YOGA

VAASISHTA

A PHILOSOPHICAL TREATISE

COMPOSED BY

VAALMIKI MAHARSHI

q~ 9*


*
ESSENCE OF YOGAVAASISHTA
Compiled by
1
Tejasvini


91

~9

*
91

FIRST HALF OF SECTION SIX

FINAL EMANCIPATION

PART ONE

INTRODUCTION


RAMA REALIZES THE SELF

The First part of the Nirvaana Prakarana actually is the final chapter of Yoga Vasishta;
in the sense, the discourse which began in the Mumukshu Vyavahaara Prakarana
intended at relieving Ramas distressed state of mind, is fructified after the fifth section-
Upashama Prakarana.
Rama was not an ordinary student. As he is listening to the words of his Guru, he
contemplates within on the subtle truths revealed by the Sage. His mind remains joined to
teachers mind. The words were not heard through his ears; but through the heart. As the
Sage guides him step by step, he climbs the ladder of Self-knowledge along with him and
lo, he suddenly is in par with Sage Vasishtas level of realization.
It is not a myth when they say that a Guru is a magical philosophers stone which turns
the iron not into gold but into another philosophers stone.

ROPE AND THE SNAKE

Imagine a dark room where you find yourself locked in.
Winds blow from the holes in the roof. Some dim light falls from the pores in the roof
creating dark shadows on the walls, frightening you to your wits. You cant see anything
much but for the long rope dangling in front of you.
A snake! Yes a snake it is! Look at it moving to and fro ready to pounce on you any
moment. Your teeth chatter. Your body is bathed in sweat. Your limbs are frozen in fear.
Is it the end? You were born just to get bitten by the snake? Is the snake poisonous? Will
the bite be painful? Will it be an instant death or a slow painful death?
Your imagination runs wild. You have died a hundred times by the snake-bite in your
mind even before the snake bit you. You are not even able to get up and run. Fear has
made a statue of you. You stare at the snake with fear. You are ready to die any moment.

Suddenly- the door opens.
Someone has entered the room with a lamp
Instantly the room is flooded with light. And the snake?
There was no snake at all.
It was just a rotten rope moving in the wind!
You heave a sigh of relief.
Your hands are no more bound.
You smile at your own foolishness.
You are free of all fears.
You walk out into the free air holding the hands of your Guru.
You have a lamp in your hand like him now.
You are ready now to bring light to many dark rooms where ropes are dangling in
darkness, frightening still more bound beings who see the snake in the rope.
You yourself are the Carrier of light.

RAMA THE RAAMA!

Rama was Raama now!
He was now in the realized state!
All his delusions, depressions had melted off like the snow in the hot sun.
He was no more the Rama who wept in solitude for being the son of an ignorant king.
He was now Rama the Supreme bliss principle.
There was nothing more he needed to learn. He had no need to even set regular hours for
contemplation. He had attained the human goal of JeevanMukti just by pondering over
the few stories his Guru had related.

STORIES

Shukas story built confidence in him.
Aakaashajas story made him understand that there was no Creator and no Creation
process as such. Everything was just a random manifestation of some possible states.
The tale of Mandapa shattered his ideas of the absolute solid world bound by time.
Through Karkatees story he understood that no special qualities are needed for the goal
of realization except a mind purified of Vaasanaa dirt.
Aeindavas story was a revelation to him of how any strong idea of identity could change
a person.
The simple stories of Mind gave him a glimpse of the great producer of non-existing
worlds namely the Mind.
Lavanas story gave him the understanding that each person carries his own world in his
own mind with his own Space/Time idea.
Shukras story was an example of how minds can swerve down from any contemplative
state to drown in endless cycles of births and deaths, if it falls prey to a Vaasanaa.
Shambaras story was an eye-opener to the harmful effects of the limited ego.
Daashooras story explained to him how very little intelligence is enough to seek the
Self-Knowledge.
Kachas song was what he was going to sing in his future maybe as Rama-Gaatha.
Janaka, he had already started to admire not knowing yet his daughter would join him as
his life-partner soon.
Prahlaada and Balis stories made his respect those demon kings who had conquered all
their lower Vaasanaas and lived as JeevanMuktas.
Gaadhis story gave him as warning of how even a random like or dislike may end up in
many states of delusion unknown to oneself.
And as the understanding grew deeper, he was taught the contemplation methods through
VeetaHavya and Uddhaalaka stories.

After contemplation, what is left?
Nothing but Brahman!
Rama the prince of Ayodhyaa was now Rama the Para Brahman.

Well, then the discourse had to end after Upashama Prakarana; but it does not!

NIRVAANA PRAKARANA

Here is an incident from the life of Swami Vivekananda.
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the renowned saint of Kolkata had called him once to his
bedside when he was ready to depart from this world; and touched his head as if blessing
him. Later he wept saying that all the knowledge that was his, he had transferred to
Narendra and was now emptied of everything.

Sage Vasishta also does the same.
He transfers all the knowledge he had acquired through his own personal experiences to
Rama so that the Ayodhyaa prince could guide many more seekers in the future.

As Ramakrishna says, to realize you just have to know only the Self; but to teach others,
you need to know more.
Nirvaana Prakarana is the more of that Knowledge.
It is like a lecture given by the experienced professor to a favored student after he has
mastered all the knowledge and is ready to face the world. Rama of course is the most
favored student of Sage Vasishta, for the young prince had sincerely absorbed all the
instructions thoroughly and had reached the JeevanMukti state even as the discourse was
going on. He was no less than a Shuka or Janaka.

Pleased by his students sincerity, Vasishta wants to train him to the post of an all-knower
like himself. And Vaasishta Raamaayanam continues even after Rama has reached the
JeevanMukti state.

Nirvaana Prakarana is now a conversation between two great minds in the similar state of
Nirvaana and not the question/answer session of an ignorant student and a learned Guru.
Rama and Vasishta are at par in their level of Self-state now.


Actually the conversation in words was not needed any more. With just a wish Vasishta
could have made Rama know everything instantly. But as he mentions in the beginning
of the Prakarana, the verbal discourse has to go on for the sake of many other sincere
students sitting in that court-room who needed more lessons from Sage Vasishta. For
their sake Rama and Vasishta continue their dialogue for a few more days.
Rama the knower now cleverly asks appropriate questions to his Guru so that the others
sitting along with him in the court-room may benefit by the answers.
That is what Nirvaana Prakarana is a discussion between knowers of the highest grade.

ARE YOU READY TO GO TO THE NEXT LEVEL?

Yoga Vasishta or Aarsha Raamaayana, or Vaasishta Raamaayana, or Jnaana Vaasishta or
Vaasishta, is not a text one reads to gain merit or to satisfy a curious mind. It is a
practical science of Realization. Any sincere student who desires to study the final
portion of this Vaasishta must analyze himself first and understand whether his ideas of
the world, space/time, destiny, divinity etc have changed now by Vasishtas teachings.
Has the student decided that self-realization is the one and only goal in his life?
Has the student got rid of Vaasanaas and purified his mind? Has the student removed
attachments? Is his mind free of likes and dislikes? Has he controlled his senses? Is his
mind ready for higher abstract knowledge?
If he has not, then it is better that he again starts his studies from the Vairaagya Prakarana
and makes his spiritual journey along with the ignorant Rama.

In the video games that you play in your computer, there are various levels you have to
cross before you finish the game. Unless you cross over the previous level you cannot go
to the next level.
Vaasishta is such a text.

You cannot do Paaraayana of the text and hope to increase your merit-collection.
If you want to understand Einstein you must start with Newtons three laws.
Without crossing the lower levels you cannot enter the sanctum sanctorum of Nirvaana
Prakarana; because this part of the text deals with the JeevanMukta states.

A sincere attempt has been made here to extract the essence of Vasishtas words and
make it simple enough to be understood by any seeker after Self, in any level.


SALUTATIONS TO RAMA THE PARA BRAHMAN!

SALUTATION TO THE GREAT KNOWER VASISHTA!

SALUTATION TO MY OWN SELF!




91

FIRST HALF OF SECTION SIX

FINAL EMANCIPATION


CHAPTER ONE

~
Vaalmiki spoke

97


c 9 7

After the discourse on Upashama Prakarana,
you now listen to this Nirvaana Prakarana
which when understood bestows Nirvaana.

As the great Sage Vasishta uttered these profound words and Prince Rama remained
silent, absorbing the essence of his words through his ears;

as the minds had discarded all outward actions, being absorbed intently on grasping the
meaning of the Sages words, the kings and courtiers remained without movement like
painted pictures;

as the brows of all those assembled there had bent upwards by a finger-span while they
pondered the deep meanings hidden in the words of the Sage;

as the group of ladies assembled there resembled the grove of trees filled with deep
humming sound, because their bee-like eyes had bloomed up by the sense of wonder,
resembling the flowers with bees;

as the sun remained in the fourth part of the day listening to the discourse and had
slightly reduced his heat and become pleasant as if he had attained the quiescent state by
the rise of a little knowledge;

as the wind which carried the sweet scent of the Mandaara flowers remained silent intent
on listening to the discourse, the garlands of flowers which decorated the roofs remained
unmoving and quiet; (the discourse had quietened both the garlands and the wind)


as the huge line of bees slept on the flower strings as if they were lost in contemplation
by knowing that which is to be known;

as the water in the decorative water-ponds reflecting the pearl-decorations remained
without the slightest quiver and shined forth (with those pearls reflections) as if absorbed
in listening to the discourse;

as the sunrays which had entered the cool discourse-hall through the windows appeared
as if cooling themselves to rest after a long journey in the sky;

as the hot sun with the body of the day, appeared as if revealing his inner peace because
of his body covered by the ashes (like an ascetic), being burnt by the super-shine of the
pearl garlands hung all over the walls (the day was getting cooler);

as the honey-filled lotuses held in the hands and also the lotuses decorating the crowns of
the kings had closed their petals a little in intoxication as it were, appearing as if they
had become blissful by listening to the honey-filled words of the Sage;

as the children and the birds in the cages disinterested in all this screamed for food;

as the night-lotuses opened up a little and as the bees rushing towards them flapped their
wings fast, the dust rising from their flaps settled on the chowries and the eye-lids of all;

as the frightened sunrays rushed through the windows as if escaping the dark shadows
filling the caves of the mountains;

as the sound of the drums and conches filled the quarters announcing the end of the
fourth part of the day;

as even the loud voice of the Sage was drowned by that (drum) sound like the peacocks
voice getting silenced by the thundering noise of the cloud;

as the highly agitated caged birds shook their wings like the leaves of the forest trees
shook by an earthquake;

as the babies fearing darkness took shelter in their mothers breasts like the thundering
monsoon clouds holding on to the peaks of the mountain;

as the courtroom of King Dasharatha was disturbed in this manner;

as the day got old;

as the sound of the conches ended;

Vasishta, the best of the Sages seated at the center of the court-room addressed Rama and
uttered sweet and pleasant words concluding the topic that was under discussion.

*
Vasishta spoke

q9
c q Hcc

Taintless Rama! I have spread out this net of words.
Bind the mind-bird in it; clasp it to the bosom and take it towards the Self.

Have you grasped the true meaning of my words discarding the wrong understanding,
like a swan discarding the water and sucking only the never-decreasing milk?

Analyze well what I have told you in your intellect again and again.
You have to follow the path I have shown you.
With such an understanding, you will never again be bound even while attending to your
duties of the world.

Otherwise you will fall down the chasm like the elephant slipping down from the top of
the Vindhya Mountain, or will be lost like a man moving blindly in dark forests without a
light.
Realizing the goal as directed by my words, acting without attachment as befitting your
station in life, understanding the essence of all scriptures, be established in the Self.

Hey courtiers! Hey king! Hey Rama, Lakshmana and other kings!
All of you attend to your evening duties. The day is coming to an end. Whatever is to be
discussed further on this topic will be done tomorrow.














CHAPTER TWO

~
Vaalmiki spoke


Night passed for Rama and his brothers in thinking about all that their Guru had spoken.
They slept very little yet got up in the morning eager to listen to more of the Sages
words. All the four brothers walked up to the Sages hermitage early in the morning and
offered their salutations. All the kings and Brahmins also visited him to honor him.

Sage Vasishta arrived at the court accompanied by a huge crowd of people. He sat on the
throne allotted to him and got ready to give his discourse.

Like Kumaara looking at Shankara, Rama fixed his eyes on the face of Vasishta, like the
bee flying in the sky rests on the fully blossomed lotus.

Sage Vasishta who could speak excellent words spoke these words to Rama who was an
expert in understanding his words.

*
Vasishta spoke


Raghu Nandana! Do you remember what all I said yesterday? Yesterdays discourse was
full of subtle meanings and profound explanations of the Supreme Truth.
Listen to my words today for the attainment of the eternal state.

By the practice of dispassion and understanding the truth about the Supreme you will
cross over this worldly existence. So practice these two disciplines well.

If through true understanding, the misunderstandings vanish and if Vaasanaas get
dissolved off, you will surely attain the state bereft of pains.

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Undivided by space and time;
the two end-points of which have never been seen;
that one Brahman alone has attained duality as it were
and remains as this world.

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Where Brahman alone exists as the quiescent principle
undivided by all objects,
and equally shines in all objects
how can there be another-ness?

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Realizing the true nature of the Self as Brahman;
freed of the (limited identity of) the ego;
freed of a limited form;
being the Supreme;
of one single existence;
with a quiescent nature;
experience directly the bliss of the Self as yourself.



{BRAHMAN ALONE IS THERE}

1 c q
1

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There is nothing called the mind.
There is nothing called Absence of Knowledge.
There is no mind. There is no Jeeva.
Rama! All these are just ones own imaginations.
They are created by Brahman alone.

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All the experiences of the senses;
all the perceived objects;
all the reflections that occur in the mind;
all the desires that rise up in the mind;
are Brahman alone!
That alone which has no beginning or end
shines forth like an ocean.

9+ s
T c [ g

71

In the nether world, in the earth, in the heaven, (space differentiations)
in the grass, (object differentiations)
in the living beings, (life-differentiations)
in space, (time differentiations)
that Supreme Brahman of the nature of Pure Consciousness alone is seen.
Nothing else is there at all.



{MIND IS A REALITY AS LONG AS!}

7 [
1 7 c~

As long as there is the taint of ignorance,
as long as there is the identity with the non-Brahman (non-Self) (body etc),
as long as there is involvement in the world-phenomenon,
so long will be the conceptions of the mind etc.

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7c1 cH

As long as there is the identity with the body,
as long as one feels the connection of Self to the perceived world,
as long as there is attachment to objects with the idea of mine,
so long will the delusions of mind etc continue.

7 1c

7qq
7E H c+

As long as you do not rise high by seeking the company of the noble,
as long as your foolishness does not perish,
so long will be the wretched states of mind etc.

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As long as this trust in the reality of the world is not shattered completely
by the power of true understanding,
so long will the mind etc remain as realities.

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c~

As long as there remain-
the blindness caused by ignorance,
lack of self-control,
desire for sense experiences,
accumulation of delusions by foolishness,
so long will the conceptions like mind etc will continue.

1

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9s7 c9c

As long as the poisonous stink of desire persists in the heart-forest,
the chakora bird of rational enquiry (self-enquiry) never enters the mind ever.



{MIND IS DESTROYED IN HIM WHO!}

*1

71 H cH

The mind delusions cease for one
whose mind is not attracted towards pleasures,
who is established in the cool taintless bliss,
and who has torn off the net of desires.

*c7c

97c1 9@

c4c

For that man-
who is always blissful in the heart
by completely renouncing the thirst for pleasures and attachment to them;
who has a composed mind;
and who has completely got rid of the mind-products;
(for him) - enlightenment rises.

1

11

17 c

How can mind-products exist for one who sees ones own body
as not an object at all; as non-existing as if it is very far;
ignoring it as if it is some worthless thing.

7 Hc
c

c @ [

When the incorrect understanding enveloping the Self like the dark cloud subsides,
when the Sun of realization rises,
know the mind to dissolve off like a drop of ghee in the fire,
never rising back again like a burnt up dry leaf.



{CAN ONE ACT IN THE WORLD IF THE MIND IS DEAD?}

74

c
c cc

Those great ones, the liberated while living,
who have had the vision of the Supreme within and beyond,
their mind-state is known as Sattva ( pure state of the Self).
(like the line of water seen on the dry sand)

74|


c+ cc

In the bodies of JeevanMuktas,
the Vaasanaa which is used for dealing with the world
is not known as the mind
for it has attained the state of Sattva.

cc7 c 1
| 9H7 cc1

The knowers of the Self,
though without the mind,
move in this world with ease,
always remaining in the state of equanimity,
without attachments
and established in the state of Sattva.



{THERE IS NOT TWO BECOMING ONE OR ONE BECOMING TWO}

7 7 cc1 7g
c 7 77 qc4

These liberated ones, established in the Sattva state,
are always in a composed state;
have full control of senses, though engaged in world-activities.
They always have the vision of the Supreme light (Brahman).
There is no Vaasanaa of duality seen as one reality.

7

q[ c

[7 7

1cH

For the Sage
who has turned within towards the Self;
who has offered the straw-piece called the tri-world as oblation
into the fire of the Chit;
the delusions of the mind and its products cease to exist anymore.



{SATTVA AND CHITTA}

ccc

The mind purified by discrimination is known as Sattva.
It does not ever bear the fruit of delusion
like a burnt seed does not sprout.

ccc

c4 1


Sattva in the ignorant minds results in repeated births
and is known by the name of Chitta (mental faculty).
When enlightened, it gives the contradictory result.
(repeated births do not occur.)

(Sattva of the knower is the Chitta of the ignorant. Sattva is the pure state of the Self bereft of Vaasanaas.
Chitta of the ignorant is the Sattva of the knower. Chitta is the tainted state acting as a channel for
Vaasanaas.)

99 7 cc

c 7

Since you have attained that which is to be attained,
your mind has reached the state of Sattva
and is burnt by the fire of Knowledge.
It will not sprout again.

@

7 9

Even if the tiniest desire has penetrated the mind,
it will sprout again like the tree cut by the axe or burnt by the fire;
but not so the mind which is burnt by the fire of knowledge
and is purified by enlightenment.


{BRAHMAN AND WORLD ARE NOT DIFFERENT}

[+

7 [+

q q[

Brahman expands as the world (through ignorance).
World is the expanded state of Brahman (in knowledge).
There is no difference between both
like there is no difference between Brahman and the Pure consciousness.

(Brahman expands as this world of differentiations because of delusion.
Through knowledge, the world is understood as the expanded state of Brahman without differentiations.
The difference between Brahman and the world exists because of ignorance. Once ignorance gets destroyed
there is no more the sprouting of repeated births.)







CHAPTER THREE

*
Vasishta spoke



{DISCARD THE IDEAS OF EXISTENCE AND NON-EXISTENCE}

71 7 +
7 7 1c

The tri-worlds exist in the Chit like the sharpness in the ray (of the Sun).
(Sharpness is the essence of the ray.)
Therefore, the Chit and the world phenomenon are not different.
Therefore the ideas of coming into existence not -existing are meaningless.


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1c 7

The symbol of word and its meaning is just a Vaasanaa; not an awareness of reality.
They both shine through the space of consciousness.
Therefore renounce the ideas of existence and non-existence.

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Non-existence was alone there in the beginning; Existence came out later.
Such statements of the Shrutis and the common usage of sentences like This pot is This pot is not-
are they all meaningless then?
No!
The Sage answers:
In the world, when thoughts are exchanged through sounds and their meanings get understood, it is because
of the Vaasanaas of the conversing persons, the speaker and the listener.

The existence or non-existence in reference to any object is just an agreement of words used in
communication to understand a part of the perceived phenomenon (Samvit); it is not an understanding of
reality (not Pramaa).

When an object is not perceived, as there is no way of cognizing the object, there is no word with
meaning that can refer to a non-perceived object. We cannot talk anything about an object which is
absent. Se we say It is not there. When we perceive the object in another space-time mode, we use many
words with meaning, and refer to it.
Because of the ephemeral nature of objects, we use the words born perish present absent past
present future and so on. All our words are based on the ephemeral nature of the objects. It is not a
statement of reality when we say that a particular object is absent. It is just a sound with meaning used for
communicating the non-perception of an object. It is the result of Vaasanaas of both the conversing persons
that makes such a statement possible.

Chit the Supreme Brahman is neither existent nor non-existent.
Brahman is beginningless, endless, always the same and imperishable. So we do not have words to refer to
Brahman. All our words can only refer to the ever-changing perceived phenomena; not the changeless
Brahman which cannot be perceived through senses.
The whole perceived phenomenon is a shine of the Supreme.

The words existence and non-existence belong to the perceived world; not to the Supreme Brahman.
Since both the perceptions of existence and non-existence emerge out of the Supreme only; since Brahman
alone shines forth as the world; both words refer to Brahman alone.)


{YOUR BODY IS NOT REAL EVEN IF YOU BELIEVE THAT THERE IS INERTNESS}

7c7 c 1c
7c ~

You are not the Self
(namely the body called Rama
which is of the nature of existence and non-existence)
as it is not of conscious nature.
Why do you cry for its loss?
When the world is understood to be non-existent as it is not-conscious,
where can be the imagination of a body?

(You are not the person called Rama which refers to your body which comes into existence and goes into
non-existence some day. You are the conscious one.
The body is non-conscious. You are not that. So why do you feel sad about the death of the body?
When the whole world is realized as non-conscious and so unreal, where comes again the question of the
body alone being real? The body is also a part of the perceived phenomenon and so is non-conscious and
unreal.}


{YOUR BODY IS NOT REAL EVEN IF YOU BELIEVE THAT THERE IS NO INERTNESS}

7 c cc 9
@

ccq7 q ~

If everything is conscious by nature,
then analyze well the nature of Consciousness.
My dear Rama!
Consciousness is extremely pure in essence. It is beginningless; endless.
Where can arise the imagination of the body?


(If you think that the entire world is pure consciousness alone and there is nothing called inert-ness, then try
to analyze the nature of the Chit. Then you will realize that Chit is of one single essence; pure and bereft of
all differentiations. There also the question of the body does not rise!)


{YOU ARE THAT}

c +s
F 1 1 1c

You are of the nature of consciousness. You are without parts.
You are free of the both bondage and liberation.
Remember your true expansive nature.
Forgetting that, do not become measurable (limited) (with differentiations).

1c
T0

s 7s [F

Attaining the complete nature of the Chit,
rising by the unsurpassed bliss,
have the true understanding
that the entire divided world is one complete essence of Chit.
You are of such a nature. You are quiescent.
You are the Chit. You are of the Brahman form.

1
1 1
s7 c [ s1
1 11qc7s1

You are the belly of the Chit-rock.
You are not of that nature; yet you exist as a variety of things;
even then, you remain as yourself unaffected by that.
You are whatever you are as you are beyond the reach of the words and mind;
yet you are not that distant also, as you are self-shining.

You are existent and non-existent.
The particularity of the objects which makes them differ in essence is non-existent.
You are not that (so you are existent).
The world beings speak of the differentiation alone as existent; that existence is not you.
(so you are non-existent.)

You are that (world); you are not that (world).
You are the Essence of pure Consciousness existing in yourself.
Salutation to you!

q7 7q 1c

11 ~ |17 1

You are bereft of beginning and end.
You are the well-expanded dense essence of the massive rock of the Consciousness.
You are taintless like the sky.
Remain in yourself (without mis-conceiving any suffering).

Salutation to such a You-
who are the dense essence of the Chit-rock which extends endlessly.
In your belly appear all the worlds
as if in sport,
looking different because of the Vaasanaas
like lines of the clusters of sprouts drawn on that rock by Maayaa.



CHAPTER FOUR

*
Vasishta spoke


{ALL WORDS DESCRIBING CHIT BELONG TO THE IGNORANT MIND}

q

7+


qc7 7c (+)

U (addressing Rama)!
You are that Chit which holds countless worlds
like heaps of water-drops of the abundantly rising waves
that will rise up as possibilities in the future.

4

c71 4

Be freed of the conceptions, getting rid of both the presence and absence of objects.
Hey Chidaatman!
Tell me where do Vaasanaas etc ever exist in you?!


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4c 97sq

This is Jeeva This is Vaasanaa-
in this manner the Chit alone shines forth by itself.
Tell me Dear Rama!
Where raises the context of discussing the meaning of other words which describe Chit?!


{YOU ARE RAMA THE PARABRAHMAN: NOT RAMA THE PRINCE}

q+c

1 +

You are calm like the sky equaling the ocean named Rama with all waves subsided
which is the unfathomable Chit-ocean of the Self which shines with huge waves.

(7 17c7 c [
As the Yogis feel happy in the Self which is Pure Consciousness always blissful by nature,
Supreme Brahman alone is referred by the word Rama.
The word Rama is the name of the Para Brahman when it is used in scriptures; not Rama, the son of
Dasharatha.)


{WORLD IS NOT DIFFERENT FROM BRAHMAN}

7* 7+

* 7 4~ 7

H
9q1



Like the heat does not differ from the fire;
like the fragrance does not differ from the lotus;
like the blackness does not differ from the black soot;
like the whiteness does not differ from the snow,
like the sweetness does not differ from the sugarcane;
like the light does not differ from the fire;
experience (reflecting the world) is like that to the Chit.

q7 c1c

Like the waves are not different from the waters,
so does the world (does not differ) from the nature of Chit.


{NOTHING IS BUT CHIT}

7

c q {q
7g 7

7g
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The experience (the world-appearance) is not different from Chit (Pure awareness).
I (the limited ego) am not different from the experience.
Jeeva is not different from me (limited ego).
The mind is not different from Jeeva.
The Senses are not different from the mind.
The individual body is not different from the senses.
The world is not different from the body.
Nothing differs from the world.


(CHIT is the perceived phenomenon getting perceived. Chit is the experience of the world.
Who am I?
Perceiver; the one who experiences; so I am the Chit!
Who is this perceiver? Jeeva (the embodied)!
Who is Jeeva? Mind!
What is Mind? Senses!
What are senses? Body!
What is body? Part of the world or the world!
So world alone is there! As Brahman alone is there, world is Brahman!
In reverse manner we can say-
World=Body=Senses=Mind=Jeeva=I=Experiencer=Chit
So Chit alone is there! World does not differ from the Chit!}

9 H
9 7 U

The great wheel rotates like this forever.
(if you think each term mentioned has a separate existence)!
Nothing rotates; not fast; nor slow!
(Nothing but Chit is there; so what rotates?)

17
q 177

Ones own awareness alone is there without end.
Everything is undivided.
Emptiness exists in emptiness.
Nothing exists at any time.

7

[ [ +

c +

1

Void swells up in the void.
Brahman expands in Brahman.
Truth shines in Truth.
Whole remains in the Whole.

H
7c

c H

The group of words which methodically quotes- one sky; two skies; many skies;
refers to the plurality of the object sky though it is not many.
Though the word has a proper meaning, it is in essence meaningless.
So is the group of words referring to the Self and world.

{JEEVANMUKTA}

7| [ [ +

**1:

c q

Inside taintless like the sky in the state of Brahman;
outside an expert in perfect actions;
remaining equal-minded in joyous and annoying occasions
like a stick or a clay lump;
he who sees the man with extreme hatred ready to kill him even
as a true friend (as the Self) is the real Seer.

| g

( c

He who sweeps away both friendship and hatred
like the entire tree getting swept away along with its roots by the river bank in floods,
he is free of the faults of likes and dislikes.

q 1F 7
7g

Since the emotions of attachment and aversion are not entertained within as ones nature,
the knowers remain as unreal forms only.
Though they are perceived they are not perceived in truth.
1

1 T

He who does not accept the entire world of objects as real or unreal,
neither is burnt by grief nor does he feel excited about them.
He is liberated while he is alive in this body.

CHAPTER FIVE

*
Vasishta spoke

{NOTHING EXISTS EXCEPT CHIT}
O Taintless one! Mind, Intellect, ego, senses are all only of the conscious nature and not
perceived at all. Where at all Jeeva and other stuff that you believe exist?
The same Moon gives light to all and eye-infection also to those with faulty eyes. Only
one single Self gives rise to multitude of things.
When the poison namely the thirst for the sense pleasures subsides, ignorance vanishes
instantly like the blindness is gone when the darkness vanishes.
Through the study of scriptures, the poisonous virus namely the thirst for the sense
pleasures gets destroyed like the mist in the autumn.
When the ignorance is gone, know Rama that the mind is destroyed completely with all
its related things. When the cloud vanishes, the cold also goes off!
When the mind becomes no-mind, the delusion of the Vaasanaa disappears, like the
pearls falling off when the string holding them is broken.
Raaghava! Those who misinterpret the meaning of the Scriptures are to be considered as
having the minds of worms and insects.
You have now attained the stability of mind in the state of the Supreme by discarding
both the existing and non-existing objects.
I believe that you have attained enlightenment by my words Rama, like the king waking
up from the sleep of ignorance by the sound of drums.

When the family priest discourses, even ordinary people absorb it well. How can you not
grasp it all when you are so intelligent and wise!

As you have analyzed the statements made by me within your own intellect, my words
have entered you like the water seeping into the ground.


Rama spoke

Aha! I have attained the state of Chit by contemplating on the truths spoken by you.
The world phenomenon has subsided for me though it is still in front of me.
I see everything now freed of the covering mist. I have no more doubts. The mirage of
desires has vanished.
All those doubts, those apprehensions are all gone now, like the ghosts imagined to be
roaming in the night disappear in the morning when the Sun rises.

How can the Self be tainted? Such doubts are completely destroyed like the darkness in
front of Moon.
Self alone is everything; everywhere; at all times; conceiving forms.
Where is the mis-understanding of ideas like this is different; that is different etc.?!

Now I have realized the blissful nature of the Self and laugh within reminiscing about
who was that ignorant I moving in the world, mechanically chained to Trishnaa (thirst
for pleasures)!

AA! Now I remember well that I am all this.
Today I stand as the Self bathed by the nectar of your words.
Aha! I have ascended the sacred place above all the earth (perceived phenomenon).
From here when I look around like the Sun there is no down at all. (nothing above, or
below)

q 9

11 111 1

1 1 [ 1

Today I am in my own nature (of Brahman).
I am in my own Self. I am blissful.
I am that bliss which the world perceives as happiness.
I am Rama (I suit the name of Rama being in the state of Self-bliss).
Salutation to me (Brahman)!
Salutation to you (who guided me to such a state)!


CHAPTER SIX

*
Vasishta spoke

Hey Mighty armed Rama! Listen to my Supreme words. I am telling this because you
have pleased me by following my instructions properly and have experienced the
Supreme state; and I wish always your welfare.


{IMAGINE THE DIFFERENTIATIONS OF A MASTER AND DISCIPLE AND LISTEN}

+

@


~@

Even if you have to conceive differentiations (of listener, listening and speaker),
listen for the betterment of your intellect and also
because those of lesser intellects can be freed of the sufferings.


{TURN SENSES INTO FRIENDS NOT ENEMIES}

17c71 c
H7

Feeling angry about that ignorant man filled with ignorance,
the sense-enemies overpower him
who identifies the Self with the body.

1 7c 71 cc 1
*

H(

7 7

The senses become friendly
for the knower who has realized the true state of knowledge
and is established in the Self,
and do not hurt that blameless one.

{WHAT IS IN A BODY?}

1

1 1 7T

When a man is engaged in experiencing the objects of the world,
he never has any praise but criticism only for whatever he gets.
Why then does he want to possess the body
which is always distressed in matters connected to the body?

(Whatever a man experiences as identified with the body, he never is fully satisfied. There is always
dissatisfaction in whatever he experiences because nothing lasts long. He can only find faults with
everything. The body is always in some distressed state or other. However he may try, he has to experience
only discomforts because of the body. Then still why does he get attached to it so much?)


{SELF AND BODY HAVE NO CONNECTION AT ALL}

c |+7 | c
H 9

The Self is not connected to the body; or the body to the Self.
Both of them are completely different like the light and darkness.

171 1

|11 {c1

c

This body-rock is inert, ignorant, lowly, ungrateful, and perishable.
Let whatever has to happen to it, happen.

(It is ungrateful because it moves only by the power of the Self; yet gives back pain only to the Self.)

c c c 7c
7 1

How can it ever take over the conscious nature of the Self which is always there?
(Body ceases to exist in dream and deep sleep states)
If one of them is understood as the conscious, the other remains inert only!

(If one tries to analyze the conscious nature of the body if it is supposed so, then he has to be conscious of
the body and analyze it as a separate entity. The body cannot analyze itself. So it is proved to be inert.)

|T

How can they both experience pleasure and pain equally?
How they both are never found to be equal or have equal functions?

(Dont we see in the world, that if the mind is distressed, the body becomes emaciated, and if the body is
hurt, the mind also suffers? Are they not the same?
If such a supposition is made, the answer is-
The body and the Self appear be undifferentiated like the heat and the iron in a hot piece of iron, and appear
to be the same. Yet when you separate them out, they do not have similar characters like the iron and the
fire are not the same.)

477
1F

1

When they are not connected at all, how can they be joined together?
How can a gross object be subtle like an atom?
Or, how can the subtle atom be gross?
(How can they both ever become one?)

q1 c
7 7

In the case of night and day, if one rises, the other cannot be there at all.
Knowledge cannot become ignorance.
The shade cannot ever become hot.

q[ { 1 *


1

The Reality named Brahman can never become the unreal body
even if the perception makes it appear so.
The embodied Self, though everywhere has no connection to the body in the least.

q1qc

+1

7 1cc

Though the air is supported by the sky, because of the differences in nature,
it is unaffected by the movement of the air.
So also,
old age, death, difficulties, pain and pleasure, existence and non-existence
are not in the least here for you.
Therefore you remain free of all this.




CHAPTER SEVEN

*
Vasishta spoke



{ANY PERCEPTION IS A FORM OF AVIDYAA, BE IT A STRAW-PIECE OR A GOD}

c7q

+ c


T 17

q q @ H c

Dear Rama!
Whatsoever is there in all worlds,
spread out as some extreme point of greatness
or extremely worthless like a dry piece of grass;
if it is a perceived phenomenon rising from even Gods like Hara and others;
understand all that to be only a form of Avidyaa.
By transcending that alone one attains the Self-realization.


Rama spoke

q
qc c

[7H

Brahman! Hearing from you that
whatever has risen with a form,
even if it be pure (arising not out of past Karmas; but by free will),
even if it belongs to Hari or Hara,
is only an expression of Avidyaa;
I feel as if I am confused about everything.

*
Vasishta spoke

q*

7 c
c1

That which is untouched by the perceived phenomenon, quiescent, and the essence of all;
that existence which alone manifests as all the appearances of the Chit,
that (Unmanifest Brahman) alone is here devoid of any conception.

111c F
17

From That rises by its own accord the idea of division in the form of conception,
like the lines appearing on the water surface by themselves
as a natural quality of the water.


{FIRST DIVISIONS}

+ 1

~
71 7

That division is conceived as three types subtle, middle and gross.
(like the three divisions of sun light- hot, mild and shade apart from the sun)

First the subtle nature of the Creator rises;
from that mind arises as the HiranyaGarbha with the creation ready to get conceived;
then the world is perceived grossly in the Viraat form.

{PRAKRTI OR AVIDYAA}

*c11

~
cc 1 9

As the chit remains manifesting as these levels,
the divisions are conceived three-fold as Sattva, Rajas, and Tamas.
This alone is known as Prakrti.

q 9

71

Know Avidyaa to be this Prakrti with three-fold natures.
This alone is the changing phenomenon of worldly existence.
Transcending this exists the Supreme state.


{EACH GUNA AGAIN BECOMES THREE-FOLD}

94 1

cc 1 9c q

Here I told you that there are three Gunas.
Even they are divided as three fold.
Each Guna again separately gets classified as Sattva, Rajas and Tamas.


{NINE DIVISIONS IN AVIDYAA}

4q

c T

In this manner Avidyaa is divided nine-fold according to the Gunas.
Whatever is perceived here,
is supported by Avidyaa alone.


{IN SATTVA THERE ARE THREE DIVISIONS}

@ q

q c @

Raaghava! Understand that
Sages, ascetics, Siddhas, Naagas, Vidyaadharas, and Gods
are the Saattvic part of Avidyaa.

cc11 1 q1
1

@ cc

In this Saattvic division also,
Naagas and Vidyaadharas belong to the Taamasic part;
ascetics and Siddhas belong to the Raajasic part;
and Gods like Hara and others belong to the Saatvic part.



(According to common view, Vishnu is Raajasic, Brahma is Saatvic and Shiva is Taamasic in nature as per
the functions allotted to them. That view is completely nullified here and Sage Vasishta proves that these
Gods are purely Saattvic in nature and are in the state of Chit always. There is no trace of Avidyaa in them
at all. The state of the Self or Brahman sometimes takes on the forms of Shiva, Vishnu and Brahma; yet is
untainted by Avidyaa; is always endowed with Vidyaa or Knowledge. It is pure Sattva-state.)

cc q 9

cc

Gods like Hari, Hara and others
who are seen as different forms with different functions,
manifest as the Saattvic part of the Chit;
and though endowed with
the qualities of Avidyaa (as perceived forms undergoing experiences)
they are in the state of pure Sattva,
as they remain always untainted by Avidyaa.

(This taintless state of Sattva belongs to any Knower of the Self.)

cc 9

77
cq

He who is a knower of the Self belongs to the Saatvic part of the Chit, Rama!
He does not take birth again.
(He has no Vaasanaas or bindings of Karma.)
He is said to be liberated.

g[ cc
*7 4

c1

That is why, Rudra and others belong to the Sattva division O Intelligent Rama!
They stay as liberated always as long as they are endowed with forms
in this world phenomenon.

c 74

1
4

7 117

As long as they have forms, these great ones remain as liberated while living.
At the time of discarding forms at the end of creation,
they remain in the state of Supremacy.




{IN GODS AVIDYAA BECOMES VIDYAA}

cq qc
c

In this manner the division of Avidyaa in the Chit attains the state of Vidyaa.
The seed gives rise to the fruit and the fruit gives rise to the seed.

(Kaarya-Avidyaa, the fruit becomes the Kaarana-Avidyaa, the seed of the Creation at the time of
dissolution. Unmanifest becomes manifest and again becomes unmanifest.
Potentialities become possibilities giving rise to more potential states. The process is never ending.)

cq q q


q |q q



Avidyaa rises out of Vidyaa like bubbles rising in the water.
Avidyaa gets absorbed into Vidyaa like bubbles dissolving in the water.

(Pure Saatvic part of the Vidyaa is innate in the Kaarana-Avidyaa (unmanifest).
It manifests as Kaarya-Avidyaa (manifest) at the time of creation and dissolves into the Unmanifest at the
time of dissolution.)


{VIDYAA AND AVIDYAA ARE THE SAME}

1qq c 7
qqT 7

Because of seeing the water and the wave as two separate things only
the difference (between them) is observed.
Because of seeing Vidyaa and Avidyaa as two separate things only
the difference (between them) is observed.

1q 4
qc qc 7 q

In reality, the water and waves are the same.
There actually exist no Vidyaa or Avidyaa as different categories in Brahman.

qqT c4c 1 1
9 gq

Discarding the ideas of both Vidyaa and Avidyaa, what remains is what is!
This division is there because of the contradictory counterpart of an idea, Rama!


(If the term Vidyaa is used, naturally the counterpart of that term contradicting it has to be mentioned as
Avidyaa. If Knowledge is there, Absence of Knowledge also should be there.
Since the topic was Avidyaa which is seen as the perceived world, the divisions of Sattva etc get
mentioned. Since Gods are seen with forms, one has to explain that also as part of Avidyaa. But Gods (the
Trinities) are always in the state of the Brahman. They project their forms at will just as a part of the
created world. They do not have any trace of Avidyaa in them. So they cannot become part of Avidyaa.
So again the explanation comes as
They are Avidyaa- forms coming-out of Vidyaa.
It is absurd actually! What is Vidyaa or Avidyaa in the state of Chit?
Both are just terms introduced to explain a perceived phenomenon which is in itself unreal.
It is like explaining how a world of ghosts gets created. Ghosts are not real; their worlds are also not real;
their explanations also are not valid.
For one who sees the difference, the explanation has to be given using many terms with varied meanings.
But actually there is no difference at all for the knower in the Chit state.
Trinities are just expressions of Chit as forms with complete knowledge of the Self-state. They are not
bound by their actions like Jeevas. They are ever-liberated. They are the Chit-state with forms or without
forms. They rise like bubbles in water and dissolve into it. We may differentiate the bubbles as different
from the water. But in the level of the water, it makes no difference.
For the water, bubbles also are water only; not different from it.)

qqT 1 @
q1 q1

~

Vidyaa and Avidyaa divisions do not exist at all.
Remain bound to the state (Chit) that is left over.
There is no Avidyaa. There is no Vidyaa.
Enough of all these imagined terminologies!

1 qc c1
qc(


Something is there;
not something but something that exists as the principle of Chit-awareness.
That Existence alone when not known is termed as Avidyaa.

c qH7
qqE ~

When it is known the same Existence principle is termed as Destruction of Avidyaa.
When Vidyaa (knowledge) is absent,
the term Avidyaa rises falsely as an imagination.

17 7
q | H q ~

The difference between the shade and the heat of the Sun is in the mind
(as opposing factors).
(Remove the shade; there exist no two things.)
When Avidyaa dissolves, both imaginations vanish.

| *
q H H qH

Raaghava! When these two get dissolved,
only that which has to be attained (state of Brahman),
remains.
When Avidyaa is destroyed, even the idea of Vidyaa gets removed.

* 7 q q
T T
*

4 cc 4q

7

c
7

[ H

1 H

What remains spread out is
neither not something nor something.

Everything is seen there; nothing is seen also.

Like the fig tree with all its flowers and fruits existing within the seed,
something-ness which is all powerful,
like a casket filled with all the powers;
emptier than the sky; but not empty;
filled with the essence of Consciousness;
like the fire in the Sun-stone; like ghee in the milk;
everything of this (perceived phenomenon) exists there (in the Unmanifest)
manifesting in some space-time mode.



{CHIT AND THE WORLD}

1q

q
1c 7 17c

Like the sparks from the fire,
like the shine from the Sun,
these perceptions come out of the Chit which manifests as all this.

+1q 1c
c7 c c

Like the ocean for the waves,
like the taintless gem for the shine,
that is always the store-house for all the delusory perceptions that shine forth.

[7 171c

1

c +

It is the very essence of existence
in all the objects outside and inside like the pot-space
and is ever imperishable.

17 171

1

17
cc cq

Just like in the contact of magnet and the iron
though the magnet does nothing and is not the doer,
is said to be the one that acted.

Just like the inert iron moves by the very presence of the magnet,
this non-conscious body acts by the very presence of Chit.

1 7+ ~~
F F 1

This entire world-phenomenon exists in
that one single seed of the world, which is named Chit,
which perceives the conceived worlds one after the other
like the patterns seen in the moving waters;
which is more formless than the empty space;
where nothing exists whatsoever.



CHAPTER EIGHT

*
Vasishta spoke

17 c1q
{

9 c @

Therefore nothing whatsoever is there as a world of moving and non-moving objects.
Nothing whatsoever has come into being, understand this Hey Rama!

7 c


Where nothing whatsoever has come about
in the form of appearance and non-appearance of all these Jeevas etc ,
is this Brahman-state Rama!
Why do you seek anything for no purpose?

77(
7 H

We will never attain the fulfillment of this connection which is felt in the mind
(of the body-identity and the world),
like the snake cannot be obtained in the rope which is misunderstood to be a snake.

7 c H

7 cc 7

The Self which does not know itself has come into delusion.
Once it knows itself, it attains the edge of all perceptions.

qc

c
cc |

That is called Avidyaa which takes support in the tainted perceptions of the Chit.
When freed of all superimposed misconceptions,
it transcends the perceived phenomenon.

c

117*
1 * c +

The embodied person is just the mind alone.
When it gets destroyed, nothing gets destroyed.
If it exists, then this Self exists like the pot-space.

7 7 1 *

H7 c

The child getting carried by a person feels that it is moving when he moves;
feels it is standing when he stands.
Similarly, the mind sees itself as suffering through delusion.

c

* 7c

Like the silk worm
the mind binds itself with the fine threads of Vaasanaas.
It does not understand because of its foolishness.










CHAPTER NINE


Rama spoke

E c7 1
1

9 |T 9

Lord! How does the attainment of non-moving bodies (plant-life) happen,
where one is filled with extremely dense foolishness and stays overcome by that?


*
Vasishta spoke

1c9 1c

1 Fc 1 1

Having obtained the state of a non-reacting mind (as in deep sleep);
having lost the capacity to analyze the pros and cons of anything;
having a body which is fixed at one place;
this Chit remains in these non-moving beings.

1

4 7

q
*

c1

7c

c *

Hey Best among Knowers!
I think liberation stays far from such a state,
where the Chit stays as the principle of existence only
like the dumb (no function of Karmendriyas),
the blind (no function of Jnaanendriyas),
and as an inert thing (no mental faculty);
suffering much inside the sleeping eight-fold-body.




Rama spoke

cq 1 1

4 7

q

Where the Chit stays only as the principle of existence without duality,
I think liberation is very close O Best among knowers!


(If all other faculties are absent; and Chit remains as the existence-principle only, then it is the state of
Brahman without perturbation. So it is a Mukti state- argues Rama.
Knowledge is absent in that state counter-argues the Sage.)

*
Vasishta spoke

@

1c
c7 H 7

Only when one analyzes through the intellect;
understands the truth about the perceived world;
and attains the enlightenment of the Self which is the common essence of all;
that alone is termed as Liberation which is the state of eternity.

7 c c
c7Fc c ~

That excellent state
where one realizes the Self which is the common essence of all,
and completely gets rid of his Vaasanaas,
that is known as the state of Kaivalya (the left over state transcending everything).

4 1c
c7*c cc[

That alone is known as the Supreme state of Brahman
where one contemplates on the Self which is the common essence of all,
by discussing about it with the Knowers, and studying the scriptures,
with a desire to attain the Supreme state.

7

1 7 q

cc

@ 79

Understand that
the state where the Vaasanaa remains inactive and dormant inside,
like a sprout inside the seed,
is like the state of deep-sleep,
which will result in many births.

7 |

7 9


Though thoughts are in a subdued state,
remaining enveloped by dormant Vaasanaas,
though inert (like a stone) and asleep,
that birth (as the plant-life) will end up in countless sufferings.

1q 1

F 7

All these plant-beings which remain fixed at one place
have reached the state of deep sleep and are fit for birth again and again.

7 1 1

1

Like flowers inside a seed, like the pot inside the heap of clay,
ones Vaasanaa stays dormant in the plant-life, Good Rama!

c

@
| c

@ 1

Wherever the Vaasanaa-seed is asleep, it does not lead towards the Supreme state.
Where the Vaasanaa has lost its seed-ness (by getting burnt in the fire of Knowledge),
that is the transcendental state leading towards the Supreme state.

1 [q
1 1~

Even if very little is left over
of the Vaasanaa,
of fire, of obligation, of disease, of hatred,
of friendship, of enmity, of poison,
that (left over residue) will surely take effect.

c7F

A person who is in the state of the Self which is the common essence of all,
has his Vaasanaa-seed burnt (by knowledge-fire)
and will never experience any suffering (of worldly existence)
whether he is with a body or is without a body.

4F 1
1 c 1

1



The power of Chit in the form of the Vaasanaa-seed remains always dormant
in the plant-objects as their essence.

~F

q F

g 7

In the seeds Chit exists in a form ready to grow forth;
in the inert objects as inertness;
in the objects of wealth as richness fit to be craved for;
and in other objects as solidness.

17cF +*F


*1c

In the ashes Chit exists as the destroyed form of other objects;
in the mud particles in the form of atoms;
in the tainted objects as taint;
in the swords as the shining sharpness.

c 4

c7Fc *

The power of the Self exists as the common essence of all
everywhere in all the objects like the pot and the cloth.

T

1
9++

In this manner,
this Chit exists completely filling all the perceived phenomena,
like the monsoon covers the sky with clouds like a cloth covering a pot.


{AVIDYAA}

cT*T* H
T* 0

H

If the Self-state is not realized, it gives way to the delusion of the world.
If realized, it destroys all the sufferings.

11c cqc

q 1

9

Not realizing the Self (covered by ignorance) is known as Avidyaa by the wise.
Avidyaa is the cause of the world.
From Avidyaa alone everything rises forth.

q F 4
c

Avidyaa has no form as such.
As one observes her, instantly she melts away
like the snow-particle in the sun.


(When you wake up from a dream, you instantly know the waking state surroundings. You cannot again go
back to the dream. You know it was not real. Similarly when you feel the unreal nature of the world and
search for the Knowledge of the Self, Avidyaa vanishes.)

7g c
c

7g 1 |

When a man waking from sleep thinks for a second what his state is,
then instantly he wakes up.

(As one thinks- What knowledge is absent in me? Oh Self-Knowledge! What is this Self? and so on, his
quest of knowledge begins and the Absence of Knowledge is not there any more.)

|T1c q~
q H 7

When one starts analyzing, what sort of a thing this Avidyaa is,
then immediately Avidyaa vanishes
like blindness in darkness vanishing at the appearance of light.

(Can light ever reveal darkness? Can Knowledge ever end up in ignorance?)

|1 FTH
| 1

When a person holding the lamp tries to see the nature of darkness (using that light),
then all darkness dissolves away
like the ghee by the contact of the fire.

+ | F
7+


The nature of darkness cannot be ascertained in the presence of light.
Only darkness gets destroyed (when light is there) and everything is seen with clarity.

4 4
g

[1c

[


When observed like this, Avidyaa makes herself scarce.
She is of unreal nature and has no real existence.
She is seen as existing only because of non-enquiry.

(It is always said that no one ever miss what they do not know. When you are ignorant you do not know
that you are ignorant. A person living in darkness does not ever know of light. He lives in darkness as if
that alone is the reality.
Similarly those who do not know the Self do not know that they do not know. That is Avidyaa. If by chance
they understand that they do not know the Self, there the Avidyaa starts disappearing like darkness by light.
A man who lives in a room closing all windows and doors does not know the Sun at all. The moment he
makes an effort and opens even a tiniest window, the darkness vanishes flooding the room with light.)

T41
1c

cq1c1c

9

When sight arises because of light, then one knows what darkness is.
As Avidyaa is non-existent, one knows its non-existence through enquiry.

(If the man living in darkness tries to analyze what that darkness is, he will understand that he is living in
the absence of light.
All the comforts of technology we enjoy in this century are there because some people somewhere
understood their lack of knowledge and started to analyze.
The first step towards knowledge is asking-What do I not know?
Only when a man looks up at the blue sky and thinks why should the sky be blue, that he can reach beyond
the sky. If one is satisfied that a God has given a blue canopy for us to live under, then the quest never
begins.
What difference does it make to know or not know?
Just that much difference between a man with a light and a man without a light; the difference between the
Rama of Vairaagya Prakarana and the Rama of Nirvaana Prakarana! )

74 7 T
q c 9q

As long as one does not observe, nothing gets seen.
When observed, Avidyaa is seen as what she is.

417 17 1 1
q c

|

If one enquires,
Who I am in this automaton filled with blood, flesh and bones,
then all the ignorance vanishes.


(When the lamp is lit darkness gets destroyed.)

q7g

( (
17 1qH

If that non-existing Avidyaa is completely removed from the heart in all ways,
from the start to the end,
then what is left over is known as the Destruction of Avidyaa.


(Why should I know anything? I am happy as I am!
This trend of thoughts is Avidyaa Blockage to Knowledge.)

7 7 q cq[
q1

q

That which is not anything or anything, that Brahman alone is eternal.
That alone is the real existing principle.
That alone should be sought.
That is blocked by Avidyaa.


(If you know something is absent, that means it is present.
If you know Knowledge is absent, then there is no more Absense of Knowledge!
You cannot prove the existence of light to a man in darkness. He has to light the lamp himself.)


F 1+ 1 7 1
[1q171c9

Her (Avidyaa) nature is known by her very name.
(Absence of knowledge can only be absent!)

She has no quality (as she is absent).

(Her absence or ones existence as Self
is proved only through personal experience; not by any one else)
The taste felt in ones tongue cannot be experienced by any one else.

q 41 [
c1

Avidya is not there anywhere.
All this is the undivided state of Brahman.
That alone has put forth countless decorations of existent and non-existent things.

q [
H 1 [

The ascertainment This is not Brahman is alone Avidyaa.
The ascertainment This is Brahman alone is her destruction.

c

cq

c cq

All this phenomenon of appearances like pot, cloth, cart etc is not the Supreme
when this understanding rises, it is Avidyaa.

All this phenomenon of appearances like pot, cloth, cart etc is the Supreme
when this understanding rises, that Avidyaa melts away.



















CHAPTER TEN

*
Vasishta spoke

9
cc

Rama! I tell you again and again for your own betterment!
O Good one! Without practice Self-realization cannot arise!

7qq
77Pc 1


This ignorance is very powerful.
It is also known by the name of Avidyaa.
It has become very dense (by collections of misconceptions)
coming through many thousands of births.

(As beings are used to only sense experiences whether dreaming or awake or in the Aativaahlika state, they
do not have the idea of the Self which is beyond the reach of senses.)

[7 7g

1

It has become so dense (powerful) because it is experienced by all
inside and outside through their own senses when connected to the body,
(in the states of Jagrat etc)
or by the witness-consciousness when without the body.
(death- dissolution etc)

c7

7g
c * 7gH

The Knowledge of the Self is invisible to the senses.
It becomes a reality only when the sixth sense namely the mind gets destroyed.

(You cannot prove Self to a man identified with the body.
The word Atman (Self) was something which only the realized Sages of yore knew. When this word
became the property of the ignorant, the word assumed the status of a white light or a ghostly apparition.
Self cannot be seen. It is not something living inside a body. It is only experienced as oneself.
Your existence is provable only to you.
The word Atman or Self is You without the limitations superimposed on the real you through ignorance.
You cannot see your own Self with the physical eye. You cannot touch or taste your own Self. You
cannot see other peoples Self also like a moving ghost.
The so-called others are also the Self. )

9~q7g c

c1 c
9cH 7 9cHc

That which stays way across the reach of the senses,
That which is beyond the grasp of direct perception,
how can it ever get perceived directly by any man here?



{DESTROY AVIDYAA}

cq 9F (g

77 1@

For your success in the attainment of Self-realization,
you take the sword of the practice of Knowledge
and through many hits from the sword,
cut off this creeper of Avidyaa which has grown all around the tree of the heart.





















CHAPTER ELEVEN


*
Vasishta spoke



{KING JANAKA}

77

c71

Raaghava!
Wander in this world happily
like King Janaka, the Knower Supreme,
who wanders in this world always engaged in the practice of knowledge.


{NISHCAYA- ASCERTAINMENT}

{Knower of the Self or a JeevanMukta always has Ascertainment when he is living in the world of
actions. Sage Vasishta now explains what that Ascertainment is.
As Rama has attained the state of the Self, he must now develop the Ascertainment also and act as a
JeevanMukta in his life as the king of Ayodhyaa.}

c1

01* 77 c

As he was engaged in the actions (duties) and non-actions (silent absorption in the Self))
whether awake or standing,
he had the ascertainment of this knowledge (Nishcaya);
by that he attained the Knowledge of the Self and remained in his true state of the Self.


By this Ascertainment Hari descends down to the earth; gets born in many
wombs; performs various types of actions.
This is said to be 77c Knowledge of That.

Raaghava! Let that ascertainment be yours which belongs to the Tri-eyed one who
stays with his beloved and to Brahma who has no attachment to any spouse.

That Ascertainment which belongs to Bhaargava, the preceptor of Gods; Divaakara
(Sun); Shashi ; Pavana; Anala; Naarada; Pulastya; me; Angirasa; Pracetas; Bhrgu; Atri;
Shuka; and other royal sages;
that Ascertainment which belongs to those liberated while living;
may that be yours too O Prince!


Rama spoke

7
117 [7

cc

Bhagavan!
Explain to me in detail about that Ascertainment by which,
these great men of wisdom remain without any distress.

*
Vasishta spoke

q
1

Prince of Mighty arms! You know all that needs to be known!
Listen well as to how this Ascertainment is well-developed in these great ones.


(What is the state of a realized person?
He is a perfect actor in the drama of the world; he does not identify with the character given to him; but can
bring out the best of that character.
Like an actor he is always alert to every single movement he makes, every single word he utters, every
single expression he brings about.
He never loses the sense of his own identity of the Self at any time and is blissful within, like the actor who
is fully expressing himself as the character on the stage unattached to the situations in it.
Though he cries, he does not actually; though he fights; he does not actually.
A realized man is Brahman acting out that particular character in the life-drama.
For the Brahman, everything is Brahman.
Brahman state knows that all that is there as any perception is only Brahman.
JeevanMukta-state is a state of the Unmanifest manifesting as the world.

This state alone is explained by the Sage now.)




{WHAT IS THERE THAT IS NOT BRAHMAN?!}

7 9T
c [ cq1

Whatever is perceived as the world phenomenon experienced by one and all,
all that is the taintless state of Brahman.
This is the how it is in reality.

[ q[

[ +

[ [ [

77
[ [ 1

Brahman is the consciousness.
Brahman is the world.
Brahman is all the various types of beings.
I am Brahman.
My enemy is Brahman.
All the friends and relatives are Brahman.
Brahman is the tri-phased time. That remains established in Brahman alone.

q+ c
++c [

The ocean expands itself by the garlands of waves.
So also, Brahman expands by all this grandeur of objects.

[

[ [ 7

[
[ [ [4c

Brahman seizes Brahman.
Brahman consumes Brahman.
Brahman expands as it were by the power of Brahman (Maayaa) in Brahman
through (repeated) projections.

[ F

[9q

q[ [* 7c1c

Brahman is in the form of my enemy
when he (enemy-Brahman) does anything not liked by me.
If one is absorbed in Brahman, who does anything to anybody?
(where can be two people posing as enemies?)

|1 ~ 1

H
+~ * 9q

As the emotions of attachment and hatred
are developed like a tree imagined in the mind,
and if they vanish by not imagining them, what really matters?

[ 117
1

The movement of the feet etc is in Brahman alone.
Brahman alone projects everything!
Where is the cause of joy or pain?

[ [

[ [ 1
1

[ [ 1c

Brahman is fully satisfied in Brahman.
Brahman is established in Brahman.
Brahman shines forth in Brahman.
I am not a second person different from that (Brahman).

[ [ [

Pot is Brahman. Cloth is Brahman.
(All perceived objects are Brahman.)
I am the Brahman spread out like this.
Therefore where is the question of these attachment and hatreds
which have no meaning at all?

[ 1 [ q

1g7 H

If Body-Brahman joins by itself to the Death- Brahman,
what is there to grieve about,
like seeing a snake in the rope (and getting worried)?

[1 [
+71

1c

If the joy of sense experiences occurs only in Brahman for the Body-Brahman
why feel the imaginary satisfaction of some fulfillment?

+ 17 c7+

ccc 1 [ 17F

When water waves rise about, they are not considered as different from the water.
I and you are also not different from the Brahman which rises as us.

7H 4
[c

[

If the whirpool dies in the waters, nothing actually dies.
So it is when the Body-Brahman attains Death-Brahman.

ccc *
F 1 c

Like I-ness and You-ness do not exist in the ever-moving waters,
the inert/non-inert differentiations do not exist in the Supreme Self.

c + | 1
{F 9c

Like the bangle-ness in the gold, like the whirlpool in the water,
that and not that differentiations is the nature of Brahman.

c

F
c7c 7c 4

This is the Jeeva that has taken birth; this (body) is inert in nature.
This sort of delusion belongs to the ignorant; never to the knower.
(For him, everything is projection of the Brahman.)

71

717
7 71

H

For the ignorant,
the world is filled with hosts of sufferings (because of differentiations).
For the knower,
the world is filled with bliss (as undifferentiated Self).
For the blind, the world is dark.
For the man with the eyes, the world is filled with light.

c 71

1

1q

H +1



For the knower, the world is one blissful Self.
For the fool, it always gives pain.
For a child the night is filled with ghosts.
For the adult, it is just a night.

17[ c17 1
77H

When this Brahman-pot alone is everywhere always,
nothing dies Rama; nothing lives.

~

q+ 7

c

The waves which rise and fall in various manners
do not perish or get born.
So are the hosts of beings in the Self.




{WHY ALL THIS? BECAUSE, THAT IS WHAT IT IS! ALL THIS!}

11 H7cc
4 7
1

1+


This is This is not such delusions
rise in the Self by the Self within for no particular reason
but because of its innate nature,
like the reflections getting reflected in the crystal.

4ccc [ 1c 1
q

By the power of reflecting the world,
Brahman by itself exists in Brahman as the world.
All the water drops alone make the ocean, filling it densely.


{BRAHMAN HAS NO DEATH}

| [

[ 4 | q
q

How can Brahman experience death when the body dies?
The body etc do not exist separate from Brahman,
like the waves do not exist as separate from the ocean waters.

1q
| q
HH
1 q[ [

That which is a drop, that which is a drop-let,
that which is a wave or wavelet,
that which is foam, that which is a billow,
are all just waters in the waters.
That which is the body, that which is perceived, that which perishes or stays,
that which rises as thoughts, that which is understood,
all that is Brahman in Brahman.

1 [
7F

qc

All that is there in totality are the various projections of Brahman,
like various shapes get made out of gold.
The shapes do not exist separately as different (from gold).
The sense of duality has wrongly arisen in the ignorant.

177g
[ c

q

Mind, Intellect, Ego, subtle elements; senses;
everything is Brahman alone.
Different selves, pleasures and pains do not exist.

ccq|c
9gcc

This one I am so and so This is the mind such words with meanings,
shine forth in the Self like the sound and its reverberating echo.

[77c 1
T 1 ccc

Brahman alone, not knowing itself exists as if ignorant.
That is how it is seen in a dream also through the mind by the Self in the Self.

[ [7
{

If not understood as Brahman, Brahman will appear only as the dirt of ignorance.
If the gold is not understood as gold
it will appear as clump of mud only.

1 9 c

[ [

777

The Knowers of Brahman know the Self as Brahman, the Lord, and the Supremacy.
The ignorance of the ignorant is the non-understanding of Brahman so it is said.

7 [ [ [ H
7 H

If Brahman is known as Brahman, one instantly exists as Brahman.
If the gold is understood to be gold, it instantly exists as the gold.

[c 4 q c

1 4c c

9

The Brahman-Self is all powerful.
Whatever it conceives, it perceives that by its own power for no reason.

1+9

c [ [

The Knowers of Brahman know the Self as
Brahman, the Lord, and the Supremacy;
devoid of doer-ship/ action /means of action;
causeless; and devoid of afflictions.

777
7 777

The ignorance of the ignorant is
the non-understanding of Brahman so it is said.
Understanding the truth is Knowledge
where ignorance gets completely destroyed.

7

7 [7

7 q77

H

A relative when not understood to be a relative, is said to be non-related.
When understood to be so, (as related) he will become a relative,
because the misunderstanding of his not being related, is gone.

c477

14q1q

7

q ccc77
1qq 1q 7

7 1

1q

7

[ 7 c
17c F 7 |
1 17[

If it is understood within, that something is not right,
the same feeling strengthens.
Feeling averse to that object with the feeling that it is not the right thing,
one avoids it.

If understood within that duality is not the truth,
the same feeling strengthens.
And therefore he will avoid that feeling of duality feeling averse to it.

I am not this limited I
If this is understood clearly, the same feeling strengthens.
And therefore, one gets rid of the false misconceived ego.

In the true understanding of I am Brahman,
the same feeling strengthens.
In that true original nature of the Self, the mind dissolves off.
In that extensive state I know that all this is Brahman.

c c cc q
c 9 [

The Reality (Brahman)
behind all such ideas prevalent in the world as I and you that is existenceetc
which projects itself in varied manners,
all that is Brahman alone; so I know!


{I AM BRAHMAN! THIS IS THE TRUTH!}

11 [ c

I have no pain.
Actions do not belong to me.
I do not have any delusion. I do not desire anything.
I am equal; in my own state; free of all sufferings.
I am Brahman this is the truth.

q41

1
c [ c

I am completely free of the taints of differentiations.
I am everything.
I have no afflictions whatsoever.
I am Brahman this is the truth.

4 +17

[ c

I am the blood.
I am the flesh.
I am the bones.
I am the body.
I am Chit.
I am the cognizing consciousness.
I am Brahman this is the truth.



[ c

I am the heaven.
I am the sky with the sun.
I am the directions.
I am the earth also.
I am all the shapes like pot, cloth etc.
I am Brahman this is the truth.


{BRAHMAN ALONE IS!}

| ~

q
| [c 1

I am the grass. I am the ground.
I am the bush. I am the forest etc.
I am the hill and the ocean with all the beings.
There is only one Brahman as all.

c1 [F

~q|



All the powers of the beings to accept, give or withdraw;
all that is myself as Chit.
I assume countless forms in the Brahman state,
as the creeper, bush, sprout, etc,
manifesting as anything and everything,
wherever the possibilities are.



{NISHCAYA-ASCERTAINMENT}

c7 7 [ c
17 c
c [

The conscious Self within, the quiescent principle,
the Supreme Brahman of blissful nature,
in which everything exists,
from which everything rises,
that which is everything,
that which is everywhere,
that alone is the one and only principle existing as the essence of all!
That is Para Brahman!
This understanding is the Ascertainment.



CHAPTER TWELVE

*
Vasishta spoke


{CONTEMPLATION ON BRAHMAN, THE SELF-STATE}



{WHAT IS BRAHMAN?}

c [ cc

7
9 cc 7 c

That principle
which is everywhere,
which is pure consciousness devoid of perceptions,
is known by various names like
Chidaatmaa; Brahma; Sat; Satyam;Rtam; Jna (Knower) etc.

c

1 7 q[c



Chit which is untainted and is the appearance alone of this world,
which is the awareness of oneself in all beings,
which is everywhere,
which is always peaceful,
that alone is experienced as Brahman.



{I AM THE CHIT-BRAHMAN}

@7gd17

c4c 1 q[

Discarding away
all the misconceived differentiations made up by the mind, intellect and the senses,
I shine forth as myself.
I am the affliction-less Chit-Brahman.

| c1
cc 1 q[1 H

That which makes way for the varied ideas prevailing in the world-existence
causing countless words with meanings,
that pure Chit-Brahman am I.
I am indestructible.

c1@c

q[1+

I am the Chit-Brahman;
the Supreme principle of bliss;
the blissful silent experience of the Sages;
the continuous dense flow of perceptions of the pure Chit
falling continuously without a break.

g

c


H q[

I am the Chit-Brahman; the ever untainted one;
projecting ever as all the continuously melting forms;
the bliss experienced by all (in the world);
the wheels of endless egos.

T

7c
+c q[1+

I am the Chit-Brahman bereft of all Vaasanaas;
the state equal to deep sleep; quiescent;
extremely pure in nature when realized;
shining forth as the excellent bliss ever experienced in the world.

1c|7

*
c*@

@ [

I am the Brahman which never swerves from the untainted state,
which exists very minutely in the taste of the sweetness of the sugarcane,
in the minds cognizing the objects.

74c1 7g

7g9cccc q[

When a mind is absorbed in the company of the beloved;
when the moon rises at that time;
I alone am the differentiations that are perceived
from the moon upto the form of the beloved.
Yet I am the unchanging Chit-Brahman.

*T*|

41q[1

That power of the Chit
which appears as the moon in the sky
for the man standing on the ground looking at the moon in the sky,
that Chit-Brahman I am, ever the untainted one.

1
cFc

q[c1

I am the Chit-Brahman, the eternal Self,
which projects itself as the false experiences of pain and pleasure;
which is completely without any taints;
which is the true experience of the Self.

1

17 1
91 q[1

A traveler remains unaffected by looking at the objects at a distance,
as his mind is engaged in other things.
Similarly I am also unaffected and sinless.
I am the Chit-Brahman existing everywhere.

7q


4q71q[



When the ground, water, air and seed are joined together,
I am the power which makes the sprout shoot forth from inside the seed
in the act of sprouting.
I am the Chit-Brahman pervading all.

++

1c *
1c |71q[

I am that Chit Brahman,
which is the experience of taste innate in the fruit shapes like dates and lemons
found in their inert nature.

747

c
~

q[1

I am that Chit Brahman bereft of all afflictions,
the cognizing consciousness;
which remains equal in gain and loss;
which is free of pain and joy within;
which remains purified by the meditation of the Self.

{+

7T 7

When a man standing on the ground looks at the Sun,
I am the one who shines forth as
all the differentiations perceived from the ground-level to the Sun-level,
which are woven on the elongated thread-path of the eye-sight,
which starts from the center of the eye and connects the eyes to the Sun.
I am that all-pervading Chit.

0c

c1

Fq7 q[

I am that Chit Brahman bereft of all afflictions,
the beginning less endless state of transcendence
which is equally present in
waking state, deep-sleep state and dream state.

HcH 1c1

F q[1 1

I am that Chit Brahman
which exists equally as their single essence
like the taste in the sugar canes,
in all the embodied beings who go through countless fields of experiences.

9

1F 9
7 q[

I am that Chit Brahman pervading all this;
existing in all;
extremely pure in nature;
lustrous like the sun;
the maker of all perceptions;
the ever attractive blissful state.

714

1c

q[1

I am that Chit Brahman which never decays;
which gets experienced only personally
like the minute joy felt at the copulation time,
and like the power to taste the nectar (bliss).

9q 1

1g

q[

I am that Chit Brahman bereft of all afflictions,
which though present in all the limbs of the body,
has its face hidden from all like the fiber in the lotus,
shining forth undivided in the differently divided parts.

H7H

17

+4

I am that power of Chit spreading everywhere;
making possible all the actions everywhere;
enveloping all like the array of clouds;
yet of a subtle form beyond the observation of any one.

(Though clouds fill the entire sky and are capable of drenching the whole earth with waters, the water
vapors in them cannot be observed by ordinary human eyes.)

71

1H
Hq1

c H

I am that imperishable Chit experienced within;
hidden like the ghee in the milk;
inferred only through the subtle knowledge (love, need, want, attraction).

q

7
+ 1 q[c1

I am that Chit Brahman, the essence in all
existing in all the bodies like gold (substratum)
appearing as bracelet, armlet, etc (as various shapes);
yet not having their nature (change, destruction etc).

l1 7
c7F c

I am that taintless Chit
which exists as the common essence of all the hosts of objects like mountains etc,
inside and outside, at all times.

| [

+ ccc

I am the Supreme principle of Chit
which is the inartificial mirror reflecting all the experiences,
yet remaining untainted by the streaks of dirt.

~ 9
| 7 c1

I contemplate on the Chidaatmaa (conscious Self)
which fructifies all desires;
which lights up all the lights;
which is the most excellent state of extremity ever to be sought.

7 1
g

c1

I contemplate on the Chidaatmaa (conscious Self)
which rests in all the limbs;
which is beyond the reach of all limbs;
which shines forth continuously.

17
0c 1

c1

I contemplate on the Chidaatmaa (conscious Self)
which is present in all the inert objects
like pot, cloth, (river) bank, well, etc as the principle of existence;
which is vibrating as Praana in the bodies making them move;
which is unaffected like the deep sleep state in the waking state of beings.

* *7

H
*

7 7g c1

I contemplate on the Chidaatmaa (conscious Self)
which is the heat in the fire; coldness in the snow;
sweetness in the food; sharpness in the knife;
the blackness in the darkness; the white shine in the moon.

71 1 1c1

c1

I contemplate on the Chidaatmaa (conscious Self)
which is far though near;
all that is seen outside and inside;
which stays in its own nature.

c1

I contemplate on the Chidaatmaa (conscious Self)
which exists in all the various objects
as the sweetness in the sweet things;
as sharpness in the sharp things; and so on.

0c1




c1

I contemplate on the Chidaatmaa (conscious Self)
which is equal at all times everywhere,
in the states of waking, dream, deep sleep, Turyaa and beyond Turyaa.

97 ~

c1

I contemplate on the Chidaatmaa (of a JeevanMukta)
which has subdued all conceptions;
which has renounced all the desire for the entire perceived phenomenon;
which has renounced all the excitements and anxieties of the world-affairs.

*

+ |
+ c1

I contemplate on the Chidaatmaa (of a JeevanMukta)
which is completely without the desire for sense pleasures;
which does not seek any more fulfillments in world objects;
which has no more wants;
which is undivided as parts;
which is bereft of the limitations of the ego.

171 F
7+ c

I (as a Knower) have realized the Chidaatmaa,
which exists within all;
which is all that is there yet transcends them all;
which is the Chit which manifests limitlessly as all.

4 4

77

9 c

I (as a Knower) have realized the Chidaatmaa
which is the excellent wide-spread string
holding the pearls of those knowers of the tri-world
who have liberated from the limitations of the body;
which projects as all the perceived phenomena in the waking state
and withdraws them inside in the deep sleep state.

|7 17Hc

c
7

I (as a Knower) have realized the Chidaatmaa
which like a strange huge net remains curled up within
embracing together all the world-birds spread out everywhere to itself.

1c 1c
g

I (as a Knower) have realized the Chidaatmaa,
which is one;
which is existence (in creation) and non-existence (in dissolution);
in which all this entire phenomenon of the perceived world exists;
yet nothing is there in it in the least.

9c 1

1 c

I (as a Knower) have realized the Chidaatmaa,
which is the supreme truth to be trusted;
which is the whole shelter for all the joys;
which is in all the moving forms.

17 H
4

71




I contemplate on the light of Chit (the essence of the embodied Jeeva)
which holds the oil of attachment;
which is shaking (lost its peace)
hit by the blow of inert winds (delusion caused by the inert bodies having Praana);
which is with all this yet free of all.

(c7 7

q7

c

I have realized the Chidaatmaa (the essence of the embodied Jeeva),
which is the (hidden) root
of the lotus plant (body-creeper with all the limbs)
in the heart-lake (center-point of Jeeva-consciousness);
which is the beautiful string holding all the limbs together;
which is the only support of the living beings.


(The nectar obtained not from the churning of the milk-ocean:)

H q1

c c1

I contemplate on the Chidaatmaa (conscious Self),
which is the true nectar (without poison);
which cannot be stolen (by demons and others);
which has not come out of the milk-ocean (no need of such hard churning);
which does not contain within the moon etc (all perishable treasures).

F1 7
7 c

I have realized the Chidaatmaa
which appears as the sound, form, taste, touch and smell;
yet is without them all and is peaceful.

1
c

I have realized the Chidaatmaa
which is as extensive as the sky (manifesting as space);
which gives joy to the entire world (as the bliss principle);
yet which never gives joy (no one else is there);
and which is not the wide spread space also (which is beyond space).

+

I have realized the Chidaatmaa
which is endowed with all greatness (manifesting as all the world appearances);
yet which is devoid of all riches (world patterns);
which does everything yet does not do anything.


c
c

11

7

I am all this (as the manifest Brahman).
All this is mine (as I alone project them).
I am not the I (limited ego) even.
I am also not the other (any other conceived being).
Realizing this truth,
I will be free of the delusion-fever,
whether the world is stable (as the Self) or otherwise (appearance).














CHAPTER THIRTEEN


*
Vasishta spoke


71 7
c c 7 1

Those great men who are free of all sins
have the above explained Nishcaya,
and know the truth;
and are established in the true, quiescent state blissfully.

77 77

These men with fulfilled intellects have realized the Self.
They have equanimous minds freed of desires.
They do not despise or feel excited about life or death.


{Summary: These great ones with Nischaya did not live any different from others. In
fact they enjoyed everything in life. There was no restriction as to what they should do or
not do. They did whatever they had to do in life like any other man or woman of the
world. Their personal lives and interests were not disturbed by their Self-Knowledge.
But they were completely different from the ignorant because-}

1

H
4 47

cc

Their minds
were without desires;
did not misconceive reality in the world;
were no more deluded;
were detached; free; full of peace;
had attained the state of Sattva the Pure state (non-existence state of the mind).

7 4

1c

1



They did not drown in sorrow
whether met with greatest of difficulties or with greatest of enjoyments;
like the Kula Mountains (Himalayas etc) in a small lake.


(Milk-ocean had only one Lakshmi. But Brahman-state can project countless Lakshmis!)

~ 7 7
7
++ q

O Best of Raghus!
Being the ocean (Self-state) containing within it countless moons and Lakshmis,
they did not enjoy the company of the charmingly attractive goddess of wealth,
(unlike the milk ocean which shone with only one Goddess of wealth).

+

0* 1


They did not wither in grief and sadness, like the forest by the summer heat.
They did not get overly joyous by the attainment of pleasures,
like the plants by the frost.

0 7

|
**

cc

Without having the attachment for the doer ship,
they enjoyed doing anything they liked,
and never bothered about the results of their actions
by desiring or despising them.

cH7 1

If they won the wars, they never became proud or arrogant.
If defeated, they did not collapse in humiliation.
They did not feel overly happy when met with happy circumstances.
They never broke down when met with calamities.



CHAPTER FOURTEEN


*
Vasishta spoke



{RAMA! WORRY NO MORE!}

7 cH

They did not get totally confused in problematic situations;
they did not drown in sorrows in difficult situations;
they did not act joyous in auspicious situations;
they did not cry in sorrowful situations;
like you Rama.

99

1

Performing only those actions that were their duties by nature;
devoid of all unnecessary excitements;
they stood majestic like the second Meru Mountains.

c T**
c

1 H

You also take recourse to such a vision of life which never will perish O Raaghava!
Live in whatever way your life guides you,
discarding the limited ego but remaining as the Supreme Self of all.

7 +
1 1 H

Perceiving this array of creations as it is,
and free of delusions,
remain equal and unmoving like the Meru Mountain and deep like the ocean.

7 c
cc 41

Only the pure Chit appears as all this perceived here.
Nothing here is real or unreal.
Nothing is anywhere.

c~+ c4
4@

H

Accepting the Supreme state of Brahman as your Self;
discarding completely the idea of reality of this world;
with an unattached intellect;
be everywhere as the auspicious Self,
with all sufferings of this worldly-existence destroyed.

q


H1qH7

c +

Why do you cry feeling so much distress?
Why do you grieve like an ignorant?
Why do you get tossed about like a piece of grass caught in the flood,
and feel so confused?



Rama spoke

7
+H
cc9c9@1

q+

H71

|
7 *

Bhagavan! I have now understood what was never known before.
By your grace, I am enlightened, like the lotus blossoms by the contact of the Sun.
My delusion has gone completely like the mist vanishing in the autumn.
I have no doubts any more.
I will do as you say.



CHAPTER FIFTEEN


{PRAANAAYAAMA}


Rama spoke

+7
74

7
917
74

[7 +

By the wonder of the rise of correct knowledge;
by the rise of disappearance of Vaasanaas;
I am now established in the state of JeevanMukti.
Brahman!
Tell me how one gets established in the state of JeevanMukti
by the control of Praana and the resultant destruction of Vaasanaas?


*
Vasishta spoke

c 4|

@ q9 c c

When one has to cross over the worldly existence,
the practice leading to it is known by the name of Yoga.
Understand that the practice leading to the control of mind is of two types.

c7 91 9

q 9



Self-knowledge is one of them, which is already revealed to the world (by me).
The other one is the control of Praana.
I will explain it to you now; listen.



Rama spoke



{WHICH IS EASIER- ATTAINMENT OF KNOWLEDGE OR PRAANA-CONTROL?}

ccc

H

Which one is easier and painless between the two,
by knowing which one does not suffer the world-existence again?


Vasishta spoke

9 q 94 q
F 94

Though both practices are know by the word Yoga,
in common usage the word usually refers to the control of Praana.

1 7 cH

q 949

One is Yoga; the other is Knowledge.
Both are equally helpful in crossing over the worldly existence
and both lead to the same goal.

1q 177
c

7
7

7 1* {
7 11

c 9
c

[ ~


For some person, Yoga might be very difficult;
for other person, ascertainment of Knowledge might be difficult.

In my opinion my good Rama,
the ascertainment of the truth through knowledge is easier.

But if one does not know the ignorance,
(if not able to discriminate or enquire)
the ascertainment of Knowledge is impossible even in a dream.

(Whereas) the awareness (of the Self) is always there in all states at all times.
(Knowledge-Yoga is easier)

Because one has to master
Dhaarana Aasana and Desha
the Yoga method (Praana-control) is not easy.

But for a man of capability nothing is difficult or easy.
(Any one can master any Yoga and achieve the goal through effort.)

q 14 7 q

4 771 7

Best of Raghus!
According to scriptures, Jnaana and Yoga are the two methods.
I have explained the method of Knowledge,
which is to be practiced in the mind and the taintless state gets attained.

9 F T

7@ @

Listen now to that method of Yoga,
which is popularly known as the practice of controlling the Praana and Apaana;
which needs the cave of a strong body;
which bestows many Siddhis;
which bestows the knowledge of anything.

(Sage Vasishta now explains the Yoga of Praana-Control through the story of Bhushunda. This explanation
is given for the sake of those students who were unable to comprehend the abstract knowledge taught by
him so far.
The Sage informs Rama that he need not worry as he has already reached the end-result of Praana control
Yoga through the subjugation of mind by the Knowledge-method)

11



H
1 4

9 c1

Prince Rama!
Through your zealous mind, you have attained the imperishable state
which is attained by the control of the air coming out of the face.
Through the Yoga of mind-control
you will remain in the Supreme state transcending the speech.






PART ONE OF
SECTION SIX - NIRVAANA 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.