The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, Vol. 3 (of 4), Part 2 (of 2)Valmiki
Religion
The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, Vol. 3 (of 4), Part 2 (of 2)
Valmiki
Hinduism -- Doctrines -- Early works to 1800; Religious life -- Hinduism -- Early works to 1800
5. Know O holy man! that it is relinquishing of errors, which is said
to be the philosopher's stone (because they are the only men that have
set themselves above the reach of error). Try to get that O holy man!
in your possession, and set yourself thereby above the reach of misery.
6. It is the relinquishment of gross objects, that produces the pure
joy of holiness; it is the abandonment of the world, that gives one
the sovereignty over his soul, and which is reckoned as the true
philosopher's stone.
7. Abandonment of all is the highest perfection, which you must
practice betimes; because it is contemning of worldly grandeur, that
shows the greatest magnanimity of the soul.
8. You have O prince! forsaken your princedom together with your
princess, riches, relatives and friends, and have rested in your
resignation; as Brahmá the lord of creatures, rested at the night of
cessation of the act of his creation.
9. You have come out too far from your country, to this distant
hermitage of mine; as the bird of heaven the great _Garuda_ lighted
with his prey of the tortoise, on the farthest mount of the earth. (The
legend of Gaja-_kachchhapa_ borne by _Garuda_, is narrated at length in
the _Purána_).
10. You have relinquished your egotism, with your abandonment of all
worldly goods; and you purged your nature from every stain, as autumnal
winds disperse the clouds from the sky.
11. Know that it is only by driving away the egoism of the mind as
well as all desires from the heart, that one gets his perfection and
has the fulness of the world or perfect bliss in himself. But you have
been labouring under the ignorance of what is to be abandoned and what
is to be retained, as the sky labours under the clouds. (It is not the
abandonment of the world, but the greedy desires of the mind, that is
attended with true felicity).
12. It is not your abandonment of the world, which can give you that
highest felicity the _summum bonum_ that you seek; it is something else
that must be yet sought after by you. (True happiness is a thing of
heavenly growth, and is to be obtained by the grace of God only).
13. When the mind is overflown by its thoughts, and the heart is
corroded by the canker of its desire; all its resignation flies from
it, as the stillness of a forest flies before the tempest.
14. Of what avail is the abandonment of the world to one, whose mind
is ever infested by his troublesome thoughts; it is impossible for a
tree to be at rest, that is exposed to the tempests of the sky. (Inward
passions disturb the breast, as tempests rend the sky).
15. The thoughts constitute the mind, which is but another name for
will or desire; and so long as these are found to be raging in one, it
is in vain to talk of the subjection of the mind.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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