Yet Sukha was not in the least disconcerted and waited at the gates of the king for seven days. Then after being detained and tested in another place for seven days, he was con ducted to the harem in the palace and was there sumptuously fed upon the choicest viands of six tastes and treated with flowers, sandal and other objects of enjoyment by handsome ladies of slender waist. And yet Sukha who was like a cool full-moon was indifferent to the dark or bright aspect of these enjoyments.
So that neither the happiness arising from the enjoyments to which Sukha was exposed by the king nor the pains flowing out of the disgrace to which he was subjected did affect, in the least, the mind of this great Muni. Will ever the soft, noble zephyr be able to agitate Meru, the grandest of mountains? Observing the internal exultation of the Muni s heart (unruffled by the externals), the king saluted and eulogised the Muni and then addressed him thus: “Oh Brahma-rishi, who has attained the highest fruit, having given up all worldly concerns, please tell me what business has wafted thee here.”
At which Sukha questioned him thus “ How did Maya arise ? How does it grow? And how is it destroyed? Please, oh guru, explain them to me truly.”
At these wordsof Sukha, Janakaexplained in the same man ner as Vyasa did, which the Brahma-rishi no sooner heard than he said ; “ Thus had I known previously and thou gavest the same explanation, my father gave me. The signification of the holy sentences given out in the sacred books point but to the one non-dual One. If M^ya which originates as differentiated out of the one Atma in the nature of breath or vibrations is again merged into it, there seems not to be even an iota of benefit derivable from this perishable Maya. Oh Guru, who is able to remove the delusion off the minds of men, please throw light upon the nature of this incomparable real Atma ?” To which the king thus replied
“ Though thou hast known everything definitely, still thou hast asked me in spite of thy father s words. The state given out (by us) is the real one. Atma alone t j, which pervades as the all-full Chidakas everywhere. Nought else is but That. That Jnana is bound by its own Sankalpa. With the liberation from that Sankalpa, there is freedom from the trammels of bondage. As thou hast now clearly cognized that Atma Jnana, thou hast abandoned all longing for enjoyments and the sight of the visibles. Thou hast, through thy all-full mind and with out pains, attained all that could be got at, vis., Brahman it self. Thou hast commingled with that secondless Principle which is above the reach of all vision. Thou hast become a Jivan-mukhta.* But there is one thing which thou hast yet to do, w 0., the giving up of the delusion of Maya which has arisen in thy mind (the giving up of which, will entirely free thee and not bar thy further progress).”
When the king of kings named Janaka thus initiated Sukha into the Atmic mysteriesf (through his direct pre sence), the stainless Rishi attained quiescence in his Atma or Higher Self, being freed from the pangs of birth and the agonies of death ; then all his enquiring spirit, perplexities of mind and doubts vanished through (direct) self-cognition. Then having reached the highest pinnacle of Mahameru, he went into the non-fluctuating- Nirvikalpa Sam^dhi and after a period of 1000 Solar years merged into the Janna-Akasa, like a light which, when divested of its wick and ghee, returns back to its fount of Akasic Agni (fire). Like water-drops becoming one with the ocean of waves, he, being cleansed of the stains of contemplation (or thinking), merged into the secondless Brahman, the vibration that started in himself (as the “I” having melted away. Thus did he attain quiescence (of mind) free from the delusion of Maya.
This is exactly the path thou shouldst follow, oh, Rdma. The right characteristic of a mind that has known all that should be known is the non-identification of itself with the ever pleasurable worldly enjoyments. With the proclivities of the mind towards material objects, bondage in objects if He who attains unto Atma, having- overcome Maya, the illusion, will alone know what Maya is and how it arises and is destroyed. And this knowledge of Atma is an occult mystery which is the subject of initiation by a Guru. Hence it is we find that no words can describe the origin of Maya, &c. As Sukha was a fit disciple, he was made to have an Apar6ksha or direct perception of the same by Janaka becomes strengthened ; otherwise, the bondage becomes slackened and in course of time perishes. Oh Rama, the extinction of Vasanas alone, is Moksha (salvation) ; but the concretion of the mind in material objects through Vsanas is bondage. Those persons are Jivanmuktas who have quite disabled the Vdsanas and are indifferent to the many worldly enjoyments without the aids of Tapas (religious austerities), Vratas (religious observances) and others. That one Princi ple which Rama s mind has cognized through the utterances of the Great Ones is the one Reality and none else. Now the only person who is able to relieve this Great Soul of R&ma from all his doubts and render his mind quiescent is the omniscient Vasishta who knows clearly the three periods of time, is the Guru of men in this world and is a witness to all things having name, form, etc.” So said Viswamitra in the kings assembly.
Having given vent to these words, Viswamitra looked at Vasishtas face and reminded him by saying that Rcima should be taught those Jnana stories which Brahma residing in the lotus had been pleased to favor them with, in order to put an end to the dissensions* between them and liberate all the virtuous from their Sanchita Karmaf and attain Moksha. Initiation into the Mysteries of Brahman will fructify only in that disciple s mind which is desireless and will produce Jnana (spiritual wisdom) in it. This is what the Sastras (books) say. And herein lays the glory (of the higher spirituality). But the initiation imparted to a vicious disciple, full of desires will become defiled like the pure milk deposited in a sable dog s skin.
Thus did Viswamitra expatiate in various ways when the unsullied Narada, Vedavyasa and other Munis assembled there, heard all of Viswamitra s words and eulogised him unanimously for his noble utterances.Thereupon Muni Vasishta, son of Brahma and equal unto him, addressed Viswdmitra thus “ Oh Muni, well versed in all departments of know ledge, I will do according to thy bidding. Whoever will go against the words of the Great Ones that have known really who “the knower” is? I will now recite the pure Jnana stories meant for the non-fluctuating and the pure minded and given out by the lotus-residing Brahma on the Nishada hills in order to liberate them from the cycles of re-birth.”
Therefore Vasishta with a concentrated and pure mind related the following to make Ajnana (ignorance) perish, and the Supreme Seat of All full Jndna dawn, in men s minds.
