YOGA

VAASISHTA

A PHILOSOPHICAL TREATISE

COMPOSED BY

VAALMIKI MAHARSHI

qF 9*




ESSENCE OF YOGAVAASISHTA
Compiled by

Tejasvini






F9

INTRODUCTION

The Upashama Prakarana, the Section on Quiescence begins with the story of king
Janaka.
Through him, Sage Vasishta proves the supremacy of Vichaara over all other practices
as leading towards Self-state.
King Janaka just analyzes the nature of the perceived world through his intellect for a few
minutes and immediately attains the Self-state. No teacher was there to guide him, nor
did he perform austerities and prayers to gain it. Like Shuka he just pondered in his mind
about everything and knew the Truth extolled in the Scriptures.

OM TAT SAT



















UPASHAMA PRAKARANAM

SECTION V PART ONE


QUIESCENCE

l5
Vaalmiki spoke



Sage Vasishta went on with the discourse.
The court room was silent like the lotus lake with all lotuses remaining still.
Even the pretty damsels given to amorous sports were feeling peace in their minds like
the recluses.
The chowries in the hands of the beautiful maids were resting without moving, like the
swans intent on listening.
The anklets in their feet had stopped their tinkling noise like the crows silent on the tree.
The kings had placed their finger tips on their nose edges and were thinking deeply about
what they heard.
Rama had bloomed up like the lotus in the early morning. Like the sun rising in the sky,
he had got out of the seat of ignorance.
Dasharatha was listening with interest to the Sages words like the peacock to the
thundering clouds.
The ministers forcefully directed their restless minds hankering after pleasures towards
listening to the Sages words.

Lakshmana rested his taintless mind in the Self and remained blissful having shot the
target (Lakshya) of Brahman with dexterity.
Shatrughna (slayer of enemies) had defeated all his enemies (senses). He shone with
fulfillment like the moon on the full moon day, and remained blissful.
Minister Sumitra had become the (Mitra) for the mind suffering from various anxieties
and his heart now bloomed up like the lotus by sunrise.

The drums denoting the noon-time resounded echoing in all the directions like the
thundering clouds at the dissolution time.

Sage Vasishta stopped his discourse and became silent. After a few minutes he addressed
Rama and said to him-I will continue the discourse tomorrow morning.

After completing all his regular duties of the day, Rama retired to his private chambers.
He spent the whole of the night pondering such questions as-
What is this world? Who are all these people?
From where do these varieties of beings arise and dissolve into?
What is this thing called mind?
How will it subside?
How this delusion came to be and how will it be removed?
What will happen if Maayaa is removed? Will everything remain as it is or the purpose of
living itself will be lost?
How did the limitations arise in the Self?
What did the Sage advice about the control of the mind?
What did he say about sense control?
What were his elaborate discussions on terms like Jeeva, Chitta, mind, Maayaa etc?
Self alone appears as this expansive world appearance! The world is made of only the
strings rising from the mind! How will I treat this pain-giving diseased mind?
How will I save this intellect-child lost in the clouds of pleasures? How will I separate it
out like the swan drinking only milk from the milk-water mixture?
It is difficult to keep the mind away from pleasures; yet without renouncing the pleasures
we cannot ascend the ladder of wisdom!
Ah! Vaasanaas infect this mind and will lead to endless troubles!
Mind alone can aspire for the Self realization; yet it acts deluded and runs after pleasures
like the child possessed by a ghost!
When will my mind remain blissful like the girl lost in her lovers thought uninterested in
all the worldly affairs!
When will my mind rest in the quiescent state and get established in the state of the Self?
When will I cross over the ocean of Samsaara and be freed of this fever!
O my mind! When will you lose all your attachments and get the vision of knowledge?
I will never again get trapped in the terms denoting relationships like-father, mother,
son etc. which only give endless pains.
O my sister intelligence! Please rescue me from this suffering and analyze well what the
Sage said!
O my mind! O good lady! O good daughter (reborn by the company of the knowledge
given by the Sage)! I fall at your feet and plead! Become stable and get ready to destroy
this delusion of the world appearance!
Sage first explained about Dispassion. Then he mentioned the disciplines to be adopted
by the seeker after liberation. Then he explained about the emergence of this world
appearance. Later he discussed about how the mind keeps this world going on for ever by
its conceiving power!
Remember all that he said and revise them again and again!
The night passed for Rama with such thoughts like the lotus waiting for the arrival of the
Sun.

Next morning the court room was again filled with eager listeners. Dasharatha
worshipped the Sage with due honor. After a preliminary enquiry about Ramas state of
understanding, the Sage commenced his discourse of the next Prakarana.






*
Vasishta spoke

c7==

=


=9

*l l ||

Listen O handsome Rama,
listen attentively to this excellent and beautiful exposition
bestowing all the good,
namely the UPASHAMA PRAKARANA.


CHAPTER ONE

{BE ACTIVE OR DULL; WORLD WILL SURELY REMAIN DELUDING YOU}

|
= c

||

O Rama, this prolonged delusion of worldly existence
is borne by the humans by the qualities of Rajas and Tamas
like the pavilion is supported by the pillars.


{SATTVA ALONE LEADS TO KNOWLEDGE}

c| c7

c= HH c ||

Those who belong to the class of Satva are courageous
and are endowed with the ever increasing noble qualities as in your case.
This fully ripened delusion is rejected by them with disdain
like the old skin is cast away by the snake.




CHAPTER TWO

{A SEEKER HAS TO THINK BY HIMSELF}

cc
= 7 - ||

As long as one does not comprehend the Self by analyzing the facts in his own mind,
the Truth that is to be known, cannot be attained.

H 97 -7*

l c lc c ||

O Wise one, you- by yourself,
analyze the views about the creation of the world;
then understand what is real and what is not real
and then be absorbed in the Truth.

= = |7 c
= =c cc ||

How can that (perceived world), which does not exist in the beginning or end be real?
(Self)That alone is real which exists in the beginning and end; not anything else.

q== ==

= ||

How can discrimination ever rise in that dumb animal
who holds on to that which does not exist in the beginning and end?


7*g

||

Mind alone is born here. Mind alone expands.
Mind alone is liberated by the vision of the Truth.

{Mind is bound; not the Self. Mind has to do Vichaara (Self-enquiry) and destroy itself!}



CHAPTER THREE

{HOW TO GET RID OF THE MIND?}


Rama spoke

7= d(==

l
c= dl

||

I now know O Sage,
that in all the three worlds,
mind alone is the receptacle of the states of old age and death of a person.
Tell me how it can be certainly got over with!

*
Vasishta spoke

Raaghava!
First cultivate dispassion by the study of scriptures and the company of the knowers.
Purify the mind as suggested by them.
Slowly you will reach the Supremely Sacred state of the Self.


{VICHAARA}

|-

(
= = ||

A man will float like a piece of grass in the huge ocean of worldly existence
till his mind rests in the bank of Vichaara (reasoning).

7

s
c=--

||

The intellect of a man, who has understood the Reality,
pushes all the sufferings to the bottom
like the sands settling down in the calm ocean.

5H 7

7c ||
Hs c c=

||

This is gold; this is ash. A goldsmith analyzes thus and separates the two.
(It is a search for attaining something which one does not have.)
The attainment of the Self is not like that.
This Self is imperishable and is always there when one knows the Self even a little!
Wherefore should a man worry about its non-attainment?

{When gold is hidden in the ashes, a gold smith knows how to separate them. Is the Self also to be attained
by saying, this is the Self, and this is not..?
No!
When one analyzes the truth, the Self shines by itself transcending the time/space limitations.
There is no expertise needed like when only a goldsmith can find the gold from among ashes.
Anyone can reason it out. One has to just know that he is the Self.}


7 l s= l (

7 cl l

||

If the mind is deluded in a man because of the non-comprehending of the Truth,
then (it is obvious that) the ignorance is absent and uncertainty also vanishes
when the truth is comprehended!

7 c @

7c=

||

Hey you people! The Self not understood leads to sufferings.
When Self is known, it leads to endless bliss and quiescence.

c
Hc c

||

Separate out the Self which is lost as if mixed with the body
and remain in the state of the Self.
Do not delay anymore.

= c
- j q ||

Hey men! The taintless Self has no connection with the body in the least,
like the gold buried in the mud.

c

1
-

Q ||

Self (Brahman without limitations) is different;
the embodied one (with limitations) is different,
like the water drop on the lotus-leaf
(differ from each other and are unconnected).
I lift both my arms and scream; yet no one listens to me.

q c

c ||
c =

(
q q ||

Mind is already inert by nature.
As long as it stays like a (dull) tortoise stuck in a deep hole (of Vaasanaas);
completely senseless by chasing the pleasures; forgetting Self-enquiry;
till then,
the darkness of Samsaara enveloping it cannot be removed even in the least
by the twelve suns jointly put together along with the moon and the fire!

9@

l
| ||

In an enlightened mind which analyzes the nature of the Self,
the darkness in the heart disappears like the night by the rise of the Sun.

cc

| (c=

||

One must continuously instruct the mind reposing in the bed of identity with the body
for giving it the excellent type of enlightenment
so that the worldly existence gets destroyed.
The worldly existence causes abundant suffering.


CHAPTER FOUR

{WHO SUFFERS? WHO ENJOYS?}

ccc

c =-

||

The experiences of joy and grief are understood as belonging to the Self.
Such an understanding
is as unreal as seeing a (huge) tamarind tree in an (empty) point in the sky.

c
(7 =* ||

The joy and grief do not belong to the body (as it is inert).
They do not belong to the Self also which transcends everything.
They belong to one who owns ignorance.
When ignorance is gone, they belong to no one.

c

l=7
c == ||

Joy does not belong to any one. Grief does not belong to any one.
See that everything is just the Self which is quiescent and endless, Raaghava!


CHAPTER FIVE

{SELF AND THE WORLD}

7= *7*

j - c ||

All the perceived phenomena spread out in front of you are seen in the Self,
like the waves in the ocean and
the colored feathers in the sky (as when eyes are half-closed and face the Sun).

cc
c *|

: 9 ||

Just like a gem gives out its shine by itself, for no reason,
the Self which is the principle of luster shines forth as these creations.

c

q
c 9 -

||

O Intelligent one!
Self and the world are not one; nor are they two, as the world is unreal.
The world is just an appearance shining forth like this now.

{Self shines forth as the world. But they both are not identical and not the same. They are different; yet
they are not two separate principles, because world is not at all real. Self alone is the Reality.}

d( c
=l =l += c ||

All this is Brahman alone. All this is the all-pervading Self.
I am different; this is different from me. Cast afar this delusion.

d( c =
c = ||

Rama! Conceptions never occur in the Supreme
which is all pervading (no differentiation of space);
which is the dense state of Brahman (no differentiation of objects);
which is eternal (no differentiations of time);
like the differentiations (of waves, foams etc.) do not truly exist in the ocean.

= =c

q ( l ||

In that Supreme Self,
in that supreme Reality which is one and all,
there cannot be the conception of another one, like a snow drop cannot exist in the fire.

=cc 5

== (c c -

||

As one contemplates on the Self which is the principle of Consciousness,
by the Self which is of the nature of consciousness,
the Self shines forth in the Self which is bereft of all impurities (delusions)!


CHAPTER SIX

{BE FREE OF THE FEVER OF IGNORANCE}

s s = =
= ||

There is no grief; there is no delusion;
there is no birth; there is no one who gets born.
Whatever exists, that alone exists.
Be free of the fever, O Raaghava!

q = cc |H c
q c = ||

Be free of the idea of dualities (heat/cold etc.).
Always maintain only Saatvic qualities.
Do not bother about attaining something
or avoiding something.
Be in the state of the Self.
Be second-less.
Be without any suffering.
Be freed of the fever, O Raaghava!

= =

= ||

Maintain equal vision towards all.
Be in the state of your own true essence.
Be stable minded.
Be calm in all situations.
Have a quiescent mind free of grief.
Be a Sage maintaining silence (of the mind).
Be pure like the excellent gem.
Be free of the fever, O Raaghava!

H =
9|

= ||


Remain in the solitary state of the Self.
Subdue all the conceptions.
Be brave in the intellect.
Destroy all desires.
Just do whatever needs to be done as per the life circumstances.
Be free of the fever, O Raaghava!


c = ||

Get rid of attachments.
Be free of anxieties. Be free of the taints.
Get rid of all the dirt in the mind.
Do not accept things.
Do not completely reject everything.
Be free of the fever, O Raaghava!

9 99

H= = ||

Having reached the state which transcends the world,
having the fulfillment of attaining that which has to be attained,
be free of the fever, O Raaghava.
Be without any disturbances in the mind,
like the completely filled ocean.

H

cc c

= ||

Be freed of the network of appearances.
Having removed the collirium of delusion stuck to the eye,
completely satisfied in the state of the Self attained by the Self,
be free of the fever, O Raaghava!

= =c-

= ||

Having a form filling the endless expanse beyond the horizon,
O Excellent among the realized,
remaining majestic like the excellent Meru Mountain,
be free of the fever, O Raaghava!


9c

ccq= ||

By experiencing whatever comes ones way,
by not desiring anything anywhere,
by completely renouncing both acceptance and rejection,
be free of the fever, O Raaghava!

c= c

c= c( =
- ||

Being in the state of the Self through the Self,
be munificent, like the completely filled ocean.
Being in the state of the Self through the Self,
be blissful, like the fully radiant moon.

9c+
c+

=7
=7s =s s
cls =

= ||

This portrait of the world is of unreal character.
A knower does not chase the unreal O Rama!
You are a knower.
You have subdued the fickle mind.
You are without afflictions.
You are always shining as the Self.
O Handsome Rama, be free of grief.


CHAPTER SEVEN

{LIBERATED PERSON}

*
Vasishta spoke

= c
9
H

||


I cause the entire vibration of the world
(as the Self which causes everything by its very presence)
with this attitude, if one performs actions without any Vaasanaa,
(not having the attitude of doer-ship as a limited Self)
he is a liberated man according to me.

5 c cH

== c

||

Those who are obsessed with actions (attached to the fruits) in the embodied state,
keep moving from heaven to hell and hell to heaven.

cc
= = 7

| ||

Those who are obsessed with non-action (contradictory actions against scriptures),
also not doing any action (as ordained by scriptures),
move from hell to hell;
from suffering to suffering; from fear to fear.

c=@

l
Hcc

= H

||

Some bound by the string of their Vaasanaas,
forced to enjoy the fruits of their (wicked) actions,
move from the animal state to the immobile state
then again back to the animal state.

c = 7
=*

= * ||

Having cut asunder the thick rope of desires,
some fortunate ones who have realized the Self,
having analyzed well the fault of the mind,
move through very few births and reach the state of the Supreme.

= Hc

=
= H5

cc ||

Having gone through very few births,
if one is liberated in the present birth, Raaghava
then he is known as the Raajasa-saatvika.

s @+

=5

||

Born in the world, he evolves like the moon through the phase,
and attains the excellent state
like the Kutaja tree blossoming in the monsoon.

= c
= q H

c ||

He whose present birth is the last, O Intelligent Rama,
all types of taintless knowledge speedily enter him,
like the pearls filling up the excellent bamboo.

(q - H

7
= c=

j ||

Nobleness, compassion, friendliness,
calm disposition, freedom from attachments, knowledge;
all these take shelter in him always,
like the ladies seeking the harem.

= * *

s c
= *
||

He who while performing all actions does not get excited or grieve
when met with the gain or loss of the fruit,
is equal minded in the performance of all actions.

l = q=q H
|

= @

||

The dualities perish in him like the darkness in the day.
The qualities become faultless like the autumn sky cleared of clouds.

||

Everyone likes that soft-natured person of pleasant disposition
like the forest animals liking the sweet melodious sound of the flute.

l c= l

9= 9 |

||

Those men of noble characters,
who are in the last life-experience,
awaken the sleeping mind-animal
and make it bereft of all qualities. (Brahman-state))

{INTRODUCTION TO JANAKAS STORY}

cH 9H = l
= c

||

This is the method commonly to be followed by all the embodied people.
Now listen to some special cases, O Lotus-eyed Rama.

=
H qc

H ||

There are two excellent pathways
for the embodied ones born in this grand show of the world-appearance,
who are qualified for the attainment of the Supreme.

q59H*


= = @

( ||

One of them is where,
by practicing very slowly the instructions of a Guru,
they attain success in one or many births.

qcc

l=qc=

79 ||

The second one is where,
being endowed with slightly better mental structure,
the knowledge is attained very fast, by ones own effort,
like the fruit falling from the sky.


79c


c=

9H ||

Listen I will relate to you
this particular incident that happened in the past
where knowledge was attained
like the fruit falling from the sky.


CHAPTER EIGHT

{KING JANAKA}

*
Vasishta spoke

cqc


| ||

There is a highly valorous king named Janaka,
the ruler of the citizens of Videha (also means-the liberated ones without the body).
He was of a generous nature.
He had got rid of all difficulties (of his people)
and was endowed with ever-increasing prosperity.

Hs = l:
=*

||

He was a Kalpa tree (all-giving divine tree) for the needy.
He was the Sun for the lotuses namely friends.
He was spring for the flowers namely the relatives.
He was the God of love (with the flag of crocodile) for the females.

q

q c
=c

||

He was the moon for the white lotuses namely the Brahmins.
He was the Sun for the darkness namely the enemies.
He was the ocean with the gem namely compassion.
He was like a Vishnu staying on the earth.


= cl

= = ||

Once in the spring season,
he went to the beautiful garden where
the intoxicated cuckoo birds sang in delight,
like Indra entering his Nandana garden.

= (q 75

: s

||

In that excellent lovable garden
where the pollens were carried high by the wind,
he wandered alone in the bowers,
ordering his attendants to be away.

=c

@97 9j

( ||
H c =
H c ||

O Lotus-eyed Rama,
in some thickly interwoven grove of Tamaala trees
he chanced to listen from the
Siddhas who were completely invisible,
who always sought solitary places,
who moved about only in the caves of the mountains,
these songs
uttered in the course of their private conversation
expressing their inner feelings.












CHAPTER NINE

{SIDDHA -GEETA}

@

Siddhas spoke

5*7c9c=
cccc =

||

We contemplate on That
which is without perturbations;
which manifests from the principle of Self;
which appears in the intellect
as the experience of bliss arising from
the union of the perceiver and perceived.

{Any joy experienced outside in the perceived world is nothing but a droplet of the bliss-essence of Self.}

=

Others spoke

5* 7 cHc
9c

||

Renouncing completely the perceiver-perceiving-perceived
along with the Vaasanaa,
we contemplate on the Self,
which is the first appearance seen by the perceiver.

{Ego or the idea of ones own existence (Self) is the first appearance, by renouncing which one remains as
the Supreme state of the Self which is without limitations.}

=

Others spoke

q c H
9 9c

||


We contemplate on the Self,
which lights up all the lights,
which is eternal,
which is the state in-between
the two views of is and is not.

{Self is the subtle essence of consciousness which perceives all the other lights which in turn reveal the
perceived objects. Self is not bound by the language wrestling of existence and non-existence theories.
Self is the state beyond definitions and explanations. The theories that state that Self is not the world or
the Self alone exists both are incorrect. The Self is the perceived world like the gem is its shine. There
is nothing else other than the Self. }

=

Others spoke

=
@ cc

||

We contemplate
on that Reality, (TATSATYAM)
which is everything; (YAHA)
by which everything exists ;( YENA)
for which everything exists; (YASMAAYA)
from which everything arises; (YATAHA)
of which everything exists ;( YASYA)
in which everything exists. (YASMIN)

=

Others spoke

=
9

= c

||

The letter A is the first part;
HA letter is the last part;
and it exists with endless forms;
it is uttered continuously;
that Self of mine I contemplate upon.

{A+HA+ Resonance (M)-AHAM I.
This sound exists as denoting the Self; it exists as the I uttered by all that have self-awareness. All our
thoughts are centered on this I. This ego is nothing but the Self bound by limitations of space and time
ideas. Contemplating on the Self removed of limitations, one remains as the Self state which transcends all
limitations.}



=

Others spoke

c= (q

= 9=
c= cHc

||

Those who seek another god rejecting the Lord seated in the cave of the heart,
they are after an ordinary gem,
throwing away the many Koustubha gems (worn by Lord Naaraayana)
kept in their hands.

{Self is the other name for Chit which is the source of all that is perceived with name and form. Gods also
come under the perceived category as they have names and forms. Without trying to realize the Self which
is also the essence of Gods, if one goes after the Gods with form, he is as foolish as a person who throws
away the wish-fulfilling Koustubha gem already in his hands and picks up some road-side shining stone;
because the Koustubha gem can produce any gem that one wishes for; Self or Chit can appear as any God
one wishes for. Remaining as the state of CHIT or Self, one exists as the essence of all gods and other
beings.}

=

Others spoke

l c=
|

||

Only by renouncing all the desires, this fruit (Self-Realization) is gained.
By this (Self-Realization) alone,
the poisonous creepers of desires get completely uprooted.

=

Others spoke

qc=

: ||

That idiot who again binds himself to the thoughts of the objects,
knowing well the extreme essence-less-ness in them,
is not a man but a donkey.





=

Others spoke

cc=5|=


=q 5 | ||

The snakes named senses should be hit hard
by the rod of discrimination again and again
as they keep rising up here and there,
as Indra once hit the mountains with his Vajra weapon.

{Once the mountains supposedly had wings and were causes of destructions when they sat anywhere and
everywhere without control. Indra cut off their wings with his Vajra (thunder-bolt) weapon. The senses also
similarly act as causes of destruction because they always are after some object or other without
discrimination. By using the Vajra weapon of discrimination, these senses should be brought under
control.}

=

Others spoke

c

:
9: +

5c ||

One should bring forth the sacred joy of quiescence.
The mind of the good man becomes
subdued by practicing quiescence.
When the mind is quiet,
then the excellent state arises
bestowing the bliss of the Self forever.












CHAPTER TEN

{JANAKA LAMENTS}

*
Vasishta spoke

@q c

|:

5 l ||

Hearing these songs sung aloud by the group of Siddhas,
the king immediately felt distressed
like a coward
by the sounds coming from the battle field.

=

9 ||
=

||

Taking with him all his people he returned home.
He left them all in his house
and went up alone to the topmost point of the house
like the sun climbing the mountain.

9qH
=

||

There, observing the ways of the people (the world),
as erratic as the wing movements of the birds flying high
he lamented like this.

**

||

Alas what pains!
Getting tossed about in the worldly matters inherent with suffering,
I roll about as if forced, like stones rolling among the stones.

= s-
= j ||

In the endless span of time, I live just for some infinitesimal time.
I get attached to the life even then!
Fie on me with the worst type of mind!

l= =
l

* ||

How much is this kingdom worth in the whole of my life?
What worse could happen if it is not there?
I remain here suffering like a person who has lost his mind!

= s=s
=

||

I am endless in the beginning and at the end.
In the middle I have a fragile life.
Like a child attracted towards a painted moon,
I have placed my trust in this!

9l=5
*

( l ||

Though I do not have a world in front of me (as it is just emptiness)
I am under the spell of a sorcerer (and see a world)!
Ah the difficulty! I am so much deluded!
Who has deluded me like this?

q

l=cl c l=* ||

There is no object here that is real, pleasant,
excellent, and not-conceived!
What is my mind holding on to?

=
c ( =c- ||


Any object which exists at a distance is not really at a distance,
because it is in my mind only.
(All objects are conceived by my mind alone.)
Ascertained about this fact,
I will completely renounce the idea of the objects outside.

j

7*sq l

9 ||

The world runs madly towards pleasures
as if caught in a whirlpool only to end up in pain, not in happiness.
How can one trust in happiness from objects?

9c= 9 9c 9H

||

Every year, every month, every day, every moment,
the pleasures turn into
painful thick-balls of pain (DUHKHA-PINDA) again and again.

*

* l 7* *

||

Whatever is in this world as a perceived phenomenon,
is already in the perished state!
The position of the emperor etc is so lowly,
that it cannot be an object of thought at all!
Even the most excellent states (gods) also have been analyzed.
There is nothing here that can be sought by the wise ones!

q

l =c:
cc ||

Those who stay on the topmost positions today,
tumble down within a few days.
Alas, my wretched mind!
What is the meaning of your trust in greater positions?

=

7sj j
s-

s c= ||


Without a rope, I am bound (by Gunas).
Without the mire, I am dirty (by Vaasanaas).
Though staying above (as an emperor), I have fallen down (ignorant of my true nature).
Alas, Hey Aatman, my perilous state!

= s
l -

||

How, suddenly this delusion has enveloped me though I am intelligent,
like the black cloud covering the Sun and blocking the light!

=

||

What are these great enjoyments of mine!
What are these relatives of mine!
Like the child possessed by a ghost,
I am caught by this symbol (mine-ness) and feel anxious.


l

q

||

= 9
q

l c

||

I will myself put fetters on this lady named pleasure
who attracts old age and death.
What for should I place trust in her who only gives me anxiety?
Whether she goes or stays, what does it matter to me?
She has risen falsely like this,
like the bubble.

= =

9 s

||

Those great men of excellent prosperities, those enjoyments,
those good men, those affectionate relatives;
all have gone down the path of memories!
What stability is there even in the present?

H | d( H =
9H 9 ||

Where went the wealth of the kings of the past?
Where went the worlds created by Brahma of the past?
What is there to trust in my own state?

=5H q


@ *= ||

Lakhs of Indras have melted away like bubbles in the ocean.
The realized Sages laugh at me who am bound to this ignorant life!

d( : :
9:

||

Crores of Brahmas have gone.
The successive creations have all vanished.
Kings have disappeared like sand particles.
What stability is there in my life?

c +

||

In the nightmare seen in the night of worldly existence,
I have developed attachment to this delusion perceived as the body!
Fie on this ignoble state of mine!

s sc+
l7 ||

This person is so and so; I am so and so
all these ideas are wasteful imagined concepts.
Why am I living like an idiot caught by the ghost of ignorance?

||

This life is getting erased every second
by the subtle hands of Time extending endlessly.
Though seeing it, why do I not see it?

j|H|=

l ||

In the foot-stools (world phenomena) of Brahman
the Brahmas, who rule all, are the carved dolls;
the Vishnus are the balls which jump up and down when played
(when killing demons Vishnu has to fly up and down);
the Rudras who hold the skulls of Brahmas as their bowls are also
caught by Kaala (Time/Death).
Hey you attachment to the life! Why are you dancing in me?

9

=c = q
* q

7* q ||

Perpetually days have moved on;
even now the days are passing away.
Yet, not one day has arrived
where the changeless reality has been seen!


=c=

7* ||

Like swans playing in the lake,
only thoughts of pleasures rise in the minds of the people;
never the state of the Self!

*c* 9 7

q Hs lj ||

I have attained sufferings after sufferings.
I have experienced pains after pains.
Even now I have not developed dispassion.
Fie on this worst type of mind!

7 @


* 7* lc ||

Whichever wonderful object I intensely longed for,
I have seen it disappearing.
What excellent thing can be here?

= =
q

||

Those which are pleasant
in the middle (youth), in the end (fruits), when contacted (sense objects),
are all of perishing character, unholy and fit to be discarded as inauspicious.

* 7*

||

Whatever objects a man holds on to as his support,,
he sees them perishing away for certain.

: : : : H

: : | : ||

The foolish man attains more sinful states the next next day;
more cruel states the next next day;
more painful states the next next day.

7 :
= l : ||

In the childhood, he is stuck by sheer ignorance;
in the youth by the God of Passion; in the end by worries about wife.
What can the idiot do when?

-

l c

||

As it is experienced it disappears. It is without any true essence.
It is flawed being connected to various states of sufferings (disease, anxiety, poverty etc.)
The worldly existence is completely essenceless.
What does the stupid idiot see in that?!

q*g

7
= 9 ||

Even after performing hundreds of sacrifices like AshvaMedha and others,
one can get not more than the experience of a heaven,
which is just a mini point even if it is the huge life-span of a Brahma !

s |s

9
=c +

||

Which place is there in this world, or heaven or nether-worlds
where there do not exist
the stinging bees of problems?

|
= l ||

How do these-
mental afflictions which are the serpents coiled up in the hole of the mind;
and diseases which are the sprouts growing in the ground of ones own body;
can get removed?

sc

- *-

l -- ||

Unreal stays atop the real.
Pain stays atop the pleasures.
Sufferings stay atop the joys.
Which one shall I take shelter in?

= = 9

H5=
=

||

The world is filled fully with only those wretched creatures
which get born only to die!
The wise ones are rare to find.

c 9

= Hj ||

The attractive girls with eyes like the bees hovering on the blue lotuses;
who are adorned by extreme love,
remain giving pleasure only for a second
and indeed are objects of ridicule!



= 9
7 5

: = 7 ||

There are people (Brahma) by opening and closing of whose eyes,
the worlds get created and destroyed.
People like us are not even worth the count!

= -5-

= l ||

The hosts of objects which give pleasure
appear each better than the other, each more stable than the other;
yet they end up in pain only!
(because of the effort to earn it; the effort to maintain it; and the experience of pain when it is gone)

c
c = = ||

Those great enterprises which are considered to be
various types of prosperities by the mind
are only great calamities according to me.

s =
c = ||

Those great enterprises which are considered to be
various types of calamities by the mind
are only great prosperities according to my mind.

{The sufferings lead one towards dispassion and eventually end up in self-realization.}


s=c==

c
c

sH

In this world,
which is just an appearance created by the mind,
which is as fleeting as the moon reflected in the waters of the ocean,
how does this wondrous row of letters (words) comes into being
as this is mine?


| = c

||

In the state of the world
which has risen as a matter of random co-incidence,
only an idiot can have meaningless ideas of likes and dislikes.

c=

-

7*

s js ||

How am I stupidly attracted to these perceptions termed as pleasures,
which are limited by time and space,
which are scorching by nature (physical, mental, and Karma-bound sufferings),
like the moth rushing towards the fire-flames!

=

c

c

||

It is better to roll about in the Rourava (Hell) fire which burns once for all;
but never the experience of the dealings of the world
which again and again keep giving different pains!

=
= q

||

The worldly existence is said to be the extreme peak-end of all pains.
When the body has fallen inside it, how can one attain happiness?




=

||

Those who are moving about regularly
in this worldly existence which is by nature painful,
regard these and other pains alone as pleasant.

{Those who are attached to the world enjoy the pains they suffer. They cannot remain in peace if there are
no causes for anxiety.}

c***

7 - *

||

I too am the worst person comparable to a log of wood or clay ball,
for I am now one of those ignorant
who never ever analyze the truths of the scriptures.

9j

c
H

||

Mind alone is the great sprout of this tree of worldly existence,
which has grown huge with thousands of sprouts;
extending branches; and countless fruits and leaves.

==

: ||

Therefore I think that
I should dry up the conception by subduing the conception.
By this the tree of worldly-existence will surely dry up.

-

c


7q * ||

From now onwards I will not feel pleased
by the actions of the monkey named the mind.
They are just pleasant to look at.
I know their destructive nature now.

9 c
c

- ||

Bound by hundreds of ropes of desires,
having fallen and risen countless times,
I have had enough experiences in the ways of this world.
Now I will seek complete rest.

s *s

||

Ah I am destroyed; I am lost; I am dead;
I have thus lamented in the past.
All that is gone now.
I will not cry anymore.

9@

s 9(*s 7*sc
=- ||

I am enlightened! I am blissful!
I have found the thief who stole the Self!
I will completely destroy this thing called the mind.
I have suffered for long only because of this mind.

= H

||

Till now, the excellent pearl of my mind was unenlightened;
now being enlightened it deserves praise.

9c

||

The snow-drop of my mind will soon melt off
by the sun light of discrimination and attain prolonged life as the vapor.

9:
c

= ||

I have been enlightened fully by the various Siddhas of noble characters.
Now I will realize the Self which will bestow Supreme bliss.

c = ==

*-= | s-

||

Now I will get that gem called Self and
feel happy by observing it, sitting in solitude.
Other desires of mine have dissolved away
like the clouds on the mountain in the autumn.

c=

c
9

||


Now I who have decided thus,
will destroy the strong enemy called mind;
by removing forcefully from inside,
the unreal which has extended everywhere as mine;
and attain the quiescent state.
Salutations to you O Discrimination!


CHAPTER ELEVEN

*
Vasishta spoke

=

9
9 = 5 ||

As he was thinking in this manner,
the door keeper entered his presence,
like Aruna (Dawn/Charioteer of sun) appearing
in front of the chariot of another sun.

9
The Door-keeper spoke

-=

c* l

||

Lord! The entire earth is sheltered
under the care of your pillar-like shoulders.
Get up and attend to your duties as a king.

--

= q

||

The ladies are waiting in the bathing arena,
with the water pots filled with flowers, camphor and saffron,
like the rivers come to meet you in person.

(+= g

||


The bees are hovering in the bathing shelter made out of lotus stalks,
mistaking it to be a forest of white lotuses.

*

||

The chariots with chowries, elephants, and horses
are ready for the services of after-bath,
like the swans and cranes found on the banks of the lotus lake.

||

The worship rooms are decorated with
all the necessary items needed for worship like flowers, scents etc.


c 9H H| qd ||

The Brahmins have bathed and
bought sanctifying materials;
and are reciting sacred chants awaiting your arrival
to receive gifts from your hands.


=

||

The eating arena has been well-decorated and
pretty maids are standing with chowries in their hands waiting for you.

c*

5
= =

||

Quickly get up king, and attend to your daily duties.
The great men never are tardy in their work.







CHAPTER TWELVE

{JANAKA THINKS}

9cHc

= ||

Hearing the words of the door keeper,
the king started thinking about
the wondrous nature of the worldly existence.

l= =

9 Hj ||

What sort of happiness is there in owning this kingdom?
It is a fleeting experience and of no use to me.

c= c-
= * = ||

I will renounce all the wasteful magic show of illusion (Shambaras sorcery),
and remain in solitude like the calm ocean.

c9

-
cHc

* ||

Enough of these illusory enjoyments!
I will renounce all the actions and remain blissful.

c |++


c =q-= ||

Mind! Discard this talented practice of enjoying pleasures,
so that this muddy shower of birth, death and ignorance stops.

+ c
+ *

||

Whatever you see as attractive O mind, in all the ten directions,
by them alone you are going to end up in pain.

9c

||

The mind never feels satisfied
by indulging for long in all the pleasures again and again,
whether going after them or practicing abstinence.

c

=
c

||

Therefore idiot, stop entertaining worthless thoughts of pleasures.
Go after that which gives genuine satisfaction.

*
Vasishta spoke

=c *

= c ||

Having thought like this, Janaka remained silent.
His restless mind quietened,
he looked like a painted picture.

9s
H

| cc

H ||

The door-keeper did not speak anything more, out of fear and respect;
for he was well trained to understand the moody nature of the kings.

*

H c

= ||

Having remained silent for a second,
Janaka with the subdued mind,
again started thinking about the life of people.





CHAPTER THIRTEEN

{JANAKA THINKS AGAIN}

l

cc -

||

What excellent thing is there to regard as an achievement
that I should make some effort to obtain it?
What imperishable object is there
that I can place my trust upon?

l lH l *H
cl ||

What matters if I do or do not do any work?
There is nothing which exists for ever without perishing.

lHlH

sc

: H ||

This body is an illusory appearance.
Whether I am engaged in work or not,
what can affect me, the unchanging pure Chit?
As I am the unchanging pure state of Chit,
what conceptions do I have?

-9 9 c-
c * =

||

I will not desire for something that has not been obtained.
I will not discard what is already there.
I will remain in the state of the Self happily.
Let whatever is mine be mine.

|

lHslH c9 = ||


Anything done or not done has no meaning for me.
Whatever one gets by action or non-action, both are illusory.

HH

lH

||

Whether I do prescribed duties ordained by scriptures or society,
there is nothing I desire to attain any fulfillment.

c

H9 s 9

lH
c=j

||

Therefore let this body rise up and do the natural works allotted to it.
If no movement is there the body will just dry up.

*
l == ||

If the mind is without desires,
if it is equal in loss and gain,
the actions rising out of the body with its limbs
by its movement or non-movement will have the same results.

=9=

||

When the ideas of doing the action and enjoying the fruits
do not arise in the mind,
then even doing an action is equal to not doing it.

= 5

+ lH =

= c ||

It is a deep-rooted idea
that every man identifies with his action.
I am now in the state without afflictions.
I will completely renounce the idea of doer-ship.






CHAPTER FOURTEEN

*
Vasishta spoke

=c 9lH
H: c

l l ||

Having pondered in this manner,
Janaka got up with an unattached mind
to perform the duties that belonged to him,
like the sun rising to begin the day.

** c=
9 c

||

He renounced all the likes and dislikes,
emptied the mind of the Vaasanaas
and performed actions that fell to his lot,
as if in deep sleep when in the wakeful state.

q

|= | ||

All through the day
he performed all the prescribed duties without a flaw.
At night he remained absorbed in contemplation.

c

=+
-Hc c ||

Keeping the mind quiet by freeing it of all the ideas of sense pleasures,
he advised the mind as the night was coming to an end.








CHAPTER FIFTEEN

{JANAKA ADVISES THE MIND}


c c

l =

||

O Mind! This worldly existence always gives pain and never any happiness.
Be quiet. By remaining quiet one attains the true essence of peaceful-bliss.

=-
c = ||

As you go on conceiving worthless objects,
the world keeps on expanding through your thoughts.

c
=c ||

Hundreds of branches appear on the trees by the sprinkling of waters.
Your desires for senses pleasures, you rogue,
make you end up in hundreds of afflictions.

=c =*

ccHc c =

d ||

The creations filled with worlds and births
rise from the conceptions formed by the network of thoughts.
Therefore renounce this variegated phenomenon
and take shelter in quiescence.

*

c ||
cc= 7
q

||


O Handsome discrimination!
Analyze the impermanency of this creation
and find the true essence of all.
Remaining in that state
get rid of the hankering for the perceived world.
Do not accept anything; do not discard anything.
Wander freely.

7 cq c


|

: ||

O Good mind!
Let this perceived world be real or unreal; appear or disappear;
Dont get affected by its good or bad qualities.

= 7

q+ = s7: ||

You are in no way related to this perceived world in the least.
What relationship is this
that you have with a non-existing phenomenon?

cc q+
= H|

||

You are not real; the perceived world also is not real.
It is a wonderful alphabet that says that
the two unreal things have real relationship!

c

cc l =

j: |7 c c ||

Even if you say O my beautiful mind,
that you are real and this world is unreal,
tell me how can the real and unreal be together like the dead and the alive?

c c 7 q l =
c9

||

Hey mind, if you and the perceived phenomenon both are in essence real,
then what need is there to cry or laugh about anything?

=

c


H=-

* c ||

Therefore renounce this great affliction and bring in the silent bliss.
Renounce this stormy ocean of perceptions.
Renounce this unworthy state.

=q c

=
q = = ||

Do not burn yourself like the fire-crackers.
Do not be deluded and become an idiot, O mind.

l =c


d

=
ll ||

There is nothing excellent here
that is going to give you complete satisfaction.
So bravely cast afar this restlessness and take shelter in the Supreme,
O fraudulent mind!


CHAPTER SIXTEEN

*
Vasishta spoke

= =

||

Having pondered in this manner,
King Janaka performed all the actions without any flaw.
The intelligent one never again was deluded.

9 H=c




* ||


He never got excited by any joyful enterprises.
He acted always as if in deep sleep state.

9

c 7 c
j ||

From then onwards he never rejected any perception
nor desired anything also.
Without any anxiety he concentrated only on the present.

q

j - ||

Endowed with constant discrimination
he never ever was tainted by the deep-rooted fault of ego,
like the sky is not tainted ever by dust.

l

|
-7= ||

Through discrimination and proper enquiry,
the kings knowledge reached its extreme limits and became taintless.

*

c
l ( - ||

Freed of all conceptions, freed of all afflictions,
the essence of the Supreme shone resplendently in his heart-space
like the sun shining in the sky.

==H
c=c

||

He saw the entire world of objects established in the Self.
He saw everything as the Self.
He realized the Self as the essence of all that exists.

9(*

H=


9

cc


He never felt extremely joyous nor was he distressed by anything.
Acting naturally as behoove his status,
he was always in the state of equanimity.

=H

7 7 ||

The beloved king lived as a Jeevan-Mukta from then onwards.
He had realized the state of the Supreme. He was a mature knower.

= =

+ s ||

Ruling the citizens of Videha,
who loved him as their lives,
Janaka never lost control and never was affected by joy or grief.

*
=c (* ||

He never got annoyed by any actions
done by the influence of the three Gunaas.
He was never affected by the good or bad that affected his kingdom.

=

c l

*c = ||

Though performing all actions,
he actually does not do anything anywhere.
He remains always as the changeless Chit.

|
+ ||

As king Janaka remained awake in a deep sleep state,
all his attachments to all objects were at an end.

* =c

-=c

||


He does not feel anxious about the future.
He does not bother about the past.
He just tackles the present moment with a smile.

H
9 9 ||

O Lotus eyed Rama, he attained completely that which has to be attained
through proper enquiry alone and not through any desire as such.

cc 9
qq = ||

He thought within himself every question that troubled his mind
and did not stop the enquiry till the answers were got.

q

c9
c

j+lq

||

The Supreme state is not attained through a Guru,
or the understanding the meaning of scriptures, or by merits of the past.
The Supreme state is attained only through
the intellectual expansion got through the process of enquiry
which becomes possible by the company of the noble.

=

97
q lH= ||

The Supreme state is attained only through
the beautiful intellect endowed with knowledge becoming a friend
and never by any action as such.

==

97|

q= ||

When the light of understanding (PRAJNAA)
with the sharpened edge of the wick namely analysis of the Truth
shines brightly,
the darkness of ignorance does not remain anymore.



97l

| ||

A person without understanding suffers
even if a small difficulty occurs.
The thin grass shoots are tossed about even if a soft tiny whiff of air blows.

97s s
cc 5 ||

O Slayer of enemies!
A person with understanding gets out of this worthless Samsaara,
even if he is not helped by anyone,
even if he has not studied any scriptures.

97s =
*97

q 9 ||

A person who has understanding attains
the end of his pursuit even if helped by nobody.
A person without understanding
fails in his enterprises even if he puts in all his effort.

= 97

H 9 ||

One should increase ones understanding
through scriptures and company of the wise.
A creeper when regularly watered when it is young,
gives fruits later on, as a tree.

c: lH (| :
c: :

97 ||

Whatever effort a person makes to attain an external object,
that much effort should be done in the beginning
to increase ones understanding.

=

97= ||

One should destroy the blind-understanding (ignorance)
which is the extreme peak of all sufferings,
the excellent store-house of calamities,
the seed for the endless trees of world-experiences.

qq 5=qc
cq 97=c ||

Whatever pleasures are there in all the worlds
starting from the heaven above to the nether worlds below,
all of them can be obtained
by the excellent storehouse of understanding or wisdom.

97c cc
||

Only through wisdom one can
cross over the ocean of the worldly existence, Raaghava,
not through charities or penance or pilgrimage centers.

97 c


-

- ||

Even lions which tear off the heads of huge musth elephants with their nails,
are defeated by foxes with the help of wisdom,
as easily as deer getting conquered by lions.

= c

9 9 97=
c 97 7 ||

Even an ordinary man can become a king
if he is endowed with wisdom.
A wise man of proper understanding alone
deserves the heavens and other worlds.

= 97 c l
= 9 ||

This understanding is the wish fulfilling gem CHINTAAMANI
resting in the treasure chest of the heart of a discriminating man.
It bestows any fruit that is desired like the Kalpa tree of heavens.

l

97c
= @ ||

A wise man protected by discrimination
is not wounded by the faults arising out of desires
like the arrows cannot affect a person wearing an armor.

97 c j 7
= ||

Through proper understanding one can see the entire world as it is in reality.
A person with such a vision is not affected by sorrows or joys.

c s:
-

c: 97 ||

The cloud named ego,
which is inert in essence,
which extends everywhere,
which is dark because of desires (waters),
which is moving without control,
can be removed only by the strong winds of understanding.

* ||

A farmer who desires the fruit of his crops
first tills the land properly.
Likewise a person who desires the state of the Supreme
should clean up the mind alone first.












CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

*
Vasishta spoke

5 cc
lq ||

In this manner Rama,
when you analyze the Self by the Self like Janaka
you will attain the state realized by the great Sages without any obstacle.

*

7*
7*

H = 7* = ||

Delusion-seeds held tightly in the fists and
torrents of pouring rains of calamities
and all misconceived perceptions perish
when the Supreme is realized.

5 c
97c c

||

Rama! Look at the Self as the source of everything like Janaka
and realize the Self through proper understanding
and be an excellent person endowed with all prosperities.

c=
c 9 ||

When one is always engages in the enquiry of the Self,
and observes the world as an ever-changing phenomenon,
the Self is realized in course of time for sure ,
as it happened in the case of Janaka.

=
9c7

||

No divinity, not the prescribed actions,
not the wealth, nor the relatives
act as shelter for the men frightened of the worldly existence,
except their own sincere effort.

* c

= -

||

Those who are devoted to divinities alone or
engage themselves in some misconceived rituals and rites,
are of dull intellects.
Such a mode of intellect only leads to destruction
and should not be followed.

c Hcc
@ ||

Taking shelter in supreme discrimination,
realizing the Self through the Self,
One should cross over the ocean of worldly existence
with a dispassionate intellect freed from all attachments and desires.

7975 ||

The event in Janakas life was related you Rama,
where he attained knowledge like a fruit falling from the sky all of a sudden.
The knowledge gave him supreme bliss and
the tree of ignorance withered away.

|
q

l ||

The picture of the world conceived by the mind dissolves through enquiry,
like the snow melts off with its coolness taken away by the touch of the rays of the sun.

c l H
9 ||


When the night namely the misconception of I am the body perishes,
then the vision of the Self which extends everywhere arises by itself.

c==

||

I am this body- when this narrowed up understanding dissolves away,
there arises the broadened vision of the Self pervading the entire universe.

cH
c q@

= c ||

Just like Janaka who renounced the Vaasanaa of limited ego O Intelligent one,
you also follow the same method of enquiry and remove that Vaasanaa from the mind.

@

H q-

-9 ||

When the idea of the limited ego perishes,
the Supreme sun of self-realization definitely shines with all its grandeur
in the taintless sky of consciousness,
like the Sun in the cloudless sky of autumn season .


= 9 ||

This idea of identification with a limited appearance
is excessively Taamasic in nature.
When it is completely subdued, knowledge makes its appearance.

=
9=

= ||

There is no I; there is nothing else also.
There is also not the idea of does not exist.
The mind which is quietened does not drown in wants.

=
= q= @ ||

Running after wants and rejecting all unwanted things;
this character of the mind alone is termed bondage Rama, nothing else.

7 cHc d ||

Do not worry when you get unwanted things.
Do not hanker after wanted things.
Renounce both likes and dislikes.
Remain just as you are and be in the pure state of the Self.

| = c= l ||

In whom the state of this is to be attained and this should be avoided,
has dissolved off,
they neither want anything; nor do they reject anything.

HH

||

When the ideas of favorable and not favorable exist
in-built with the calculations of profit and loss in a mind,
how can there exist equanimity and purity inherent with the nature of dispassion?

=d(c =q
s c lH

H H

||

When there exists only this single principle of Brahman without any afflictions,
what ever is there to be termed as favorable or unfavorable
with the ideas of divisions or sameness?

j g c

- ||

When the two restless monkeys namely the apprehensions about likes and dislikes
keep jumping about the tree of the mind,
where is there even the hope of some peace?

c 7
| *H - ||

7 *=c ||

Desirelessness; fearlessness; eternity; equanimity; knowledge;
a state without any wants; absence of doer ship; calm disposition;
state without any disturbing thoughts; stability of mind; friendship towards all;
happy state of the mind; soft nature; tender words;
all these qualities exist in the knower who is free of likes and dislikes;
with all the Vaasanaas completely destroyed.

c 9c
9c |

||

One should forcefully control the mind running downwards
like the dam holding the falling water by force.

(=cHc *===
== ||

Renouncing completely the conception of these objects,
enquire the true nature of everything, always, in all manners,
as you stand; as you move; as you sleep ; as you breathe.

|*

9

==

||
= @

c-

=c ||

My dear Rama!
Cut asunder the dirty net of Vaasanaas -
woven by the threads of worries;
thrown into the waters of the worldly existence;
to catch the fish of desires for sense pleasures;
- with this sharp knife of intelligence.
Blow away all the clouds like the wind and remain in the all pervading Supreme state.







PART ONE OF
SECTION FIVE UPASHAMA PRAKARANAM
COMPLETE










About the Author:

Maa Tejasvini

The author spent many years doing research on ancient Sanskrit texts in the Himalayan
region. She was exposed to many unique spiritual experiences which are beyond human
comprehension.
Her mission in life was to translate all renowned spiritual texts and literature of Sanskrit
and bring them to the light of the public.