Conclusion of Utpatti Prakaraṇa 9 part 1
9. The Conclusion of Utpatti Prakaraṇa
Part 1
Summary—This chapter summarizes all that was said in the previous stories as to the origin of the mind and the universe.
It is the actions of the mind that are truly termed Karmas. True liberation results from the disenthralment of the mind. Those who have freed themselves from the fluctuation of their mind come into possession of the supreme Niṣṭhā (meditation).
Should the mind be purged of its impurities, then it will become as still as the milky ocean undisturbed by the churning of Mandāra hills; and our Samsaric delusion attended by birth and death will be destroyed.
Muni Vāsiṣṭha continued:
The poisonous tree that is great Māyā’s illusion flourishes more and more out of the seed of the mind’s modifications, full of Saṁkalpa, in the soil of the variegated enjoyments of the world.
The panacea prescribed by the wise for the removal of the diseases of the mind can be found very easily by the mind alone. Now hearken to what I say.
Those who, without longing for objects, avoid them, can be termed the subjugators of their Manas (mind). Those who do not develop the Vairāgya inhering in one’s self, are at best vermin in human shape.
If the mind be divested of the Saṁkalpa of ‘I’, then through meditation on Ātman, after being initiated by a Guru and having known the real significance of the Vedas declared by the Lord, the mind can be turned back from pain, ceasing to wander outwardly, and it can be made happy.
Like one iron shaping another iron, the pure mind of a person which makes efforts on the virtuous path should correct and mould his impure mind.
To lovers of Mokṣa in whom the invincible desires take a tangible shape and who try to win their way to liberation through their own efforts,
the easy abandonment of the restless activities of the mind is itself the transcendental path and they then feel as if a great load were taken off their heads. No other path is truly beneficial.
If the mind which flits from one object to another is slain with the sword of non-Saṁkalpa, then the self-shining Principle, which shines as the All and permeates all, will be cognized.
May you, Oh Rāma, tread this path and destroy, through your Jñāna, the much-longed-for mind; and after attaining Ātma-Jñāna through renunciation, devoid of Saṁkalpas and Vikalpas, know your Reality wherein the mind is merged.
May you rest in the self-existent Brāhmic state which is neither Sat nor Asat, after developing with effort Śrāvaṇa, etc. and destroying the mind.
It is only through dauntless energy that the wealth of Mokṣa can be acquired.
With the destruction of the mind, the three periods of time vanish into nothing. If all objects which have an enchanting appearance become unattractive and appear the very reverse of what they seemed, then is the mind destroyed.
If doubts vanish when spiritual knowledge arises through the meditation on Jñāna in the heart, then the mind will be destroyed. All afflictions will cease with its destruction.
Differentiations of that or this person, or ‘I’ or ’thou’, or ’that’ or ’this’ object are, or pertain to, mind only. May you put an end to that mind with the sword of Abhāvanā (non-thought).
Like thick clouds which are dispersed by stormy, gales, the mind is absorbed into Cit (absolute Consciousness) through the extinction of Kalpanās (thoughts).
If one’s mind is destroyed, then one does not suffer from, pain even though, as at the end of a Kalpa, the fierce winds, the Pralaya ocean with its furious, seething waves and the twelve Ādityas (suns), who melt even the earth with their heat, should all combine together to play simultaneous havoc on the; surface of the earth?
If the (lower) mind is annihilated through the (higher) mind, then one will become his own Self and perennial happiness will flow therefrom. Then will you have acquired Mokṣa and reached the Brāhmic state unshakable in bliss.
The enemy of Ātman is this impure mind, which is replete with delusion and hosts of thoughts.
Lest this enemy which is mind spoil you in diverse ways through the enjoyment of the many pleasures of this world, slay it to obtain ultimate contentment, which will pave the way towards spiritual illumination.
Then will the immaculate, tranquil and all-full Bhāva (state), precious to the wise, never be affected by the idea of ‘I’. Through this all-full Bhāva, which is capable neither of increase nor diminution, the Brāhmic state, conferring supreme bliss, is realized.
It is indeed rare to find a mind that is not affected by fluctuation. Like heat inseparable from fire, the fluctuation which debases the mind is inseparable from it.
And this fluctuating mind alone is this universe; devoid of fluctuation, the mind ceases to exist. It is this knowledge which constitutes Tapas, without desire for fruit, the underlying meaning of all books on Ātma- Jñāna and Mokṣa or the one Principle.
The fluctuating power of the mind is called by several names such as Māyā and the impure Vāsanās. The flitting mind is the fluctuating Śaktī itself. You should destroy this fluctuating potency of, the mind through ceaseless Ātma-Jñāna inquiry.
Supreme bliss will flow from the renunciation of much-longed-for paltry objects.
The mind, which occupies an intermediate state between Brahman that ever is and the universe that is not, oscillates, gravitating towards the one or the other.
This mind becomes of the nature of Jñāna through efforts towards spiritual direction; it becomes of the nature of the universe through Ajñāna.
The mind assumes the shape of any object it concentrates upon. Therefore you should, through your Ātma-Jñāna mind, avoid the mind which runs in the direction of objects;
and progressing higher up, you should, without any despondency of heart, accumulate the wealth which leads towards that imperishable Supreme State.
Like an emperor who brings under his sway all kings on earth, the vagrant mind should be brought under the perfect control of the non-fluctuating mind and then the latter reaches its own state which is the supreme one.
In this ocean of Saṁsāra, only those, who are aware of being whirled about in the maelstrom of life, gripped by the crocodiles of desire, find a safe asylum in the ship of their mind.
Let not your heart give way under trials; but having destroyed the impure mind with the pure mind, befriend the latter and make your Ātman rest in its blissful state.
Will your mind progress through anyone else? Certainly not. Whatever pain or impediments to progress arise in the mind, there at that very moment they should be crushed out of existence; then is the destruction of Māyā accomplished.
Having divested yourself of all longing for enjoyment and conceptions of heterogeneity, as well as of Bhāva (existence) and Abhāva (non-existence), may you enjoy bliss without the least stain.
Should all longing for visible things cease, then such subjugation of the mind is itself the destruction of Ajñāna or the mind.
Desire for objects is pain; non-desire is Nirvāṇic bliss. Such bliss is generated only through one’s own efforts.
The knowledge of the ignorant which makes them conceive the world to be real, while it is illusory and exists but in name, is dissipated when they cognize all things to be consciousness itself.
At these words of Vāsiṣṭha, Rāma queried:
How can this ignorance, which fructifies out of Avidya in this world, be effaced?
To which Vāsiṣṭha- of powerful Tapas replied:
If the eternal Ātman is hurled on the slopes of the hills of rebirth, beset with the sharp thorns of excruciating pain, and if Māyā which is associated with the Ātman there be seen as real, then it is certain that no vision of Reality will arise.
If, after the Avidya of rebirth is crossed, the all-pervading, transcendent Reality should begin to illumine a person, then he will perceive objectively that desires are the form of Māyā and that the extinction of Māyā is Mokṣa.
With the extinction of the base Saṁkalpas, there is the extinction of Avidya. With the dawning of the sun of Jñāna in the heart, the gloom of Ajñāna is at once dispersed.
Here, Rāma interposed and said:
Thou wert pleased to say that all visible things are only Māyā; also that Māyā will perish without any hindrance through Jñāna or Ātmic meditation. What is Ātman?
To which Vāsiṣṭha of immeasurable Tapas replied:
It is the transcendental Jñāna of Brahman which does not manifest itself objectively in visible things; it is the Plenum, and the one that is, possessing no name.
All things in the world that are pointed out as ‘this’ or ‘that’ are not other than the eternal Brahman, of the nature of Jñāna. The illusory, impure mind is not.
Things such as birth and death in the three worlds are not really existent; nor are the six changes. The non- dual, Absolute Consciousness which can be known by its pervading nature is alone existent.
Out of that Jñānātman, which is absolute, self-shining, imperishable, immaculate, all-pervading, impartite, and quiescent, and which, mingling with all objects, is yet unaffected by them, arose through its own power an intelligence generated through its desire for Saṁkalpas.
This Jñāna, generating countless Saṁkalpas, permeates all. This intelligence constitutes the mind of Brahman itself. In this Brahman are infinite Śaktis.
In this fleeting; mind, which pervades equally in all, arise the diverse supreme Śaktis, like waves in water. This mind which arises through Saṁkalpa perishes through it like a flame which, though fanned by wind, is yet extinguished by the same.
The non-cognition of oneself as Brahman which is the Laya (neutral) centre of all is bondage of the mind; the firm cognition of oneself as Brahman is Mokṣa.
The conception of ‘I’, Ajñāna, pain, and the forms of bodies having limbs, etc. and the conduct of life in accordance therewith, generate desire and bondage;
but if such thoughts arise in persons as “I am not these inert objects, I am neither the flesh nor nerves, nor bones, etc.” and if they identify themselves with Brahman which transcends all bodies, then they disentangle themselves from the folds of Māyā and become the knowers of their own Self.
The Māyā, which arises through the identification of ‘I’ with bodies, etc. is gifted with reality only through the fancy of the ignorant, but to the wise this Māyā is non-existent.
Like a minister obeying a king, the five organs of the body act in accordance with the dictates of the mind. Therefore you should, through your own pure mind and proper efforts, eradicate the Vāsanās of desire for objects.
The Vāsanās which are generated through identification with sons, or wealth or through the differences of “I”, “he”, ‘thou’, ‘this’ or ‘that’, wax more and more, like Indrajāla (magical tricks) which is as ephemeral as lightning.
Having become the beneficent knower, may you abandon all thoughts of visible things. Why should you pine like the ignorant, bewildered by the illusions of son, etc. which are not your Self?
What is this body which is dull and inert? Who is that ‘you’ which on account of this body is drowned in pleasure and pain and is ever chafing without the least avail? Truly a wondrous riddle! You have not cognized these diverse things in their true state of unity.
While the self-shining Brahman, which is non-dual and true, pervades everywhere, this painful and illusory Māyā, though uncreated, manifests itself.
Like a crystal which, though tinged by the five colours, is unaffected by them, you should perform all actions and yet be untainted by desire.
So said at length Ṛṣi Vāsiṣṭha.