on his forehead (to measure his course). (Viz:—the Zodiacal belt; the milky way, and the lunar mansions).

8. The sun and the moon are the golden armlets of time, who holds in his palm the mundane world as the paltry plaything of a nosegay. 9. The firmament with its stars appears like a garment with coloured spots in it; the clouds called Pushkara and Avarta are as the skirts of that garment, which are washed by Time in the waters of the universal deluge. 10. Before him, dances his beloved Destiny with all her arts for ever, to beguile the living that are fond of worldly enjoyments. 11. People hurry up and down to witness the dance of Destiny, whose unrestrained motion keeps them at work, and causes their repeated births and deaths. 12. The people of all the worlds are studded about her person as her ornaments, and the sky stretching from the heaven of gods to the infernal regions, serves for the veil on her head. 13. Her feet are planted in the infernal regions, and the hell-pits ring at her feet like trinkets, tied by the string of evil deeds or sins (of men). 14. She is painted all over from head to foot by the god Chitra Gupta with ornamental marks prepared by her attendants (the deeds of men), and perfumed with the essence of those deeds.

15. She dances and reels at the nod of her husband at the end of the Kalpas, and makes the mountains crack and crash at her foot-falls. 16. Behind her dance the peacocks of the god Kumára; and Kála the god of death staring with his three wide open eyes, utters his hideous cries (of destruction). 17. Death dances about in the form of the five headed Hara, with the loosened braids of hair upon him; while Destiny in the form of Gaurí, and her locks adorned with Mandára flowers keeps her pace with him. 18. This Destiny in her war-dance, bears a capacious gourd representing her big belly, and her body is adorned with hundreds of hollow human skulls jingling like the alms-pots of the Kapáli mendicants. 19. She has filled (reached) the sky with the emaciated skeleton of her body, and gets terrified at her all destructive figure. 20. The skulls of the dead of various shapes adorn her body like a beautiful garland of lotuses, which keep hanging to and fro during her dance at the end of a Kalpa age. 21. The horrible roaring of the giddy clouds Pushkara and Avarta at the end of the Kalpa, serves to represent the beating of her Damaru drum, and put to flight the heavenly choir of Tumburu.

22. As death dances along, the moon appears like his ear-ring, and the moon-beams and stars appear like his crest made of peacocks’ feathers. 23. The snow-capt Himálaya, appears like a circlet of bones in the upper loop of his right ear, and the mount Meru as a golden areola in that of the left. 24. Under their lobes are suspended the moon and the sun, as pendant ear-rings glittering over his cheeks. The mountain ranges called the lokáloka are fastened like chains around his waist. 25. The lightnings are the bracelets and armlets of Destiny, which move to and fro as she dances along. The clouds are her wrappers that fly about her in the air. 26. Death is furnished with many weapons, as clubs, axes, missiles, spears, shovels, mallets and sharp swords, all of which are sure weapons of destruction. 27. Mundane enjoyments are no other than long ropes dropped down by the hand of death, and keeping all mankind fast bound to the world; while the great thread of infinity (ananta) is worn by him as his wreath of flowers. 28. The belts of the seven oceans are worn about the arms of Death as his bracelets resplendent with the living sea-animals, and the bright gems contained in their depths.

29. The great vortices of customs, the successions of joy and grief, the excess of pride and the darkness of passions, form the streaks of hair on his body. 30. After the end of the world, he ceases to dance, and creates anew all things from the lowest animal that lives in the earth, to the highest Brahmá and Siva (when he resumes his dance). 31. Destiny as an actress, acts by turns her parts of creation and destruction, diversified by scenes of old age, sorrow and misery. 32. Time repeatedly creates the worlds and their woods, with the different abodes and localities teeming with population. He forms the moveable and immovable substances, establishes customs and again dissolves them, as boys make their dolls of clay and break them soon afterwards.

THE ACTS OF DESTINY. Ráma said:—Such being the all destructive conduct of time and others (as already described), what confidence, O great sage, can men like me, have upon them? 2. We all remain here, O sage! as slaves sold to Fate and Destiny, and are deceived by their allurements as beasts of the forest. 3. This Fate whose conduct is so very inhuman, is always up to devour all beings, and is incessantly throwing men into the sea of troubles. 4. He is led by his malicious attempts to inflame the mind with inordinary desires, as the fire raises its flames to burn down a habitation. 5. Destiny the faithful and obedient wife of Fate, is naturally fickle on account of her being a female, and is always bent on mischief and disturbing the patience (even of the wisest of men). 6. As the heinous serpent feeds upon the air, so does cruel Death ever swallow the living. He ripens the body with old age to create his zest, and then devours all animals warm with life. 7. Death is called a relentless tyrant, having no pity even for the sick and weak; nor any regard for any one in any state of life.

8. Every one in this world is fond of affluence and pleasures, not knowing that these are only calculated to lead him to his ruin. 9. Life is very unsteady. Death is very cruel. Youth is very frail and fickle, and boyhood is full of dullness and insensibility. 10. Man is defiled by his worldliness, his friends are ties to the world, his enjoyments are the greatest of his diseases in life, and his avarice and ambition are the mirage that always allures him (to ruin). 11. Our very senses are our enemies, before which even truth appears as falsehood; the mind is the enemy of the mind and self is the enemy of self. (i.e. They are all deceptive). 12. Self-esteem is stained (with the name of selfishness), intelligence is blamed for its fallaciousness, our actions are attended with bad results, and our pleasures tend only to effeminacy. 13. All our desires are directed to enjoyments; our love of truth is lost; our women are the ensigns of vice, and all that were once so sweet, have become tasteless and vapid. 14. Things that are not real, are believed as real, and have become the cause of our pride, by hardening us in untruth, and keeping us from the light of truth.

15. My mind is at a loss to think what to do; it regrets at its increased appetite for pleasure, and for want of that self-denial (which I require). 16. My sight is dimmed by the dust of sensuality: the darkness of self-esteem prevails upon me: the purity of mind is never reached to, and truth is far off from me. 17. Life is become uncertain and death is always advancing nigh; my patience is disturbed, and there is an increased appetite for whatever is false. 18. The mind is soiled by dullness, and the body is cloyed with surfeit and ready to fall; old age exults over the body, and sins are conspicuous at every step. 19. Youth flies fast away with all our care to preserve it; the company of the good is at a distance; the light of truth shines from no where; and I can have recourse to nothing in this world. 20. The mind is stupified within itself, and its contentment has fled from it: there is no rise of enlightened sentiments in it, and meanness makes its advance to it from a distance. 21. Patience is converted into impatience; man is liable to the states of birth and death; good company is rare, but bad company is ever within the reach of every body.

22. All individual existences are liable to appear and disappear; all desires are chains to the world, and all worldly beings are ever seen to be led away perforce where no body can tell. 23. What reliance can there be on human life, when the points of the compass become indistinct and undiscernible; when the countries and places change their positions and names, and when mountains even are liable to be dilapidated? 24. What reliance can there be on man, when the heavens are swallowed in infinity, when this world is absorbed in nothingness, and the very earth loses her stability? 25. What reliance can there be on men like ourselves, when the very seas are liable to be dried up, when the stars are doomed to fade away and disappear, and when the most perfect of beings are liable to dissolution? 26. What reliance can there be on men like us, when even the demigods are liable to destruction, when the polar star is known to change its place, and when the immortal gods are doomed to mortality? 27. What reliance can there be on men like us, when Indra is doomed to be defeated by demons; when even death is hindered from his aim, and when the current air ceases to breathe?

28. What reliance can there be on men like us, when the very moon is to vanish with the sky, when the very sun is to be split into pieces, and when fire itself is to become frigid and cold? 29. What reliance can there be on men like us, when the very Hari and Brahmá are to be absorbed into the Great One, and when Siva himself is to be no more. 30. What reliance can there be on men like us, when the duration of time comes to be counted, when Destiny is destined to her final destiny, and when all vacuity loses itself in infinity? 31. That which is inaudible, unspeakable, invisible, and unknowable in his real form, displays to us these wondrous worlds by some fallacy (in our conceptions). 32. No one conscious of himself (his egoism), can disown his subjection to that Being, that dwells in the hearts of every one. 33. This sun—the lord of worlds, is impelled (by that power) to run over hills, rocks and fields, like an inert piece of stone, hurled down from a mountain and borne away by a current stream.

34. This globe of earth, the seat of all the Suras and Asuras, and surrounded by the luminous sphere in the manner of a walnut covered by its hard crust, subsists under His command. 35. The gods in the heavens, the men on earth and the serpents in the nether world, are brought into existence and led to decay by His will only. 36. Káma (Cupid) that is arbitrarily powerful, and has forcibly overpowered on all the living world, has derived his unconquerable might from the Lord of worlds. 37. As the heated elephant regales the air with his spirituous exudation, so does the spring perfume the air with his profusion of flowers, unsettling the minds of men (at the will of the Almighty). 38. So are the loose glances of loving damsels directed to inflict deep wounds in the heart of man, which his best reason is unable to heal. 39. One whose best endeavour is always to do good to others, and who feels for others’ woes, is really intelligent and happy under the influence of his cool judgment. 40. Who can count the number of beings resembling the waves of the ocean, and on whom death has been darting the submarine fire of destruction.

41. All mankind are deluded to entrap themselves in the snare of avarice, and to be afflicted with all evils in life, as the deer entangled in the thickets of a jungle. 42. The term of human life in this world, is decreased in each generation in proportion to (the increase of their wicked acts). The desire of fruition is as vain as the expectation of reaping fruits from a creeper growing in the sky: yet I know not why men of reason would not understand this truth. 43. This is a day of festivity, a season of joy and a time of procession. Here are our friends, here the pleasures and here the variety of our entertainments. Thus do men of vacant minds amuse themselves with weaving the web of their desires, until they become extinct.

VANITY OF THE WORLD. Ráma said:—O sage! this seemingly pleasing but actually unpleasant world, has nothing in it that is productive of such a thing as can afford tranquility to the soul. 2. After the playful boyhood is over, the mind wastes itself in the society of women like the deer fallen in a cavern, then the body bends down under old age, and the man has only to grieve (for his folly). 3. As the body is stricken with the frost of old age, its beauty flies afar from it like the bloom of the fading lotus, and then the fountain of man’s worldliness is at once dried up. 4. As the body gets towards its decline, so much doth death rejoice in it. The body grows lean with grey hairs upon the head, just as a creeper fades away with the flowers upon it. 5. All living creatures are borne away by the stream of avarice, which upsets the tree of contentment growing on the bank and flows on for ever in this world. 6. Human body is like a vessel covered with skin; and glides over the ocean of the world (without its helmsman of reason). It is tossed about by sensual pleasures, and goes down under the water by the pressure of its whale-like passions.

7. The world is a wilderness abounding in creepers of avarice and trees of sensuality, with hundreds of desires as their branches. Our minds like monkeys pass their time in roving about this forest without getting the fruits (they seek). 8. Those that do not yield to grief in troubles, that are not elated with prosperity, nor smitten at heart by women, are rare in this world. 9. Those who fight boldly in the battle fields and withstand the war-elephants, are not so very brave in my opinion, as those who withstand the surges of the mind amidst the streams of carnal appetites. 10. I see no such deeds in the world which endure to the last (or final emancipation) of men. Actions proceeding from a desire of fruition in fools, serve only for their restlessness on earth. 11. Such men are rare in the world, that have filled the corners of the world with their fame and valour, who have filled their houses with true riches acquired by honest means and an unwavering patience. 12. Good and bad fortune always overtake a man, even if he were living in an aperture of the rock or within the walls of mountains, or even if he were enclosed within an iron built closet.

13. Our sons and riches are mere objects of delight to us. It is as erroneous to suppose them to be of any good to us at the end, as to expect any benefit from the decoction of poison. 14. Old people being reduced to calamitous circumstances at the pitiable state of the decay of their bodies and decline of life, have greatly to be tormented at the thoughts of the impious deeds (of their past lives). 15. Men having passed their early days in the gratification of their desires and other worldly pursuits at the expense of the acts of virtue and piety, are as much troubled with anxieties at the end, that their minds are seized with a tremor like that of the plumage of a peacock shaken by the breeze. How then can a man attain to tranquility at any time? 16. Wealth whether forthcoming or unattainable, whether got by labour or given by fortune, is all as deceitful to the worldly minded, as the high waters of rivers (swelling only to subside). 17. That such and such desirable acts are to be done, are the constant thoughts of men, who desire to please their sons and wives, until they are worn out with age and become crazy in their minds.

18. Like leaves on trees that grow to fall, and falling make room for others to shoot forth, are those men who devoid of reason, die away daily to be born again. 19. Men having travelled here and there and far and near, return to their homes at the end of the day; but none of them can have rest by day or night, except the virtuous few that live by honest dealings. 20. After quelling his enemies and getting enough of riches in his clutches, the rich man just sits down to enjoy his gains; when death comes upon him, and interrupts his joy. 21. Seeing the vile trash of worldly gains earned and accumulated by the basest means to be but transitory, the infatuated mob do not perceive their approaching dissolution. 22. Men loving their own lives, and making mouths at the demise of others, are like a herd of sheep bound to the stake, and staring at the slaughter of their fellows, yet feeding themselves to fall as fattened victims to death. 23. The multitude of people on earth, is ever seen to appear in and disappear from it as fast as the passing waves of the sea, but who can tell whence they come and whither they return.

24. Women are as delicate as poisonous creepers, that with their red petaled lips and garments, and their eyes as busy as fluttering bees, are killers of mankind and stealers of their ravished hearts. 25. Men are as passengers in a procession, repairing from this side and that to join at the place of their meeting. Such is the delusive union of our wives and friends here (for our meeting in the next world). 26. As the burning and extinguishing of the lamp depend on the wick and its moistening oil; so does our course in this transitory world (depend on our acts and affections only). Nobody knows the true cause of this mysterious existence. 27. The revolution of the world is comparable with that of the potter’s wheel and the floating bubbles of rain water; that appear to be lasting to the ignorant observer only. 28. The blooming beauty and graces (of youth), are destined to be snatched away at the approach of old age. The youthful hopes also of men fly at a distance like the bloom of lotus buds in winter.

29. The tree which is ordained to be useful to mankind by the loads of fruits and flowers that it bears upon its body, is fated also to be hewn down by the cruel axe at last. How then can beneficent men expect to avoid the cruel hand of death. 30. Society with relatives is (of all others) as perilous as that of a poisonous plant; it is pleasant for its domestic affections, which are in reality but delusions of the soul. 31. What is that thing in the world, which has no fault in it; and what is that which does not afflict or grieve us; what being is born that is not subjected to death, and what are those acts that are free from deceit? 32. Those living a Kalpa age are reckoned as short-lived, compared with those living for many Kalpas, and they again are so in respect to Brahmá. Hence the parts of time being all finite, the ideas of their length or shortness are altogether false. 33. Things that are called mountains are made of rocks, those that are called trees are made of wood, and those that are made of flesh are called animals, and man is the best of them. But they are all made of matter, and doomed to death and decay.

34. Many things appear to be endued with intelligence, and the heavenly bodies seem to be full of water; but physicists have found out by analysis that, there is no other thing any where except (minutiæ of) matter. 35. It is no wonder that this (unreal world) should appear a miraculous (reality) to the wise, and seem marvelously striking in the minds of mankind; since the visions in our dreams also appear so very fascinating to every one in their state of dreaming. 36. Those that are corrupted in their greediness (after worldly enjoyments), will not even in their old age, receive the sermons on their eternal concerns, which they think to be false chimeras as those of a flower or a creeper growing in the sky. 37. People are still deluded in their minds in wishing to attain the state of their superiors; but they fall down still lower like beasts (goats) from the top of a hill, in wishing to lay hold on the fruits of a verdant creeper out of their reach. 38. Young men spending their wealth in personal gratifications, are as useless as plants growing in the bowels of a deep and inaccessible cavern, which spread their fruits and flowers, leaves and branches and their shades to the use of nobody.

39. Men are found to resemble the black antelopes (in their wanderings): some of them roving about the sweet, soft and beautiful sceneries of the country, and others roaming in sterile tracts and parts of boundless forests. (i.e. Some living in the society of men, and others as recluses from it). 40. The daily and diversified acts of nature are all pernicious in their nature; they appear pleasant and ravishing to the heart for a time, but are attainded with pain in the end, and fill the mind of the wise with dismay. 41. Man is addicted to greediness, and is prone to a variety of wicked shifts and plots; a good man is not now to be seen even in a dream, and there is no act which is free from difficulty. I know not how to pass this state of human life.

MUTABILITY OF THE WORLD. Ráma said:— Whatever we see of all moveable or immovable things in this world, they are all as evanescent as things viewed in a dream. 2. The hollow desert that appears as the dried bed of a sea to-day, will be found to-morrow to be a running flood by the accumulation of rain-water in it. 3. What is to-day a mountain reaching the sky and with extensive forests on it, is in course of time levelled to the ground, and is afterwards dug into pit. 4. The body that is clothed to-day with garments of silk, and decorated with garlands and fragrance, is to be cast away naked into a ditch to-morrow. 5. What is seen to be a city to-day, and busy with the bustle of various occupations, passes in course of a few days into the condition of an uninhabited wilderness. 6. The man who is very powerful to-day and presides over principalities, is reduced in a few days to a heap of ashes. 7. The very forest which is so formidable to-day and appears as blue as the azure skies, turns to be a city in the course of time, with its banners hoisted in the air.

8. What is (to-day) a formidable jungle of thick forests, turns in time to be a table-land as on the mount Meru. 9. Water becomes land and land becomes water. Thus the world composed of wood, grass and water becomes otherwise with all its contents in course of time. 10. Our boyhood and youth, bodies and possessions are all but transient things, and they change from one state to another, as the ever fluctuating waves of the ocean. 11. Our lives in this (mortal) world, are as unsteady as the flame of a lamp placed at the window, and the splendour of all the objects in the three worlds, is as flickering as the flashing of the lightning. 12. As a granary stored with heaps of grains is exhausted by its continued waste, so is the stock of life spent away by its repeated respirations. 13. The mind of man is as fluctuating as a flag waving in the air and filled with the dust of sin, to indicate its wavering between the paths of heaven and hell. 14. The existence of this delusive world, is as the appearance of an actress on the stage, shuffling her vests as she trudges along in her dancing.

15. It’s scenes are as changeful and fascinating as those of a magic city; and its dealings as bewitching and momentary as the glances of a juggling girl. 16. The stage of the world presents us a scene of continued dancing (of the sorceress of deception), and the deceptive glances of her eyes resembling the fleeting flashes of lightning. 17. The days, the great men, their hey-days and deeds (that are past and gone), are now retained in our memory only, and such must be our cases also in a short time. 18. Many things are going to decay and many coming anew day by day; and there is yet no end of this accursed course of events in this ever-changeful world. 19. Men degenerate into lower animals, and those again rise to humanity (by metempsychosis), gods become no-gods, and there is nothing that remains the same. 20. The sun displays every thing to light by his rays, and watches over the rotations of days and nights, to witness like time the dissolution of all things. 21. The gods Brahmá, Vishnu and Siva and all material productions, are reduced to nothingness, like the submarine fire subsiding under the waters of the deep.

22. The heaven, the earth, the air, the sky, the mountains, the rivers, and all the quarters of the globe, are subject to destruction like the dry fuel by the all-destroying fire of the last day. 23. Riches and relatives, friends, servants and affluence, are of no pleasure to him who is in constant dread of death. 24. All these are so long delightful to a sensible man, as the monster of death does not appear before the eye of his mind. 25. We have prosperity at one moment, succeeded by adversity at another; so we have health at one time, followed by sickness soon after. 26. What intelligent being is there, that is not misled by these delusions of the world, which represent things otherwise than what they are, and serve to bewilder the mind? 27. (The world is as varying) as the face of the skies; it is now as black as dark clay, and in the next moment bright with the golden hues of fair light. 28. It is now over-cast by azure clouds resembling the blue lotuses of the lake, and roaring loudly for a time and then being dumb and silent on a sudden:

29. Now studded with stars, and now glowing with the glory of the sun; then graced by the pleasant moonbeams, and at last without any light at all. 30. Who is there so sedate and firm, that is not terrified at these sudden appearances and their disappearance, and the momentary durations and final dissolution of worldly things? 31. What is the nature of this world, where we are overtaken by adversity at one moment, and elated by prosperity at another, where one is born at a time, and dies away at another? 32. One that was something else before, is born as a man in this life, and is changed to another state in course of a few days; thus there is no being that remains steadily in the same state. 33. A pot is made of clay, and cloth is made of cotton, and they are still the same dull materials of which they are composed: thus there is nothing new in this world that was not seen or known before, and that changes not its form. (i.e. All is but a formal and no material change). 34. The acts of creation and destruction, of diffusion, production, and sustentation follow one another, as the revolution of day and night to man.

35. It happens sometimes, that an impotent man slays a hero, and that hundreds are killed by one individual; so also a commoner becomes a noble man, and thus every thing is changeful in this varying world. 36. These bodies of men that are always changing their states, are as bodies of waters rising and falling in waves by motion of the winds. 37. Boyhood lasts but a few days, and then it is succeeded by youth which is as quickly followed by old age: thus there being no identity of the same person, how can one rely on the uniformity of external objects? 38. The mind that gets delighted in a moment and becomes dejected in the next, and assumes likewise its equanimity at another, is indeed as changeful as an actor. 39. The creator who is ever turning one thing into another in his work of creation, is like a child who makes and breaks his doll without concern. 40. The actions of producing and collecting (of grains), of feeding (one’s self) and destroying (others), come by turns to mankind like the rotation of day and night. 41. Neither adversity nor prosperity is of long continuance in the case of worldly people, but they are ever subject to appearance and disappearance by turns.

42. Time is a skilful player and plays many parts with ease; but he is chiefly skilled in tragedy, and often plays his tragic part in the affairs of men. 43. All beings are produced as fruits in the great forest of the universe, by virtue of their good and bad acts (of past lives): and time like a gust of wind blasts them day by day before their maturity.

UNRELIABLENESS OF WORLDLY THINGS. Thus is my heart consumed by the wild-fire of those great worldly evils, and there rises in me no desire of enjoying them, as there rises no mirage from a lake. 2. My existence upon earth gets bitter day by day, and though I have got some experience in it, yet its associations have made me as sour as the Nimba plant by its immersion in water. 3. I see wickedness on the increase, and righteousness on the decline in the mind of man, which like the sour Karanja (crab) fruit, becomes sourer every day. 4. I see honour is eaten up every day by mutual altercations of men, using harsh words to each other as they crack the nuts under their teeth. 5. Too much eagerness for royalty and worldly enjoyments, is equally prejudicial to our welfare; as we loose our future prospects by the former, and our present happiness by the latter. 6. I take no delight in my gardens nor have any pleasure in women; I feel no joy at the prospect of riches, but enjoy my solace in my own heart and mind.

7. Frail are the pleasures of the world, and avarice is altogether intolerable; the bustle of business has broken down my heart, and (I know not) where to have my tranquility. 8. Neither do I hail death nor am I in love with my life; but remain as I do, devoid of all anxiety and care. 9. What have I to do with a kingdom and with all its enjoyments? Of what avail are riches to me, and what is the end of all our exertions? All these are but requirements of self-love, from which I am entirely free. 10. The chain of (repeated) births is a bond that binds fast all men by its strong knots of the senses; those striving to break loose from this bondage for their liberation, are (said to be) the best of men. 11. These haughty damsels whom the god of love employs to ravage the hearts of men, resemble a group of elephants subverting a lotus bed under their feet. 12. The treatment of the mind with pure reason being neglected now (in youth), it is hard to heal it afterwards (in age), when it admits of no cure.

13. It is the worldliness of man that is his true poison, while real poison is no poison to him. It is the poison of worldliness which destroys his future life, while real poison is only locally injurious to him (in his present state). 14. Neither pleasure nor pain, nor friends nor relatives, nor even life and death, can enchain (affect) the mind that has received the light of truth. 15. Teach me, Oh Bráhman! that art the best of the learned in the mysteries of the past and future, teach me so that I may soon become like one devoid of grief and fear and worldly troubles, and may have the light of truth beaming upon me. 16. The forest of ignorance is laid over with the snare of desire, it is full of the thorns of misery, and is the dreadful seat of destruction and the danger (of repeated births and deaths). 17. I can rather suffer myself to be put under the jaws of death with his rows of teeth like saws, but cannot bear the dreadly pains of worldly cares and anxieties.

18. It is a gloomy error in this world to think that I have this and have not the other; it serves to toss about our minds as a gust of wind disperses the dust of the earth. 19. It is the thread of avarice that links together all living beings like a chaplet of pearls; the mind serves to twirl about this chain, but pure consciousness sits quiet to observe its rotation. 20. I who am devoid of desires, would like to break this ornamental chain of worldliness, hanging about me as a deadly serpent, in the same manner, as a lion breaks asunder the net (which is laid to ensnare him). 21. Do you now, O most learned sage, scatter the mist which has overspread the forest of my heart, and the darkness which has overcast my mind, by the light of true knowledge. 22. There are no anxieties, O sage! which cannot be put to an end by the society of good minded men; the darkness of night can be well removed by moon-beams.

23. Life is as fickle as a drop of water pending on a mass of clouds blown away by the winds. Our enjoyments are as unsteady as the lightning that flickers in the midst of clouds. The pleasures of youth are as slippery as water. With these reflections in my mind, I have subdued them all under the province of peace and tranquility.

SELF-DISPARAGEMENT. Seeing the world thus ingulphed amidst the abyss of hundreds of rising dangers and difficulties, my mind is immerged in the mire of anxieties. 2. My mind is wandering everywhere and I am struck with fear at every thing; my limbs are shaking with fear like the leaves of a withered tree. 3. My mind is bewildered by impatience for its want of true contentment, just as a young woman is afraid in a desert for want of the company of her strong handed husband. 4. The thoughts of my mind are entangled in my desire for worldly enjoyments, as stags are caught in the pit strewn with grass over it. 5. The senses of an unreasonable man, ever run astray to the wrong and never turn to the right way; so the eyes of a blind man lead him but to fall into the pit. 6. Human thoughts are linked to the animal soul as consorts to their lords. They can neither sit idle nor ramble at liberty, but must remain as wives under the control of their husbands. 7. My patience is almost worn out, like that of a creeper under the winter frost. It is decayed, and neither lives nor perishes at once.

8. Our minds are partly settled in worldly things, and partly fixed in their giver (the Supreme soul). This divided state of the mind is termed its half waking condition. 9. My mind is in a state of suspense, being unable to ascertain the real nature of my soul. I am like one in the dark, who is deceived by the stump of a fallen tree at a distance, to think it a human figure. 10. Our minds are naturally fickle and wandering all about the earth. They cannot forsake their restlessness, as the vital airs cannot subsist without their motion. 11. Tell me Oh sage, what is that state of life which is dignified above others, which is unassociated with the troubles (incident to birth and death), unqualified by the conditions of humanity, and apart from errors, and wherein griefs are unknown. 12. (Tell me also) how Janaka and the other good men, who are conspicuous for their ceremonious acts, and distinguished for their good conduct, have acquired their excellence (in holy knowledge). 13. (Tell me likewise) Oh source of my honor, how a man, who is besmeared all over his body with the dirt of worldliness, may yet be cleansed and get rid of it.

14. Tell me what is that knowledge, by resorting to which, the serpents of worldliness, may be freed from their worldly crookedness, and become straight in their conduct. 15. Tell me how the foulness of my heart may regain its clearness, after it is so much soiled by errors and tainted with evils, like a lake disturbed by elephants and polluted with dirt. 16. How is it possible for one engaged in the affairs of the world, to be untainted with its blemishes, and remain as pure and intact as a drop of water on the lotus leaf. 17. How may one attain his excellence by dealing with others as with himself, and minding the goods of others as straws, and by remaining aloof from love. 18. Who is that great man that has got over the great ocean of the world, whose exemplary conduct (if followed) exempts one from misery. 19. What is the best of things that ought to be pursued after, and what is that fruit which is worth obtaining? Which is the best course of life in this inconsistent world. 20. Tell me the manner by which I may have a knowledge of the past and future events of the world, and the nature of the unsteady works of its creator.

21. Do so, that my mind which is as the moon in the sky of my heart, may be cleared of its impurities. 22. Tell me what thing is most delectable to the mind, and what most abominable to it; as also how this fickle and inconstant mind may get its fixedness like that of a rock. 23. Tell me what is that holy charm, which can remove this cholic pain of worldliness, that is attended with numberless troubles. 24. Tell me how can I entertain within my heart, the blossoms of the arbor of heavenly happiness, that sheds about it the coolness of the full-moon beams. 25. Oh ye good men! that are present and learned in divine knowledge, teach me so that I may obtain the fullness of my heart, and may not come to grief and sorrow any more. 26. My mind is devoid of that tranquility which results chiefly from holy happiness, and is perplexed with endless doubts, that disturb my peace as the dogs molest smaller animals in the desert.

QUERIES OF RÁMA. Ráma said:—I have no reliance on the durability of life, which is as transient as a drop of water that sticks to the point of a shaking leaf on a lofty tree; and as short as the cusp of the moon on Siva’s forehead. 2. I have no credit in the durability of life, which is transient as the swelling that take place in the pouch of a frog while it croaks in the meadow. Nor have I any trust in the company of friends, which are as dangerous as the treacherous snare of hunters. 3. What can we do under the misty cloud of error (overhanging our minds), and raising our tempestuous desires which flash forth in lightnings of ambition, and burst out in the thunder claps of selfishness? 4. How shall we save ourselves from the temptations of our desires dancing like peacocks (and displaying their gaudy train) around us; and from the bustle of the world breaking in upon us as thickly as the blossoms of the Kurchi plant. 5. How can we fly from the clutches of cruel Fate, who like a cat kills the living as poor mice, and falls unwearied and unexpectedly upon his prey in the twinkling of an eye.

6. What expedient, what course, what reflections, and what refuge must we have recourse to, in order to avoid the unknown tracks of future lives? 7. There is nothing so trifling in this earth below, or in the heavens above, which ye gifted men cannot raise to consequence. 8. How can this accursed, troublesome and vapid world, be relished by one unless he is infatuated by ignorance? 9. It is the fusion of desires, which produces the milky beverage of contentment, and fills the earth with delights as the spring adorns it with flowers. 10. Tell me O sage, how the mist of our desires, which darkens the moon of our intellects, is to be dispelled from our minds, so as to make it shine forth in its full brightness. 11. How are we to deal in this wilderness of the world, knowing well that it is destructive both of our present and future interest? 12. What man is there that moves about in this ocean of the earth, who has not to buffet in the waves of his passions and diseases, and the currents of his enjoyments and prosperity. 13. Tell me, O thou best of sages, how one may escape unburnt like mercury (in its chemical process), when fallen upon the furnace of the earth.

14. (How can one get rid of the world) when it is impossible for him to avoid dealing in it, in the same manner as it is not possible for aquatic animals to live without their native element. 15. Our good deeds even are not devoid (of their motives) of affection and hatred, pleasure and pain, similarly as no flame of fire is unaccompanied by its power of burning. 16. As it is not possible to restrain the mind from thinking on worldly matters, without the process of right reasoning, deign to communicate to me therefore, the dictates of sound reason for my guidance. 17. Give me the best instruction for warding off the miseries (of the world), either by my dealing with or renouncing (the affairs of life). 18. Tell me of that man of enlightened understanding who had attained to the highest state of holiness and tranquility of his mind of yore, and the deeds and manner by which he achieved the same. 19. Tell me good sir, how the saints (of old) fled out of the reach of misery, that I may learn the same for suppression of my erroneous conceptions.

20. Or if there be no such precept (as I am <in> need of) in existence, or being in esse, it is not to be revealed to me by any body. 21. And should I fail of myself (by intuition) to attain that highest state of tranquility, then I must remain inactive (as I am), and avoid my sense of egoism altogether. 22. I will refrain from eating and drinking even of water, and from clothing myself with apparels; I will cease from all my actions of bathing and making my offerings, as also from my diet and the like. 23. I will attend to no duty, nor care about prosperity or calamity. I will be free from all desires except that of the abandonment of this body. 24. I must remain aloof from all fears and sympathies, from selfish feelings and emulation, and continue to sit quietly as a figure in painting. 25. I will gradually do away with the inspiration and respiration of my breath and outward sensations; till I part with this trifle—the seat all of troubles—this the so called body.

26. I do not belong to this body, nor does it belong to me, nor is any thing else mine; I shall be null and void like the oil-less lamp, and abandon every thing with this body. 27. Válmíki said:—Then Ráma who was as lovely as the moon, and whose mind was well fraught with reasoning, became silent before the assemblage of the eminent men, as the peacock ceases from his screaming before the gathering clouds in awe.

PRAISES ON RÁMA’S SPEECH. Válmíki said:—When the prince Ráma (having his eyes resembling the petals of a lotus), had concluded his speech calculated to remove all ignorance from the mind. 2. All the men in the assembly had their eyes beaming forth with wonder, and the hairs on their bodies stood erect and pierced through their garments, as if wishing to hear the speech. 3. The assembly seemed for a moment to have lost their worldly desires in their eagerness after a stoic indifference, and to be rolling in the sea of nectar. 4. The audience remained (motionless) as the figures in a painting, being enraptured with internal delight at hearing the sweet words of the fortunate Ráma. 5. There were Vasishtha and Viswámitra with other sages, and the prime minister Jayanta and other counsellors (of the king) then seated in that assembly. 6. There were also king Dasaratha and his subordinate rajas, with the citizens and foreign delegates, the chieftains and princes, together with Bráhmans and men learned in the Vedas and divine knowledge. 7. These accompanied by their friends and allies, with the birds in the cages and the royal antelopes and steeds of sport (about the palace), listened to Ráma with fixed and mute attention.

8. There were likewise the queen Kausalyá and other ladies adorned with their best jewels, and seated at the windows, all mute and motionless. 9. Besides these the birds on the trees and creepers of the princely pleasure garden, were listening to Ráma without fluttering their wings or making any motion or sound. 10. There were the Siddhas and ærial beings, and the tribes of Gandharvas and Kinnaras, together with Nárada, Vyása and Pulapa the chiefs of sages (present at that place). 11. There were also some of the gods and chiefs of gods, Vidyádharas and the Nágas, who heard the speech of Ráma which was full of meaning and clearness. 12. As Ráma whose eyes were beautiful as the lotus, whose face was as lovely as the moon, and who likened the nocturnal luminary in the atmosphere of Raghu’s family, held his silence. 13. Flowers were cast upon him from heaven in showers by the hands of the divine personages with their loud cheers and blessings. 14. The people in the assembly were highly regaled with the sweet scent and beauty of these flowers of paradise fraught with humming bees in their cells.

15. These flowers when blown in the air by the breeze of heaven, appeared as they were clusters of stars, which after their fall brightened the ground with their beauty as with the beaming smiles of heavenly maids. 16. They appeared in the form of rain drops falling from the clouds, and blazing by the light of mute lightenings, and scattering about like balls of fresh butter. 17. They resembled also as particles of snow-balls, or as the grains of a necklace of pearls or as beams of moon-light, or as the little billows of the sea of milk, or like drops of ice-cream. 18. There were also borne by the loose and sweet winds of heaven, some lotuses with long filaments, and attended by clusters of bees humming and flying about them. 19. There were also to be seen heaps of ketaki and Kairava, Kunda and blue lotus flowers, falling and shining brightly among them. 20. These flowers covered the court hall and the roofs of houses and their courtyards. The men and women in the city raised their heads to behold them falling. 21. The sky was quite unclouded when the flowers fell incessantly from above. A sight like this that was never seen before struck the people with wonder.

22. The shower of flowers fell for quarter of an hour, but the Siddhas from whose hands they fell were unseen all the while. 23. The falling of the flowers having ceased after the assembly was covered with them, they heard the following words, coming to them from the divine personages in the sky. 24. “We have been travelling every where in whole bodies of the Siddhas from the beginning of creation; but never have we heard any where so sweet a speech as this. 25. “Such a magnanimous speech of indifference as has been just now spoken by Ráma—the moon of Raghu’s race, was never heard even by gods like ourselves. 26. “We account ourselves truly blessed to hear this highly charming and wondrous speech from the mouth of Ráma himself to-day. 27. “Indeed we are awakened and edified by attending diligently to this truly excellent speech, delivered by Ráma on the ambrosial bliss of asceticism, and leading to the highest felicity of men”.

ASSOCIATION OF AERIAL AND EARTHLY BEINGS. The Siddhas said:— It behoves us to hear the decision of the great sages, in reply to the holy sermon, already delivered by the chief of Raghu’s race. 2. Come forward you great chiefs of the sages, you Nárada, Vyása, Pulaha and all ye great sages, and be ready (to hear). 3. Let us descend to the full open court of Dasaratha, which is as bright as gold and free from stain, in the manner of bees alighting on the aureate and immaculate lotus. 4. Válmíki said:— So saying, the whole company of divine sages alighted themselves in that court from their aerial abode. 5. There Nárada the chief of sages, sat foremost playing on his lute, and in the midst was Vyása, with his dark blue complexion resembling a rainy cloud. 6. It was more over adorned with the presence of the chief sages Bhrigu, Angiras, Pulastya and others, with Chyavana, Uddálaka, Usira, Saraloman and many more about them. 7. Their garments of deer skins hang loosely down as they embraced one another. Their beads of rudráksha moved in one hand, and their water pots shook in the other.

8. Their bodies shed a lustre in the Court-hall, resembling the yellow light of the stars in the sky, and like the beams of so many suns blazing upon one another. 9. They appeared as a shower of moon beams or as a halo about the full moon, or as a circle about the orb of the sun out of its season. 10. They looked like a circlet of gems of varied colors, or like a belt of pearls of great lustre. 11. Vyása appeared at the place where he sat, to be as a dark cloud amidst the stars; and Nárada was beheld upon his seat as the white orb of the moon amongst the starry group. 12. Here Pulastya shone as Indra among the gods, and there Angirá blazed as the sun amidst the heavenly bodies. 13. On seeing the body of Siddhas descending from the sky on earth, the whole court of king Dasaratha rose up (to greet them). 14. There was a promiscuous assemblage of the aerial and earthly sages, whose commingled glory spread a lustre to the ten sides of the Court.

15. Some of them held bamboo sticks in their hands, and others had lotuses in theirs. Some had put the sacred grass in their crests, while others had inserted some gems to the braids of their hair. 16. Some had matted and tawny brown hairs on their heads, and others wore garlands of flowers on theirs. Some had strings of beads for their bracelets and others wore wristlets made of the jasmine flowers. 17. Some were clothed in tatters, and others wore garments made of bark, while there were others who wore raiments of silk. Some were girt with girdles of grass and skin about their waists, and others wore waist bands with pendant strings of pearl. 18. Vasishtha and Viswámitra honoured the aerials one by one; with respectful offerings and water and courteous address. 19. The great body of the etherials also honored Vasistha and Viswámitra in their turn, with water and offerings worthy of them and with polite speeches. 20. The king also honoured the gods and the body of the Siddhas, who in return greeted the monarch with inquiries about his welfare. 21. Then the heavenly and earthly saints interchanged their greetings with one another with cordial welcomes and gestures, and were all seated afterwards on seats made of the kusa grass.

22. They next honoured Ráma, who lay bowing before them, with gentle words and congratulations accompanied with shedding of flowers. 23. There were seated in that assembly the sages:—Viswámitra, Vasishtha, Váma Deva and the ministers of state. 24. There were also Nárada, the son of Brahmá, Vyása the greatest of sages, Maríchi, Durvása and Angirá. 25. There were Kratu, Pulastya, Pulaha, Saraloma, the great sage Vátsáyana, Bharadwája, Válmíki the great bard and sage. 26. There were also Uddálaka, Richika, Sarjati as well as Chyavana. 27. These and many others versed in the Vedas and their branches, and knowing all things worth knowing, were the leading members (of the assembly). 28. Then Nárada and others joined with Viswámitra and Vasishtha in addressing Ráma, who was sitting silent with his face turned downwards; and said:— 29. We admire the blest and graceful speech of the prince which is dignified with the spirit of stoicism that breathes through the whole of it. 30. It is full of thought, perspicuous, elegant, clear, dignified, sweet and worthy of noble minded men, by its lucid style and wants of faults. 31. Who is there that is not struck with admiration at the speech of Ráma? It is well expressive of his thoughts, correct in its diction plain and sweet and agreeable to all:

32. It is rare to find one man among a hundred who is so eloquent as to combine dignity and force with a clearness and sweetness, that may command the admiration of all. 33. Who has such a clear head as our prince, a head which is as penetrating as the best pointed arrow, and as fruitful and beauteous as the creeping plant. 34. He is truly a man whose intellectual light like that of Ráma’s, burns as the flame of a lamp within himself and enlightens all about him. 35. Man’s blood, flesh, and bones with other (parts of his body) serve as machines to supply him with sensations of external object; but there is no intelligence in them. 36. Life and death, old age and troubles, repeatedly overtake every man; but they are beasts who are so infatuated as never to think of these. 37. There is scarcely any man to be seen, who is of so clear an understanding as Ráma (the destroyer of his enemies), who is able to judge of the future by the past. 38. Ráma is the most excellent, admirable, useful, and well shaped person amongst men, as is the mango tree (in the vegetable world).

39. It is only to-day that we see that a man of Ráma’s age has acquired so much experience of the world, and such extraordinarily mature an understanding. 40. There are many such trees found growing in every place as are beautiful to see, easy of ascent, abundant in flowers and leaves; but there is no tree of paradise growing on earth. 41. There may grow in every forest, trees with goodly flowers and leaves; but the extraordinary and fair clove tree is not always to be met with. 42. Ráma has displayed the wonder of his knowledge, as the moon displays her cooling beams and good trees their clusters of blossoms, and as the flowers diffuse their fragrance all about. 43. It is very difficult to get the essence of true knowledge in this accursed world, which is constructed by the ungovernable and dominant predestination (of our past acts for misleading us to error and misery). 44. Those only are reckoned the best of men, and leaders of the good, who try their best to gain the essence of truth, and whose minds are fixed on glory as their best treasure.

45. We do not see any one in all this world, who is equal to Ráma in discrimination and magnanimity; nor shall there be one like him in future. This is our firm conviction. 46. If this speech of Ráma, which has filled every one here with admiration, fail to get its reply to the satisfaction of Ráma’s mind, it is certain that all of us here, must pass for senseless sages (on earth). YOGA VÁSISHTHA.

Liberation of Sukadeva. After Ráma had delivered his speech in an audible voice before the assembly, he was tenderly accosted by the sage Viswámitra who sat before him; saying:— 2. Ráma! that art the best of the most intelligent, and hast nothing more to learn besides all that thou hast come to know by thy nice observation. 3. Thou hast an understanding clear as the mirror by its own nature (reflecting every image within itself); and yet thy queries about the same, serve as the cleansing of the reflector (in order to refract its light to others). 4. Thou hast a mind like that of Suka—the son of the great Vyása, who knowing the knowable by intuition, was yet in need of some precepts for confirmation of his belief. 5. Ráma said: How was it sir, that Suka—the son of the great Vyása—who did not rest assured at first of his knowledge of the knowable, came to be settled in his belief afterwards. 6. Viswámitra answered: “Hear me relate to thee Ráma, the narrative of Sukadeva, whose case was exactly like thine, and the narration of which is a preventive of future births (in this world).”

7. There is the great Vyása sitting on his seat of gold by thy father’s side, swarthy in his complexion like a coal-black hill, but blazing as the burning sun (by his brilliancy). 8. His son was named Suka, a boy of great learning and wisdom, of a moon-like countenance, and a stature sedate as the sacrificial altar. 9. He reflected in his mind the vanity of worldly affairs like thyself, and became equally indifferent to all its concerns. 10. It was then that this great minded youth was led by his own discriminative understanding to a long inquiry after what was true, which he found out at last by his own investigation. 11. Having obtained the highest truth, he was still unsettled in his mind, and could not come to the belief of the certainty of his knowledge. 12. His mind grew indifferent to its perceptions of the transitory enjoyments of the world, and like the Chátaka thirsted only after the dew drops of heavenly bliss. 13. Once upon a time the clear sighted Suka finding his father the sage Krishna-Dwaipáyana—Vyása, sitting quietly alone by himself, he asked him with reverence; saying:—

14. Tell me, O sage! whence this commotion of the world had its rise, and how it may subside. What is its cause, how far is it to extend, and where is it to end? 15. The sage Vyása who knew the nature of the soul, being thus asked by his son, explained to him clearly all that was to be said (on the subject). 16. Suka thought that he already knew all this by his good understanding, and did not therefore think much of his father’s instructions. 17. Vyása understanding the thoughts of his son, replied to him saying that, he knew no better the true nature of these things. 18. But that there was a prince named Janaka in this land, who well knew the knowledge of the knowable, and from whom Suka could learn every thing. 19. Suka being thus directed by his father, repaired to the city of Videha at the foot of mount Sumeru, which was under the rule of Janaka. 20. The club-bearer (door keeper) informed the high minded Janaka of his coming, telling him that Suka the son of Vyása was waiting at the gate. 21. Janaka who understood that Suka had come to learn from him, gave no heed to the informant, but held his silence for seven days afterwards.

22. The prince then ordered him to be brought in the outer compound, where he had to remain in the vexation of his spirit for seven days more as before. 23. Suka was then commanded to enter the inner apartment, where he continued a week more without seeing the prince. 24. Here Janaka entertained the moon-faced Suka with abundance of eatables, perfumeries and lusty damsels. 25. But neither those vexations nor these entertainments could affect the tenor of Suka’s mind, which remained firm as a rock at the blasts of wind. 26. He remained there as the full moon (without any wane or increase), tranquil in his desires, silent and contented in his mind. 27. The prince Janaka having thus known the (unalterable) disposition of Suka’s mind, had him introduced to his presence, where seeing the complacency of his soul, he rose up and bowed down to him. 28. Janaka said: “You have accomplished to the full all your duties in this world, and obtained the object of your heart’s desire to its utmost extent; what is it that you now desire for which you are welcome at mine”. 29. Suka said: “Tell me my guide whence sprang all this bustle (of worldly life); and tell me also how it may soon come to its subsidence.”

30. Viswámitra said: Being thus asked by Suka, Janaka spoke to him the same things which he had learned from his great souled father. 31. Suka then said: “All this I have come to know long before by my own intuition, and then from the speech of my father in answer to my query. 32. “You sir, who are the most eloquent of all, have spoken to the same purport, and the same is found to be the true sense of the Sástras. 33. “That the world is a creation of volition, and loses itself with the absence of our desires; and that it is an accursed and unsubstantial world after all, is the conclusion arrived at by all sages. 34. “Now tell me truly you long armed prince, what you think this world to be (whether a reality or unreality); that my mind may be set at rest by you from its wandering all about the world (in search of truth).” 35. Janaka replied: “There is nothing more certain, O sage! than what you have known by yourself and heard from your father. 36. “There is but one undivided intelligent spirit known as the universal soul and nothing besides; it becomes confined by its desires, and freed by its want of them.

37. “You have truly come to the knowledge of the knowable, whereby your great soul has desisted from its attachment to objects of enjoyment and vision. 38. “You must be a hero to have overcome your desire in the lengthening chain of attractive enjoyments from your early youth. What more do you want to hear? 39. “Even your father, with all his learning in every science, and devotedness to austerities, has not arrived to the state of perfection like you. 40. “I am a pupil of Vyása, and you are his son; but you are greater than both of us, by your abandonment of the taste for the enjoyments of life. 41. “You have obtained whatever is obtainable by the comprehensiveness of your mind; and as you take no interest in the outer and visible world, you are liberated from it, and have nothing to doubt of.” 42. Being thus advised by the magnanimous Janaka, Suka remained silent with his mind fixed in the purely supreme object. 43. Then being devoid of sorrow and fear, and released from all efforts, exertions and doubts, he repaired to a peaceful summit of the mount Meru to obtain his final absorption.

44. There he passed ten thousands of rains in a state of unalterable meditation, till at last he broke his mortal coil, and was extinguished in the supreme soul like a lamp without oil. 45. Thus purified from the stain of transmigration by abstaining from earthly desires, the great souled Suka sank into the holy state of the Supreme Spirit, as a drop of water mixes with the waters or merges into the depth of the ocean.

SPEECH OF VISWÁMITRA. Viswámitra said:— Ráma! it now becomes you to have your mind properly purified from its doubts, as it was done in the case of the son of Vyása. 2. You see, O great sages! how perfectly the knowable is known to Ráma, whose good understanding has learnt to feel a distaste for worldly enjoyments, as if they were diseases unto him. 3. You well know that the fixed principle in the mind of one knowing the knowable, is to have an aversion to all the enjoyments of life. 4. It is the desire of fruition that chains down a man fastly to the earth; but the knowledge of the frailties here serves to dispel his darkness. 5. Know Ráma that it is the curtailing of desires which the wise call liberty, and the fastening of our desires to earthly objects, is what is termed our confinement here. 6. Spiritual knowledge is easily obtainable by most men here, but a distaste to (pleasurable) objects is hard to be had (however painful it is to procure them). 7. He who fully comprehends a thing, is said to know it, and who so knows what is knowable, is called a learned man; no earthly enjoyments can be delectable to such high minded men.

8. The mind that has no zest for earthly pleasures, except the glory of disinterested deeds, is said to be liberated even in the present life. 9. As there grows no vegetable in a sterile soil, so there grows no disinclination to worldliness, until one comes to know the knowable reality (i.e. to say: neither the godly can be worldly, nor the worldly be godly). 10. Hence know this supporter of Raghu’s race to have verily known the knowable, which has made him disgusted with his princely enjoyments. 11. I tell you great sages that, whatever Ráma has come to know by his intuition, requires to be confirmed by Vasishtha for the tranquility of his mind. 12. It is only a reliance in the Unity, that Ráma now requires for his repose, just as the beauty of autumn depends on the clearness of the firmament. 13. Let the venerable Vasishtha then reason with the high minded Ráma, and restore the peace of his mind. 14. For he is the master and family preceptor of the whole race of the Raghus; besides he is all knowing and all seeing; and has a clear insight (into all things) of the three times (present, past and future).

15. Then addressing himself to Vasishtha he said:—you well remember sir, the instruction given us of old, for pacifying our mutual enmity, and promoting the welfare of the high minded sages. 16. When our lord the lotus-born Brahmá, seated on the table land of Nishadha mountain, and shaded by the Sarala trees, delivered his wise lectures to us and the sages. 17. It is by means of that knowledge of liberation that our worldly desires are dispelled like the darkness of night by sun-beams. 18. Please now, O Bráhman, to communicate that rational knowledge of the knowable to your pupil Ráma, whereby he may gain the peace of his mind. 19. It will be no difficult task for you to teach the spotless Ráma, whose mirror-like mind is quite clear to take the reflection. 20. The wisdom of the holy, their learning of the Sástras, and the scholarship of the learned, are then only praiseworthy, when they are communicated to a good student, and those who are disgusted with the world. 21. But instruction given to one who is no student nor disgusted with the world, becomes as polluted as milk put in a hide vessel.

22. Again the instruction imparted by one devoid of passions and affections, fear and anger, pride and sin, serves to infuse tranquility into the mind. 23. At these words of Viswámitra the son of Gadhi, the assembled sages Vyása, Nárada and others, honoured his saying with the exclamation “bravo”, “well said” &c. 24. Then the venerable Vasishtha brilliant as Brahmá his father, and seated by the side of the king, spoke in reply: 25. O sage, I will perform without fail, what you have commanded me to do, for who, though mighty, can refuse to perform the behests of the good and wise? 26. I will destroy the mental darkness of the princes Ráma and others by the light of knowledge, as we dispel the gloom of night by the light of a lamp. 27. I well remember the instructions which were given of yore by the lotus-born Brahmá on the Nishadha mountain, for dispelling the errors of the world. 28. Having said so, the high-minded Vasishtha made up his mind as one girds up his loins, to deliver his lecture to Ráma for dispelling his ignorance, and showing him the state of supreme felicity.

ON THE REPEATED CREATIONS OF THE WORLD. Vasishtha said:— “I will now expound to you Ráma! the knowledge that was imparted of old by our lord the lotus-born (Brahmá), after creation of the world, for the peace of mankind.” 2. Ráma said:—I know sir, you will expound to me the subject of liberation in full length; but remove first my fallacy about the frailty of this world. 3. And how it was that, the great sage Vyása—the father and guide of Suka, did not attain to disembodied emancipation (after his death) with all his omniscience, while his son did so. 4. Vasishtha said:—(Hear me Ráma), there is no counting of the atoms proceeding from the spirit and forming the three worlds both before and after the birth of the glorious sun. 5. There is no body even who can count the millions of orbs which at present form the three worlds. 6. Nor can any one say by calculation, what numbers of creation will rise from the (unlimited) ocean of divine existence, like its interminable waves (for ever). 7. Ráma said:—It is needless to talk of worlds gone by or yet to come; say what you will of the present (state of existence).

8. Vasishtha said:—This world consists of brute, human and heavenly beings, whose lives when they are said to perish in any part of it are really existent in the same part. 9. The mind is called to be ever-fluctuating, and gives rise to (all things in) the three worlds in itself. It resides in vacuity in the form of the heart, and the increate (God) also residing in the vacuous soul (gives the mind the power to realize the latent ideas of the soul). 10. The millions of beings that are dead, those that are dying and will die hereafter, are all to be reborn here according to the different desires in their minds. 11. The external world appearing as a reality, is in truth but a creation of our desires; it is an ideal castle in the air, and a magic view spread before us. 12. It is as false as an earthquake in a fit of delirium, as a hobgoblin that is shown to terrify children, as a string of pearls in the clear firmament, and as the moving trees on the bank to a passenger in the boat.

13. It is an illusion as the phantom of a city in a dream, and as untrue as the imagination of a flower growing in the air. The unreality of the world best appears to one at the point of and after his death. 14. But this knowledge of (the unreality of the world) becomes darkened upon one’s being reborn on earth, when the shadow of this world falls again on the mirror of his sentient soul. 15. Thus there is a struggle for repeated births and deaths here, and a fancy for the next world after one’s death. 16. After one’s shuffling off his body, he assumes another and then another form, and thus the world is as unstable as a stool made of plantain leaves and its coatings. 17. The dead have no sensation of the earth and other elementary bodies, nor of the course of the world; but they fall again to these errors upon their being reborn here. 18. There is an interminable ignorance resembling an immense river enveloping the face of creation, and breaking into streamlets of unfordable ignorance. 19. The Divinity like a sea shoots forth in the various waves of creation, which rise incessantly and plentifully one after the other.

20. All beings here are but the waves of this sea, of which some are alike to one another in their minds and natures, while others are half alike, and some quite different from the rest. <21.> I reckon yonder sagely Vyása as one of the thirty two of these waves, on account of his vast knowledge, and good looking appearance. 22. There were twelve of them possessed of a lesser understanding, they were the patriarchs of men, and endued with equal energy. Ten of them were men of subdued spirits, and the rest were adepts in their family duties. 23. There will be born again other Vyásas and Válmíkis, and likewise some other Bhrigus and Angirás, as well as other Pulastyas and others in different forms. 24. All other men, Asuras and gods with all their hosts are repeatedly born and destroyed either in their former or different shapes. 25. Like this there are seventy two Tretá cycles in a Kalpa age of Brahmá, some of which have passed by and others to follow. Thus will there be other people like those that have gone by, and as I understand, another Ráma and Vasishtha like ourselves (by the eternal rotation of ideas in the Divine mind).

26. There have been ten successive incarnations of this Vyása, who has done such wondrous acts, and is famed for his vast knowledge. 27. Myself and Válmíki have been contemporaries many a time, as also born in different ages and very many times. 28. We have been many times, and there were others also like myself, and so was I born also in many forms (in many ages). 29. This Vyása will again be born eight times hereafter, and again will he write his Mahábhárata and the Purána histories. 30. He having divided the Vedas and described the acts of Bhárata’s race (in the Mahábhárata), and established the knowledge of Brahm (in the Vedánta), is to attain to his disembodied liberation (after his final termination). 31. This Vyása who is devoid of fear and sorrow, and has become tranquil and emancipate in himself after subduing his mind and discarding the worldly desires is said to be liberated even in his present life time. 32. The living emancipate may sometimes be associated by his relatives and estates, his acts and duties, his knowledge and wisdom, and all his exertions like other men’s, or he may forsake them all at once.

33. These beings are either reborn a hundred times in some age or never at all (as in the case of divine incarnations), and depending on the inscrutable will (Máyá) of God. 34. There souls undergo the like changes by repetition, as a bushel of grain, which is collected to be sown repeatedly, and to be reaped again and again (in the same or some other field). 35. As the sea heaves its incessant surges of different shapes, so are all beings born incessantly in various forms in the vast ocean of time. 36. The wise man who is liberated in his life time, lives with his internal belief (of God) in a state of tranquility, without any doubt in his mind, and quite content with the ambrosia of equanimity.

PRAISE OF ACTS AND EXERTIONS. Vasishtha said:— I know gentle Ráma that, liberation of the soul, whether in its embodied or disembodied state is both alike, as the sea-water and its waves are the same liquid substance. 2. The liberation whether of embodied or disembodied spirits, consists in their detachment from the objects of sense: hence the soul unattached to sensual gratification, is (said to be) liberated, having no idea of sensible objects. 3. And though we see before us the living liberated sage (Vyása) as an embodied person, yet we have no doubt of the detachment of his inward soul from the (mortal coil of his) body. 4. The difference between the embodied and disembodied souls, when they are equally enlightened and liberated, is like that of the sea-water in its calm and billowy states. 5. There is no more difference between bodily and unembodied liberation than there is betwixt the air in motion and at rest. 6. Liberation whether with or without the body, is productive of unselfishness; we have lost our selfishness ever since we have come to the knowledge of an undivided unity (of the soul).

7. Now therefore attend to the true doctrine that I am going to deliver to you, which will be a jewel to your ears as it will dispel the darkness of ignorance (from your mind). 8. Know, O son of Raghu, that every thing in this world is obtainable by our efforts being properly employed (to our purposes). 9. This (knowledge of truth) rises as the moon (in the human mind), and sheds its cooling and delightsome influence to the heart, that there is no other way to gain the fruits of our exertions but by our efforts. 10. We evidently see the results of the exercise of our efforts, and nothing coming out from what the dull and mistaken call as chance or fate. 11. An effort when directed according to the counsel and conduct of the good in the exercise of the action of the body and mind, it is attended with success, otherwise it is as vain as the freak of a madman. 12. Thus he who wishes to acquire riches, and perseveres in its acquisition, surely succeeds in gaining them; or else he stops short in the midway. 13. It was by means of the exertion of their efforts that some particular persons have obtained the paramount dominion of Indra over the three worlds.

14. It is by the exertion of one’s efforts that he attains to the rank of the lotus-born (Brahmá); and some even gain the inward joy of the state of Brahm by it. 15. It was by virtue of his self-exertion that some body has become the best among men, even as he who bears the ensign of the eagle (Vishnu among the gods). 16. It was by the exertion of one’s efforts that some persons succeeded to obtain the form of Siva accompanied by his female power, and adorned by the semi-circle of the moon in his crest. 17. Know our actions to be of two kinds namely, those of former and present lives: and that acts of the <present> life generally supersede those of the past. 18. Know also that energy joined with constant practice, and supported by wisdom and some stimulating force, is able to break down the mount of Meru, and the demerits of acts in the former lives of men. 19. The exertions of a man proceeding from his good efforts and countenanced by the law, lead to his success, or else they either go for nothing or turn to his disadvantage.

20. So a man laid up in a state of disability, is unable to twist his fingers in order to hold a little water in the hollow of his palm for drink: while there is another who (by his well directed efforts) gets the possession of seas and islands, mountains and cities for himself, supports all his dependents and relations, and does not think this earth too great for him.

NECESSITY OF ACTIVITY. Vasishtha said:— It is the will or inclination that is the prime instrument of all actions done even according to the rules of law and sástras, as it is the reflection of light that gives various hues to things. 2. Whoever wishes to do anything desirable to him by unlawful acts, it becomes as fruitless as the endeavours of a madman. 3. As you try so you get both of good and evil: and fortune and exertion are the joint causes of acts according to fatalists. 4. Human exertions are either lawful or unlawful; the former leading to success, and the latter to dangerous consequences. 5. Fortune and exertions contend with each other like two rams of unequal strength, wherein the mightier overcomes the other. 6. Therefore should man apply himself diligently (to his duties), and employ his skill and promptness after them in such a way, as his to-day may overcome the morrow (i.e., do the works of to-morrow to-day). 7. When two unequal forces (of two persons) contend with one another like two rams, the stronger force whether of this or that man, overcomes the other. 8. When one incurs a failure or danger even by his lawful exertions, he should know it to be the result of his misapplied exertions.

9. One by his utmost exertion in the right way, as by the gnashing of his teeth (and the like), can overcome his misfortune and so does his bad luck sometimes baffle his exertions. 10. When one finds himself to be led astray by the demerit of his acts of a former state of existence, he must attempt to subdue the same by greater energy of his present state. 11. So far should one diligently endeavour to exercise his exertions, as he may be able to beat down the evils resulting from his bad fortune (or predestination). 12. The evils of bad fortune are undoubtedly removed by the meritorious acts of the present life, as the bad consequence of an act of yesterday is averted by its remedy of today. 13. Having trampled over an unfavorable fortune by one’s reliance on his continuous energy, he must attempt to secure to himself every good for his well-being in his present life. 14. Know that tranquility is not to be found by the effortlessness of dull ass-like men; it is the lawful energy of men which is said to secure his welfare in both worlds.

15. And that one should make his way out of the pit of this world by force of his energy and diligence, just as the lion breaks out from his cage. 16. One must ponder in himself every day that his body is subject to corruption, his beastly acts must be kept backward and man like acts put forward. 17. It is our good exertions that are attended by good results as the bad ones are followed by bad consequences. Chance is a mere meaningless word. 18. Do not make your bloom of youth useless as ashes by sitting idly at home and enjoying the bliss of the harem like a worm in the sore. 19. He who has no reliance on present objects, but depends upon suppositions of the past, is as a man flying for fear of his own hands supposing them as snakes. 20. It is a pleasure to men of perverted understandings to think themselves guided by their fortunes, prosperity flies away far off from such men who depend on their fortunes. 21. Therefore let a man diligently apply himself first to (the cultivation of) his reason, and then investigate into the works of abstruse spiritual knowledge.

22. Those who do not set their hearts to acts according to the dictates of the sástras, but exert themselves otherwise to gain (their ends), are accursed as mad men for their vain attempts. 23. Thinking there is no end of exertions one declines to take the pains (after anything), and says that, no pains can bring out a gem from a stone (or oil from water). 24. Know that there is a limitation both of human lot and exertion, as of all other things as a pot or picture having a (limited capacity and length). 25. And that it is by means of good conduct derived from best precepts and the company of the good, that one succeeds to his object, and a disposition that breaks loose of these (bounds), is sure to fall to the contrary (extreme of) ruin. 26. Again any man who conducts himself in the right course of action, never fails in his attempts at any time. 27. Some among the best of men, who had been reduced to misery by their poverty and helplessness, have again risen to the eminence of Indra by exertion of their manhood.

28. By learning the Sástras well from boyhood, by keeping company with the good, and by possession of good qualities, as also by diligent application, a man is sure to gain his object. 29. It has been seen, known, heard, and experienced (by us) that acts are rewarded with success; and they are dull-headed who think of obtaining it from fortune or by chance. 30. Had there not been the folly of idleness in this world, what man would fail either to be rich or learned? It is by reason of idleness that this earth is filled to its utmost limit of the sea with indigent and beastly men. 31. Let a man after passing his childhood, and getting rid of its false and idle playfulness and when he has attained the age of youthful vigour, apply himself diligently to the company of wise men, and to the cultivation of his understanding by a knowledge of the Sástras and their meanings, and by scanning well his own faults and qualities. 32. Válmíki said:—After the sage had said these sayings, the day passed away, and the sages went to bathe after taking leave of the assembly, where they joined again with the rising beams of the sun dispelling the gloom of night.

REFUTATION OF FATALISM. Vasishtha resumed saying:— Now fate being no other than the result of our actions of the former state of our existence, it is possible to leave it at a distance, and to extricate one’s self (from its fetters) by betaking himself to good company and study of moral Sástras. 2. Whatever one attempts to do, he readily meets with its reward: this being the effect of exertion. Fate is no other but the same thing. 3. Men laboring hard, are heard to exclaim “O how painful it is”: so men suffering under fate cry out “O hard is fate!” (so the one is as bad as the other). 4. Thus then fate being no other than a name for our past actions, it is as easily overcome (by present acts) as a boy (is subdued) by an adult youth. 5. As some bad conduct of yesterday is corrected by proper behaviour of the present day, so the anterior fate is removed by (posterior) acts. 6. Those carnal minded libertines who do not try the means (of reforming their fate), but depend upon the favor of fortune, are perverted in their nature and marked for misery.

7. Thus if the acts of manliness are capable of forefending one’s misfortunes, it must be acknowledged that manliness which destroys the other, is the mightier of the two. 8. As of two fruits growing on the same fore-stalk, the one is found to be empty within and the other full of juice, so the fruit of fate is rendered abortive by that of manliness. 9. Seeing the decay of the best things in the world, we must own the predominant power of the cause of this decay. 10. Like two rams our fate and exertions are fighting with one another, wherein the victory is always on the side of the stronger. 11. In the case of the royal elephant’s taking up a beggar boy for being made the ruler (of a country), its cause is to be attributed more to the vote of the country-men and citizens (than to chance or fortune). 12. As a man takes his food and grinds it under his teeth, so is one (depending on fate) crushed by the stronger party relying on his exertions. 13. Inferior servants are thus employed like clods of earth by their more active masters in any work they like.

14. Silly and impotent men seeing the strong thriving by their exertions whether apparent or unseen, are apt to attribute it to their good fortune (instead of their diligence). 15. The strong efforts of men truly constitute their presiding fortune, and these two are viewed alike by the wise. 16. In the case of the (aforesaid) beggar boy’s installation to the ruling and protection of the people of a realm, the unanimous concurrence of the law and ministers, of the elephant and citizens (is to be taken as the chief cause). 17. Should the beggar boy be ever elected for a ruler by the royal elephant itself (without the assent of men), in that case it is to be attributed to the boy’s good fortune only (because there was no sensible exertion on his side). 18. Present acts destroy those of the past life and so also the vice-versa comes to pass; but the exertions of a man are undoubtedly successful (at all times). 19. Of these two powers that of the present state is manifestly superior to the other; hence it is as possible to overcome the past by the present, as to lick a boy by an adult.

20. As a hail shower lays waste the cultivation of a whole year, so also doth the predominant fate sometimes overpower the attempts of this life. 21. However it does not behoove us to be sorry at the loss of our long earned treasure (as of the harvest), for what avails our sorrow at what is beyond our control. 22. If I should sorrow for what I have not the power to prevent, I must then weep all the days of my life because I am not to be spared by death. 23. All our acts are subject to their proper time and place, and to the modes of their operation and combination according to the course of nature; hence it is that the more diligent are the most successful (everywhere). 24. We ought therefore to rely in our exertions and clearness of understanding by the help of Sástras and association with the wise, for fording over the ocean of this world. 25. Actions of the past and present lives are the two fruit trees growing in the garden of humanity; of which the one that is cultivated best, thrives and fructifies the most.

26. He who is unable to overcome his false fate by his best exertions (in this life), is no better than an ignorant beast that has no power over its pain or pleasure. 27. He who thinks of going to heaven or hell by the will of the Maker, is also a slave to destiny and no better than a beast. 28. The man of a noble mind and one employed in acts of goodness, breaks off from the errors of the world as a lion from its cage. 29. Those who vainly imagine themselves to be led about by some (supernatural power), and so slight their necessary duties, are to be shunned at a distance as the mean and base. 30. There are thousands of acts that are attended with gain or loss to their doers; but it is the duty of man to do what is right whether they are pleasant or painful. 31. He who does not transgress the bounds of law, nor forsake the duties (of his race), is attended by every blessing abundant as the pearls in the sea. 32. Devoted diligence in acts leading to one’s object, is termed to be his manliness by the wise; and that being guided by the Sástra leads to his success.

33. An act accompanied by exertion, is of itself the accomplisher of one’s object, and the company of the wise and study of good books serve to raise a man by brightening his understanding. 34. The infinite happiness or a tranquil spirit is known as the Summum bonum by the wise; and those good works are fit for study which lead to that state. 35. The acts of our former lives constitute what we call our destiny, and they return to us from the region of the gods, for our good in both worlds. 36. We blame the fate which is a creation of the fancy of the ignorant, who by their adoration of the same come to meet their destruction. 37. One benefits himself always by his activity in both worlds, as his good acts of to-day gives a grace to those of yesterday. 38. Whoso therefore applies himself with diligence to his acts, reaps their fruits like that of an Amalaki in his palm, which though it is within his grasp, yet it could not be obtained without the cost of some labour:

39. It is the ignorant only that depart from the beaten path, and fall into the error of fatalism. Therefore give up that false faith in an unreal fate, which is a mere creation of the imagination and devoid of any cause or effect; and apply to your manly exertions. 40. The fruit of following the Sástras and observing the good customs and local usages, is long known (to be wholesome), as exciting the heart and the exertion of the limbs to action. This it is what they called “manly activity.” 41. All wise men after discussion of the subject of fate and acts, have applied themselves to activity by utter rejection of fatality, and accomplished their ends by attendance on the good and wise. 42. Knowing the efficacy of activity, every one should betake himself to his personal exertions, and attain to his highest perfection by attending to good Sástras and the wise counsels of learned men. 43. And knowing the bondage of our births to be full of pain, let people strive for the exercise of their activities, and obtain the true and sweet blessing of tranquility by their attendance on the wise.

ON THE NECESSITY OF ACTIVITY. Having obtained a body free from disease and a mind free from trouble, one should try to know the knowable to prevent his further birth (in this world). 2. Whoso wishes to avert his destiny by means of his activity, obtains the acme of his wishes both in this world as well as in the next. 3. But whoever is averse to assiduity and relies in his luck, he is an enemy to his own soul, and sacrifices all his virtues, riches and hopes (to his idleness). 4. It is the exercise of our sensuous and mental faculties as also of the members of the body, which are the different modes of our exertions, that leads us to success. 5. Our perceptions are the cause of our mental activity, and this actuates the body to action, whereby we obtain the fruits of our desire. 6. In whatever case there is some act (enjoined in the Sástra), it points us to our exertions and never to destiny. Even children are well aware of this. 7. It was by the exercise of their exertions that Divaspati (Jupiter) became the lord of gods, and Sukra obtained the preceptorship of demons.

8. There have been many weak, poor and miserable men, who have by means of their manly exertions become equal to Indra himself. 9. So also there have been many great men on earth, who after enjoyment of a great many extraordinary things and luxuries here, have become guests in hell for want of the exercise of their manly virtues. 10. In this manner have all beings evaded the effects of their various states of want and opulence by means of their own exertions (in the right way). 11. There are three fold benefits derived from the study of books, from lectures of a preceptor, and from one’s own industry, all of which are attendant on our exertions and not destiny. 12. This is the long and short of all the Sástras, that diligence preserves our minds from all evils, by employing them to whatever is good and right. 13. To apply with diligence to whatever is excellent, not low or mean and not liable to loss or decay, is the precept of parents and preceptors to their sons and pupils. 14. I get the immediate fruit of my labour in proportion to my exertion: hence I say, I enjoy the fruit of my labour and not of fortune.

15. Activity gives us success and it is this that elevates the intelligent. But men of little understandings rely only in fortune in their miserable state. 16. We have ocular evidence (of the efficacy) of activity every day, in the instances of men travelling in distant countries (for the sake of gain). 17. He that eats becomes satiate and not who starves: so he who walks is said to proceed and not one who rests: and in like manner whoso speaks is called a speaker and not the silent man: thus action makes the man. 18. Wise men escape from great difficulties by means of their exertions; but not so the mistaken fatalist by his fruitless inertness. 19. Whoso acts in any manner, gets his reward accordingly; but the restive man has nothing to expect anywhere. 20. By well directed industry a man reaps the best reward, as he meets with its reverse by his misapplied labour: think upon this O Ráma! and do as you like. 21. The reward of industry which a man meets with sooner or later at any time or place, the same is said by the wise to be his fortune.

22. No one can see his fortune, nor has any body ever seen the same, nor is there such a thing to be found in any world: it is but the merit of our acts here which they place in the other world. 23. A man is born on earth to grow up and decay in his time, and no destiny is seen therein in the same way as his childhood, youth and old age. 24. One’s application to diligence and action for the attainment of an object, is known by the term exertion by the wise, whereby all things are accomplished (and which is no destiny). 25. One’s going from one place to another, his holding a thing in the hand, and the movement of his limbs, are all the acts of his exertion and not his destiny. 26. There is another kind of propensity to acts productive of evil; this sort of action is likened to the attempt of a mad man which yields no good. 27. Men of acute understandings raise themselves to elevation, by their association with the virtuous, study of good works and active employment to duties tending to their own good.

28. The boundless joy arising from equanimity, is said to constitute one’s Summum bonum (upon earth). This blessing also results from a man’s diligent application to the Sástras (and not from his destiny). 29. It is the understanding that leads to the knowledge of the Sástras, as it is the other that tends to our right understanding of things. Just so does the lotus serve to beautify a lake, as it is the lake which lends its grace to the lotus. (i.e. They serve mutually to assist each other). 30. It is also by virtue of one’s deep study and good company in youth, that a man attains his desirable objects afterwards (which are the results of his exertions). 31. It was by means of his activity that Vishnu had conquered the demons, and established the order of the world. It was by this that he created the worlds none of which could be the work of fate. 32. Now, O lord of Raghu’s race! employ your efforts to the exertion of your manly activities in such a way in this earth, that you may live free from fear of being bitten by the serpentine people in this arbor of the world (i.e. crush the malice of your enemies).