VAIRĀGYA PRAKARAṆA I-1
I. VAIRĀGYA PRAKARAṆA
Dispassion of Rāma 1
Salutations to the Non-dual Principle — through the three organs (of mind, speech and body) — that is the eternal Jñāna (wisdom) Light illuminating (the three worlds) Bhu (earth), Antarīkṣa (intervening space) and Svarga (heaven), as also our hearts and their exteriors and that has manifested itself everywhere as visible forms.
Persons qualified to read this work called Vāsiṣṭha (the work of Vāsiṣṭha) should neither be Ajñānins (the ignorant or the worldly wise), nor those Jīvan-muktas (liberated ones) who have reached their Jñānātman, freeing themselves from all pain, but only those who, conscious of being under bondage, long for freedom, and are in that vacillating position from which they contemplate attaining Mokṣa.
Muni Bharadvāja having prostrated before his omniscient Guru, Muni Vālmīki, addressed him softly thus:
How did Śrī Rāma of rare sattva guṇa come to be in this terrestrial Saṁsāra (mundane existence) full of pain and generative of dire rebirths.
To which Vālmīki replied thus:
My son Bharadvāja, thy question is fraught with incalculable happiness (to thee and all the world). Thou art in possession of the fourfold means of salvation which entitle thee to question me about Nirvāṇic bliss.
Hence hearken to what I am going to say to thee. Thereby thou wilt be able to master Ajñāna which is the source of all pain.
This illusory universe manifests itself, though it really is not, in Parabrahman (the one Reality), like the blue colour which is unreal, though it appears in the sky overhead.
The supreme Nirvāṇic bliss is attained the moment when one,
after having decided in himself that it will be definitely beneficial not in the least to bring to recollection this illusion of a universe,
cognizes, through intuitive spiritual perception, the unreality of the universe which appears as real to the mind that is of the nature of Saṁskāras (self-reproductive thoughts).
This supreme Bliss is ever shining, not created by any, self-existent and imperishable.
But it cannot be cognized and enjoyed by those ignorant persons who wallow in the mere pitfalls of the Śāstras (book-learning) inculcating the lower (terrestrial) wisdom, as contra-distinguished from the higher (Divine) wisdom, which is free of the recollection of things visible.
The wise say that the best thing for a man to do in this world is to give up, without the least longing, Vāsanās (affinities for objects) which cause the mind to fluctuate, and that such abdication constitutes the eternal Mokṣa (liberation) and the stainless path.
Vāsanās are of two kinds.
The impure Vāsanās are those which, generating rebirths, are terrible in their results, while the pure ones are those which liberate one from such rebirths.
The great ones say that the generation of the ever-recurrent cycle of rebirths when excessive Ahaṁkāra (egoism) is developed in the body, which is nothing but a transformation of Ajñāna, is termed the impure Vāsanās;
while the pure Vāsanās, which free one from rebirth, may be likened to a seed that will not sprout after being fried (in a pan) over red-hot fire.
Those who, having developed the pure Vāsanās, support a body simply to wear out their Prārabdha Karmas, and do not again subject themselves to the pangs of rebirth, may be said to have attained the Jīvan-mukti state (embodied liberation) which enables one to perceive all spiritual things through subtle Jñāna experience, and to enjoy the bliss of Chidānanda (conscious bliss state).
Again Muni Vālmīki continued thus:
Mayest thou, Oh my son, liberate thyself from births and deaths after meditating truly, through thy intelligence, upon the path pointed out by Vāsiṣṭha to Rāma, who heard him intently and reached the glorious and incomparable Jīvan-mukti state.
Becoming well versed in all the four Vedas and all the departments of knowledge, Rāma spent his youth sportively, and hence fearlessly, for some time.
After such days of enjoyment, there arose in him a desire to visit all places of pilgrimage able to confer spiritual benefits and the sacred Āśramas (hermitages) of the wise.
For this purpose, Rāma of blue complexion and lotus eyes, approached his father like a Hamsa (swan), and having prostrated himself before his lotus feet addressed him thus:
Oh father, my mind longs to visit the ancient places of pilgrimage, sacred shrines, and the forest resorts where the Munis perform their Tapas (religious austerities).
There is no boon, however great, which is not in thy power to grant. Please therefore be kind enough to allow me to carry out my intentions.
Thereupon Dasaratha (his father), in consultation with his world-famous teacher, Vāsiṣṭha, gave his assent to it with a request to his son to return soon.
Then Rāma of blue complexion, having paid due respects to his father, set out on his holy pilgrimage along with his brothers on an auspicious day.
Having crossed their Kosala kingdom, they spent their days delightfully, passing through and observing all kinds of rivers, forests in which Tapas was performed, the hermitages of ascetics, sandy deserts, seaport towns, slopes of hills, etc.
Then Rāma eulogized by Devas {celestials) and worshipped by men, returned like Īśa (the lord) and Jayanta, son of Indra, returning to Śivapura and Devaloka respectively, and reached, amidst thick showers of flowers and praise of men, Ayodhyā where his father resided.
There he described in detail all the events of his trip and the diverse customs obtaining in different countries.
Thereafter, he was in the habit of rising up daily from his bed before daybreak and performing his daily ceremonies.
Having paid due respects to his father, Dasaratha, he would daily hear stories pregnant with wisdom and justice from the lips of Vāsiṣṭha and other Munis of great Tapas.
According to the directions of his father, he would be sometimes engaged in the chase along with his retinue. Having supped with his relatives, friends and brothers, he would pass his night sweetly.
Thus did he pass his fifteenth year, assisting and pleasing kings and others, like the cool moon or delicious nectar.
At this period of his life, his once radiant body became all at once emaciated, like the river floods going down in summer; his face with its long eyes became wan like a white lotus; and he ever seated himself in the Padma posture, with his hands resting on his chin, and his young feet tinkling with bells.
Then wholly absorbed in pensive thought, he forgot to perform his daily allotted duties of life, and his mind grew despondent.
His followers, noticing the ever statue-like position their master assumed, fell at his feet and asked him the cause of his moody temper.
To which Rāma merely replied by performing his daily rites with such a depressed mind and dejected face as affected all who saw it.
Being apprised of this fact, his father Dasaratha sent for him one day, and having seated him close to himself, asked him to explain the cause of his grief.
Rāma merely prostrated himself at his father’s feet and took leave of him, saying there was nothing.
At this juncture, the world-famed Muni Viśvāmitra appeared in the council hall of the king.
Thereupon, the king of kings, Dasaratha, having saluted the Muni and paid, according to custom, due respect to him, addressed him thus:
Thou wert pleased, through thy kind grace, to vouchsafe me a visit at a time when thy servant least anticipated it. Thy presence has removed all my sins. I am now like a lotus which has blossomed fully at the approach of the sun.
Never before did I feel the bliss I do now. To me thy presence here resembles the rain cooling the plants suffering from long drought, or sight miraculously recovered by a blind person.
The bliss arising from the advent of thy venerable self has cooled my whole body like Ganga water and removed all depression from my heart,
as if this very body of mine had arisen to move in the Ākāśa, or as if the Jīva that once departed out of a body came in again to tenant it, or as if I had come by the nectar vase deposited within the fortress of Agni in Devaloka and containing ambrosia churned out of the roaring ocean of milk.
Oh Muni of rare Tapas, free from attachment and hatred, the pain of sensual objects, instability, vain anger, dire births and disease, thy arrival here has taken me by surprise.
I consent to part with any object thou expectest to receive from me. Therefore please intimate to me thy wish.
Thereupon the supreme Muni, with the hairs of his body standing on end, said:
Oh Mahārāja Daśaratha, thou who hast many kings under thy subjection, and contravene not the words of thy Guru Vāsiṣṭha, thou hast delivered thyself of words that are well befitting one descended from the noble Sūrya (solar) family.
Unable to bear the atrocities committed by the Rākṣasas who stand in the way of my attempt at the performance of one of the foremost of sacrifices (yajñas), I have come to thee for redress.
I hope, therefore, that thou, wilt hand over to me thy eldest son Rāghava (Rāma),, of great probity, who is Yama (Death) to the delusion-producing Rākṣasas, being, as he is, a lion in strength and Devendra in intrepidity. Rāghava will easily put an end to the invincible. Rākṣasas.
Therefore, Oh king, cast aside all fears about him on the score of his youth. Munis like me never direct their minds to dubious matters which involve persons in pain.
It is only men like myself and Vāsiṣṭha, who can really gauge the unfathomable greatness of Rāma, who is superior to all. If thou carest for greatness, Dharma (virtues) and fame, then thou should hand Rāma over to me at once.
There is nothing which truly noble persons withhold from a suppliant. If thou wilt give him to me, I tell thee truly that Rāma will annihilate the brave Rākṣasas.
Hearing these words of Viśvāmitra, Daśaratha was bewildered and after a Muhūrta (forty-eight minutes), breathed forth the following words in a plaintive tone:
My son is very young, being not yet turned sixteen. He has not fought up to now. Therefore he will not be able to cope with the Rākṣasas of terrible prowess.
He is quite ignorant of the tactics of war in meeting his foes. Therefore thy poor servant will himself go in his stead with the fourfold army and fight with them.
Should Rāma, my eldest son, part from here, my other three sons will not find themselves alive afterwards. Nor is it likely that I shall outlive, one moment, his separation.
Now I am not afraid of any enemy other than Rāvaṇa, though before I was not afraid even of him. Will the courage of warriors who make their enemies retreat before them be ever a fixed quantity?
Time, in its revolution works miraculous changes in all things. The mighty become weaklings. As I am old, I am grieved as to what I should do hereafter.
Thereupon, Viśvāmitra said with great wrath:
Having promised me first, thou hast overstepped truth. A war-like, leonine king like thee, to conduct thyself like a paltry beast! Thou mayest live happily with thy wife, sons, and other relatives. I will repair to the place whence I came.
Observing these events taking place, Vāsiṣṭha interposed and said to Daśaratha:
Born as thou art in the race of Manu, and dubbed with the title, Emperor Daśaratha, thou shouldst preserve inviolate thy word. If thy tongue should err, who else will maintain his word?
If thy subjects on this earth are unfailingly to act up to the strict justice enunciated by thee with a spirit of true reformation, then, Oh king, thou shouldst not fail to act up to it.
This Muni Viśvāmitra 'Will protect thy son Rāghava completely, like ambrosia guarded by fire (in Devaloka), and therefore the Rākṣasas, who have war only as their avocation, will not be able to inflict the least injury on thy son.
At these words of Vāsiṣṭha, Daśaratha of puissant arms inquired of the followers of Rāma as to what he, whom he obtained through the grace of the great Ones, was doing.
Thereupon they began to describe in the following manner the grievous plight of their master, ever since his return from pilgrimage:
It is only after entreating him, by falling at his feet, that he performs some of the daily ceremonies. He asks of what avail are pleasure-giving offspring, wealth, house, etc. being, as they are, only unreal?
Our master has no inclination towards valuable white cloths or dainties having the six tastes or cool water or anything else.
Like ascetics devoid of all egoism, he is free from all abhimāna (identification of self with objects), and has no inclination towards state-affairs; he neither, rejoices at happiness, nor is he afflicted by pain.
He grievously complains of his life being spent in vain in the many worldly actions that do not contribute to the Jīvan-mukti state wherein sorrows are unknown.
Thinking that his great wealth is a source of infinite danger, he has given up all longing for it, and gives it away indiscriminately to all. We are not able to divine the underlying thought in his heart.
Oh for one in this assembly who will be pleased to instil into our young king all the noble qualities that will befit him to be a ruler of our kingdom! These are the characteristics which our prince evinces.
At these submissive words of Rāma’s followers, Viśvāmitra told them:
Go ye and fetch this greatly beloved Rāma (unknown to others) who is like a deer that has strayed away from its herd.