yvpart-2
SEARCH SELF-EFFORT
VISVAMITRA
The surest sign of a man of the highest wisdom is that he is unattracted by the pleasures of the world, for in him even the subtle tendencies have ceased. When these tendencies are strong, there is bondage; when they have ceased, there is liberation. He is truly a liberated sage who by nature is not swayed by sense pleasure, without the motivation of fame or other incentives.
VASISTHA
countless have been the universes that have come into being and that have been dissolved. In fact, even the countless universes that exist at this moment are impossible to conceive of. All this can immediately be realised in one's own heart, for these universes are the creation of the desires that arise in the heart, like castles built in the air.
The living being conjures up this world in his heart and while he is alive he strengthens this illusion; when he passes away he conjures up the world beyond and experiences it —thus there arise worlds within worlds just as there are layers within layers in a plantain stem.
Neither the world of matter nor the modes of creation are truly real; yet
the living and the dead think and feel they are real. Ignorance of this truth keeps up the appearance.
O Rama *, in this cosmic ocean of existence, beings arise here and there who are equal to others, and others who are different from yet others.
This Vedavyasa* is the twenty- third in this stream of creation. He and other sages will attain embodiment and disembodiment again and again. In some they will be equal to others and in others unequal. In this embodiment Vedavyasa* is indeed a liberated sage. Such liberated sages also are embodied countless times and they assume relations with others — and sometimes they are equal to others and sometimes unequal in their learning, behaviour, etc.
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Self-effort
11:4, 5
VASISTHA* continued:
O Rama*, even as, whether there are waves or no waves, water remains water, even so whatever be the external appearance of the liberated sage, his wisdom remains unchanged. The difference is only in the eyes of the ignorant spectator.
In this world whatever is gained is gained only by self- effort; where failure is encountered it is seen that there has been slackness in the effort. This is obvious; but what is called fate is fictitious and is not seen.
Self-effort, Rama*, is that mental, verbal and physical action which is in accordance with the instructions of a holy person well versed in the scriptures. It is only by such effort that Indra became king of heaven, that Brahma* became the creator, and the other deities earned their place.
Self-effort is of two categories: that of past births and that of this birth which effectively counteracts the[past births] former. Fate is none other than self-effort of a past incarnation. There is constant conflict between these two in this incarnation; and that which is more powerful triumphs.
Self-effort which is not in accord with the scriptures is motivated by delusion. When there is obstruction in the fruition of self-effort one should examine it to see if there is such deluded action, and if there is it should be immediately corrected.
There is no power greater than right action in the present. /awareness
Hence, one should take recourse to self- effort, grinding one's teeth, and one should overcome evil by good and fate by present effort.The lazy man is worse than a donkey. One should never yield to laziness but strive to attain liberation, seeing that life is ebbing away every moment. One should not revel in the filth known as sense-pleasures as a worm revels in pus.
One who says "Fate is directing me to do this" is brainless, and the goddess of fortune abandons him. Hence, by self- effort acquire wisdom and then realise that this self- effort is not without its own end, in the direct realisation of the truth.
If this dreadful source of evil named laziness is not found on earth, who will ever be illiterate and poor? It is because laziness is found on earth that people live life of animals, miserable and poverty-stricken.
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VASISTHA*
the second day's discourse:
IT.6
As is the effort so is the fruit, O Rama*: this is the meaning of self- effort, and it is also known as fate (divine).
When afflicted by suffering people cry "Alas, what tragedy" or "Alas, look at my fate", both of which mean the same thing. What is called fate or divine will is nothing other than the action or self-effort of the past. The present is infinitely more potent than the past. They indeed are fools who are satisfied with the fruits of their past effort (which they regard as divine will) and do not engage themselves in self- effort now./BORN-RICH-POWERFUL AND LAZY
present self-effort sometimes thwarted by fate (or divine will), means you should understand that the present self-effort is weak. A weak and dull-witted man sees the hand of providence when he is confronted by a strong and powerful adversary and succumbs to him.
Sometimes it happens that without effort someone makes a great gain: for example, the state elephant chooses (in accordance with an ancient practice) a mendicant as the ruler of a country whose king suddenly died without leaving an heir" this is certainly neither an accident nor some kind of divine act, but the fruit of the mendicant's self- effort in the past birth.
Sometimes it happens that a fanner's efforts are made fruitless by a hailstorm: surely, the hailstorm's own power was greater than the farmer's effort and the farmer should put forth greater effort now. He should not grieve over the inevitable loss. If such grief is justified, why should he not weep daily over the inevitability of death?
The wise man should of course know what is capable of attainment by self- effort and what is not. It is, however, ignorance to attribute all this to an outside agency and to say that "God sends me to heaven or to hell" or that "an outside agency makes me do this or that" — such an ignorant person should be shunned.
One should free oneself from likes and dislikes and engage oneself in righteous self- effort and reach the supreme truth, knowing that self- effort alone is another name for divine will. We only ridicule the fatalist. That alone is self- effort which springs from right under- standing which manifests in one's heart which has been exposed to the teachings of the scriptures and the conduct of holy ones.
11:7, 8
VASISTHA * continued: -
one should, with a body free from illness and mind free from distress, pursue self-knowledge so that he is not born again here. Such self-effort has a threefold root and therefore threefold fruit[rather side-effect] — an inner awakening in the intelligence, a decision in the mind and the physical action.
Self-effort is based on these three — knowledge of scriptures, instructions of the preceptor and one's own effort. Fate (or divine dispensation) does not enter here.
Hence, he who desires salvation should divert the impure mind to pure endeavor by persistent effort — this is the very essence of all scriptures. The Holy ones emphasise: persistently tread the path that leads to the eternal good. And the wise seeker knows: the fruit of my endeavors will be commensurate with the intensity of my self-effort and neither fate nor a god can ordain it otherwise.
Indeed, such self-effort alone is responsible for whatever man gets here; when he is sunk in unhappiness, to console him people suggest that it is his fate. This is obvious: one goes abroad, one appeases one's hunger, by undertaking a journey and by eating
food — not on account of a fate. No one has seen such a fate or a god, but everyone has experienced how an action (good or evil) leads to a result (good or evil).
Hence, right from one's childhood one should endeavor to promote one's true good (salvation) by a keen intelligent study of the scriptures, by having the company of the holy ones and by right self- effort.
Fate or divine dispensation is merely a convention which has come to be regarded as truth by being repeatedly declared to be true. If this god or fate is truly the ordainer of everything in this world, of what meaning is any action (even like bathing, speaking or giving), and whom should one teach at all? No. In this world, except a corpse, everything is active and such activity yields its appropriate result. No one has ever realised the existence of a fate or divine dispensation.
this sage Visvamitra* became a Brahma-Rsi* by self-effort; all of us have attained self-knowledge by self-effort alone. Hence, renounce fatalism and apply yourself to self- effort.
tendencies
In the mind of man are numerous latent tendencies, and these tendencies give rise to various actions — physical, verbal and mental. Surely, one's actions are in strict accordance with these tendencies, it cannot be otherwise. Such is the course of action: action is non-different from the most potent among latent tendencies, and these tendencies are non- different from the mind and the man is non- different from the mind! One cannot definitely determine whether categories like mind, latent tendencies,action and fate (daivam*) are real or unreal: hence, the men of wisdom have alluded to them symbolically.
RAMA* asked again:
Holy sir, if the latent tendencies brought forward from the previous birth impel me to act in the present, where is freedom of action? willpower
VASISTHA* said:
Rama*, the tendencies brought forward from past incarnations are of two kinds — pure and impure. The pure ones lead you towards liberation, and the impure ones invite trouble. You are indeed consciousness itself, not inert physical matter. You are not impelled to action by anything other than yourself. Hence you are free to strengthen the pure latent tendencies in preference to the impure ones. The impure ones have to be abandoned gradually and the mind turned away from them little by little, lest there should be violent reaction. By encouraging the good tendencies to act repeatedly, strengthen them. The impure ones will weaken by disuse. You will soon become absorbed in the expression of the good tendencies, in good actions. When thus you have overcome the force of the evil tendencies then you will have to abandon even the good ones. You will then experience the supreme truth with the intelligence that rises from the good tendencies.
The highest form of dispassion(is) born of pure discrimination has arisen in your heart, O Rama*, and it is superior to dispassion born of a circumstantial cause or an utter disgust. Such dispassion is surely due to the grace of God. This grace meets the maturity of discrimination at the exact moment when dispassion is generated in the heart.
As long as the highest wisdom does not dawn in the heart, the person revolves in this wheel of birth and death. Pray, listen to my exposition of this wisdom with a concentrated mind.
the best among all seekers, duly reflect over the truth and are inspired by the best form of dispassion.
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there are four gate-keepers at the entrance to the Realm of Freedom (Moksa*). They are
self-control,
spirit of enquiry,
contentment and
good company.
The eternal is not attained by rites and rituals, by pilgrimages nor by wealth; it is to be attained only by the conquest of one's mind, by the cultivation of wisdom. Hence
constantly seek (whether walking, falling or sitting) the conquest of the mind and self-control till it is at peace, pure, tranquil, free from delusion or hallucination, untangled and free from cravings, does not long for anything nor rejects anything.
This is self-control or conquest of mind — one of the four gate-keepers to liberation which I mentioned earlier.
All that is good and auspicious flows from self-control. All evil is dispelled by self-control. No gain, no pleasure in this world or in heaven is comparable to the delight
of self-control. The delight one experiences in the presence of the self- controlled is incomparable. Everyone spontaneously trusts him. None (not even demons and
goblins) hates him.
Self-control, O Rama *, is the best remedy for all physical and mental ills. When there is self-control, even the food you eat tastes better, else it tastes bitter. He who
wears the armour of self-control is not harmed by sorrow.
He who even while hearing, touching, seeing, smelling and tasting what is regarded as pleasant and unpleasant, is neither elated nor depressed — he is self- controlled.
He who looks upon all beings with equal vision, having brought under control the sensations of pleasure and pain, is self- controlled. He who, though living amongst all
is unaffected by them, neither feels elated nor hates, even as one is during sleep — he is self- controlled.
VASISTHA* continued:
11:14
Enquiry (the second gate-keeper to liberation) should be undertaken by an intelligence that has been purified by a close study of the scripture, and this enquiry should
be unbroken. By such enquiry the intelligence becomes keen and is able to realise the supreme; hence enquiry alone is the best remedy for the long- lasting illness
known as samsara*.
The wise man regards strength, intellect, efficiency and timely action as the fruits of enquiry. Indeed kingdom, prosperity, enjoyment, as well as final liberation, are all
the fruits of enquiry. The spirit of enquiry protects one from the calamities that befall the unthinking fool. When the mind has been rendered dull by the
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absence of enquiry, even the cool rays of the moon turn into deadly weapons, and the childish imagination throws up a goblin in every dark spot. Hence, the non-
enquiring fool is really a storehouse of sorrow. It is the absence of enquiry that gives rise to actions that are harmful to oneself and to others, and to numerous
psychosomatic illnesses. Therefore, one should avoid the company of such unthinking people.
They in whom the spirit of enquiry is ever awake illumine the world, enlighten all who come into contact with them, dispel the ghosts created by an ignorant mind, and
realise the falsity of sense-pleasures and their objects. O Rama *, in the light of enquiry there is realisation of the eternal and unchanging reality; this is the supreme.
With it one does not long for any other gain nor does one spurn- anything. He is free from delusion, attachment; he is not inactive nor does he get drowned in action; he
lives and functions in this world and at the end of a natural life-span he reaches the blissful state of total freedom.
The eye of spiritual enquiiy does not lose its sight even in the midst of all activities; he who does not have this eye is indeed to be pitied. It is better to be bom as a frog
in the mud, a worm in dung, a snake in a hole, but not to be without this eye. What is enquiry? To enquire thus: "Who am I? How has this evil of samsara* (repetitive
history) come into being?" is true enquiry. Knowledge of truth arises from such enquiry; from such knowledge there follows tranquility in oneself; and then there arises
the supreme peace that passeth understanding and the ending of all sorrow.
(Vicara* or enquiry is not reasoning nor analysis: it is directly looking into oneself.)
11:15, 16
VASISTHA* continued:
Contentment is another gate-keeper to liberation. He who has quaffed the nectar of contentment does not relish craving for sense-pleasures; no delight in this world is
as sweet as contentment which destroys all sins.
What is contentment? To renounce all craving for what is not obtained unsought and to be satisfied with what comes unsought, without being elated or depressed even
by them — this is contentment. As long as one is not satisfied in the self, he will be subjected to sorrow. With the rise of contentment the purity of one's heart blooms.
The contented man who possesses nothing owns the world.
Satsanga* (company of the wise, holy and enlightened persons) is yet another gate-keeper to liberation. Satsanga* enlarges one's intelligence, destroys one's
ignorance and one's psychological distress. Whatever be the cost, however difficult it may be, whatever obstacles
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may stand in its way, satsanga * should never be neglected. For, satsanga* alone is one's light on the path of life. Satsanga* is indeed superior to all other forms of
religious practice like charity, austerity, pilgrimage and the perfonriance of religious rites.
One should by every means in one's power adore and serve the holy men who have realised the truth and in whose heart tire darkness of ignorance has been dispelled.
They who, on the other hand, treat such holy men disrespectfully, surely invite great suffering.
These four — contentment, satsanga* (company of wise men), the spirit of enquiry, and self-control — are the four surest means by which they who are drowning in this
ocean of samsara* (repetitive history) can be saved. Contentment is the supreme gain. Satsanga* is the best companion to the destination. The spirit of enquiry itself is
the greatest wisdom. And, self-control is supreme happiness. If you are unable to resort to all these four, then practise one: by the diligent practice of one of these, the
others will also be found in you. The highest wisdom will seek you of its own accord. Until you tame the wild elephant of your mind with the help of these noble
qualities, you cannot have progress towards the supreme, even if you become a god, demi-god or a tree. Therefore, O Rama*, strive by all means to cultivate these
noble qualities.
VASISTHA* said:
11:17
He who is endowed with the qualities that I have enumerated thus far is qualified to listen to what I am about to reveal. You are indeed such a qualified person, O
Rama*. Only he would wish to hear this who is ripe for liberation. But this revelation is capable of leading one to liberation even if one does not desire it, as a light is
capable of illumining the eyes of even the sleeping person. As when the truth that a rope is a rope is seen and the fear generated by the misunderstanding that it is a
snake disappears, the study of this scripture frees one from sorrow, born of samsara*.
This scripture consists of 32,000 couplets. The first section known as Vairagya* Prakaranam* (chapter on dispassion) imparts to one knowledge of the true nature of
life in this world. Its careful study purifies the heart. This section consists of 1,500 couplets.
The next section, known as Mumuksu* Vyavahara* Prakaranam* (concerning the behaviour of a seeker of liberation) consists of 1,000 couplets. In this tire
qualifications of a seeker are described.
After that comes the Utpatti Prakaranam* (section on creation) which consists of 7,000 couplets. In it are found many inspiring stories which help illustrate the great
truth, which is: on account of tire interplay of the false ideas of 'this' and T, the universe which has never truly been created, appears to be.
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The next is the Sthiti Prakaranam * (section on existence) and it consists of 3,000 couplets. With the help of stories again, the truth concerning the existence of this
world and its substratum is revealed.
After that comes the Upasanti* Prakaranam* (section on cessation) which consists of 5,000 couplets. By listening to this, the deluded perception of the world comes
to an end, leaving only a trace of ignorance.
Lastly, the Nirvana* Prakaranam* (section on liberation) which runs to 14,500 couplets. A study and understanding of this section destroys one's fundamental
ignorance; and when all kinds of delusions and hallucinations are set at rest, there is total freedom. Though still wearing a physical body, he lives as if he is free from it,
free of all cravings and desires, attachment and aversion. He is free from samsara* (repetitive history). Here and now, he is free from the demon known as egotism.
He is one with the infinite.
11:18
VASISTHA* continued:
One who sows the seed of the knowledge of this scripture soon obtains the fruit of the realisation of truth. Though human in origin, an exposition of truth is to be
accepted; otherwise even what is regarded as divine revelation is to be rejected. Even a young boy's words are to be accepted if they are words of wisdom; else,
reject it like straw even if uttered by Brahma the creator.
He who listens to and reflects upon the exposition of this scripture enjoys unfathomable wisdom, firm conviction and unperturbable coolness of spirit. Soon he
becomes a liberated sage whose glory is indescribable.
The sage of infinite vision sees in the one undivided intelligence countless universes, for he has realised the magic of Maya* or cosmic illusion. He sees the infinity in
every atom, and therefore he is unattached to the rise and fall of the ideas of creation. Hence, he is ever contented with what comes unsought (which he does not
reject) and he does not run after what has been taken away from him for which he does not grieve.
This scripture is easy of comprehension as it is richly embellished with a number of interesting stories. One who studies this scripture and contemplates its meaning has
no need to undertake austerities, meditation or repetition of a mantra; for what is greater than liberation which is granted by a study of this scripture?
One who studies this scripture and comprehends its teaching is no longer deluded by world-appearance. When one sees that the yonder deadly snake is a life-like
painting, one is no longer afraid of it. When the world- appearance is seen as an appearance it does not
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produce either elation or sorrow. It is indeed a great pity that even when such a scripture exists, people seek sense- pleasures which lead to great sorrow.
O Rama *, when a truth that has not been personally experienced is expounded, one does not grasp it except with the help of an illustration. Such illustrations have
been used in this scripture with a definite purpose and a limited intention. They are not to be taken literally, nor is their significance to be stretched beyond the intention.
When the scripture is thus studied, the world appears to be a dream- vision. These indeed are the purpose and the purport of the illustrations. Let no one of perverted
intellect misinterpret the illustrations given in this scripture.
VASISTHA* continued:
11:19,20
Parables have only one purpose: to enable the listener to arrive at the truth. The realisation of truth is so vital that any reasonable method used is justified, though the
parables themselves may be fictitious. The parables themselves are only partly applicable to the truth thus illustrated, and only that part is to be grasped and the rest
ignored. Study and understanding of the scriptures with the help of illustrations and of a qualified teacher are necessary only till one realises the truth.
Again, such study should continue till the truth is realised; one should not stop short of complete enlightenment. A little knowledge of the scripture results in confusion
worse confounded. Non- recognition of the existence of supreme peace in the heart and assumption of the reality of imaginary factors, are both born of imperfect knowledge and the consequent perverted logic.
Even as the ocean is the substratum of all the waves, direct experience alone is the basis for all proofs — the direct experience of truth as it is. That substratum is the experiencing intelligence which itself becomes the experiencer, the act of experiencing, and the experience. The experiencing alone is the fact; yet, in a state of non-understanding, this experiencing seems to have a subject (the experiencer). Wisdom that is bom of the spirit of enquiry dispels this non-understanding and the undivided intelligence shines in its own light. At that stage even the spirit of enquiry becomes superfluous and dissolves itself.
Even as movement is inherent in air, manifestation (as the subtle perceiving mind and the gross objects it perceives) is inherent in this experiencing intelligence. And the perceiving mind, on account of ignorance, thinks "I am such and such an object" and thence becomes that. The object is experienced only in the subject, not elsewhere!
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