The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, Vol. 2 (of 4), Part 2 (of 2)Valmiki
Religion
The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, Vol. 2 (of 4), Part 2 (of 2)
Valmiki
Hinduism -- Doctrines -- Early works to 1800; Religious life -- Hinduism -- Early works to 1800
14. Thus the man knowing the knowable soul, knows himself as
inaccessible to the feelings of pleasure and pain. Knowing this as
certain, he finds the existence of no other thing, apart from what is
contained in the container of his soul, which is as a thousandth part
of a hair. This being ascertained, he views every thing in himself.
With this certainty of knowledge, he comes to know his self as the
reflector of all things, and present in all of them. After these
ascertainments, he comes to the conclusion that he is not subject to
pain or pleasure. Thus freed from anxieties, the mind freely exercises
its powers over all customary duties, without being concerned with them.
15. He who knows the self, remains joyous even in his calamity, and
shines as the moonlight, which enlightens the world. He knows that it
is his mind and not hisself, that is the agent of his actions although
he is the doer of them: and knowing the agency of the mind in all his
actions, he does not assume to himself the merit of the exercise of his
limbs, hands and feet, nor expects to reap the rewards of all his
assiduous labours and acts.
16. Mental actions (thoughts) being brought to practice, tend to
involve their unguarded agents of ungoverned minds, into the endurance
of its consequence. Thus the mind is the seed (root) of all efforts and
exertions, of all acts and actions, of all their results and
productions, and the source of suffering the consequences of actions.
By doing away with your mind, you make a clean sweep of all your
actions, and thereby avoid all your miseries resulting from your acts.
All these are at an end with the _anaesthesia_ of the mind. It is a
practice in _Yoga_ to allay (laisser aller), the excitement of the mind
to its ever varying purposes.
17. Behold the boy is led by his mind (fancy) to build his toy or
hobby-horse, which he dresses and daubs at his wilfull play, without
showing any concern or feeling of pleasure or pain, in its making or
breaking of it at his pleasure. So doth man build his aerial castle,
and level it without the sense of his gain or loss therein. It is by
his acting in this manner in all worldly matters, that no man is
spiritually entangled to them. (Do your duties and deal with all with a
total unconcernedness and indifference).
18. What cause can there be for your sorrow, amidst the dangers and
delights of this world, but that you have the one and not the other.
But what thing is there that is delectable and delightful to be desired
in this world, which is not evanescent and perishable at the same time,
save yourself (soul), which is neither the active nor passive agent of
your actions and enjoyments; though they attribute the actions and
their fruitions to it by their error.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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