The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, Vol. 3 (of 4), Part 1 (of 2)Valmiki
Religion
The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, Vol. 3 (of 4), Part 1 (of 2)
Valmiki
Hinduism -- Doctrines -- Early works to 1800; Religious life -- Hinduism -- Early works to 1800
44. His mind is not agitated by fear, at hearing the hoarse sound of
the sounding main, or the tremendous thunder-clap in the sky, or the
uproaring clouds on mountain tops; and the roaring lions below, do not
intimidate his dauntless soul.
45. He is not terrified at the loud trumpet of warfare, nor the deep
drum of the battle-field; the clattering arms of the warriors and the
cracking cudgels of the combatants, bear no terror to his mind; and the
most terrific of all that is terrible, _i.e._ God, is familiar to his
soul. So the Sruti:—“bhayánám bhayam, bhishanam bhishanánám”, &c.
46. He does not tremble at the stride of the infuriate elephant, nor
at the clamour of Vetála goblins; his heart does not thrill at the hue
and cry of Pisácha cannibals, nor at the alarm of Yakshas and Rakshas.
47. The meditative mind is not moved by the loud thunder clap or the
cracking of rocks and mountains; and the clangor of Indra and Airávana,
can not stir the Yogi from his intense reverie.
48. The rigid sage does not slide from his self-possession, at the
harsh noise of the crashing saw and the clanking of the burnished sword
striking upon one another. He is not shaken by the twanging of the bow,
or the flying and falling of deadly arrows around.
49. He does not rejoice in pleasant groves, nor pines in parched
deserts; because the fleeting joys and sorrows of life, find no place
in his inevitable mind.
50. He is neither intolerant of the burning sands of the sandy desert,
resembling the cinders of living fire; nor is he charmed in shady
woodlands, fraught with flowery and cooling arbours.
51. His mind is unchanged, whether when he is exposed on a bed of
thorns, or reposing in a bed of flowers; and whether he is lifted on
the pinnacle of a mount, or flung into the bottom of a fount; his mind
is always meek (as those of persecuted saints and martyrs).
52. It is all the same with himself, whether he roves on rough and
rugged rocks, or moves under the hot sunbeams of the south, or walks in
a temperate or mild atmosphere. He remains unchanged in prosperity and
adversity, and alike both under the favour and frown of fortune.
53. He is neither sad nor sorrow in his wanderings over the world, nor
joyous and of good cheer in his rest and quiet. He joys on doing his
duty with the lightness of his heart, like a porter bearing his light
burthen with an unberthened mind.
54. Whether his body is grated upon the guillotine or broken under the
wheel; whether impaled in the charnel ground, or exiled in a desert
land; or whether pierced by a spear or battered by a cudgel, the
believer in the true God remain inflexible (as the Moslem Shahids and
Christian martyrs, under the bitterest persecution).
55. He is neither afraid at any fright nor humiliates himself nor loses
his usual composure in any wise; but remains with his even temper and
well composed mind as firm as a fixed rock.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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