MUMUKSHU PRAKARANA.
Vasishta said “ Now, oh Rama, hearken to what I am going to say. Through right endeavors in this life (of the world), all the ends of human aspiration can be achieved by following strictly the Sastraic (or scientific) injunctions. Such endeavors are two-fold, one in the direction of Atma Jn3na Sastras (or the sciences relating to divine wisdom) and the other in the direction of (ordinary) Sastras (treating of terrestrial wisdom). The former is, on account of Moksha and the latter which is not the true Sastraic path leads to bondage. Those virtuous persons only will gain Moksha who from their early boyhood, train themselves up in the Atma Jnna (or spiritual) lore, associate themselves with the un flinching great men and develop benevolence and other good qualities.
At which Raghava exclaimed “ Being under the control of Vasanas generated by me in my former births, 1 have not been making efforts in the direction of the right path. Oh Guru, what then am I to do ?
On Vasanas pure and impure. To which Vasishta replied thus “Oh Rma of marvellous qualities, it is through one s efforts alone and none else that the Brahmic seat can be mastered. Now the hosts of Vasanas may be divided under two heads, vis., the pure and the impure. Of these two, those alone which were generated by him in his many lives will cling to him (in his future births). Should the pure ones cling to him, he will easily attain the immaculate Brahmic Seat through them ; but in the case of the impure Vasanas, pains will be generated. Thou shouldst, oh Rama, even through dint of painful efforts, avoid these impure ones. Through the two ordained paths of good and evil, the current of Vasanas swells enormously.
Mayest thou, after straining all thy nerves in the cultivation of Brah- mavidya (Brahmic science), liberate thyself from the impure Vasanas and rest firmly in the (pure) Vasanas appertaining to the beneficent Reality. Thou shouldst, through thy equal vision over all and thy own efforts, play fully check the lad of mind from getting into the impure Vasanas and make it associate with the pure ones. If after annihilating the many impure ones which are the products of the many previous births, thou shouldst make the pure ones dawn now, then they will conduce to thy (future) efforts. Even should any doubt arise in thy mind as to what the pure ones will lead thee, thou shouldst always be cultivating them only, as any excess therein is not, in any way, injuri ous. Till thy mind is illumined by the Reality of Brahman, thou shouldst always be following the path of initiation into Brahman by the Gurus through the sacred sentences of the Vedas.”
“Mayest thou, Oh Rama, remain immutably fixed in that state of direct cognition, after purging thy mind of its impure Vasanas and making it, through the pure ones, attain the Atmic Seat, free of all stains and pains. Destroy all thy illu sory thoughts, so that they may not resurrect again. Develop extreme quiescence of mind and bliss within thyself. And then through thy intelligence freed from the longing after objects, thou shouldst, Oh Rama, commingle thyself with Brahman, engaged in the investigation of the significance of the holy sentence, Tatwamasi (That art Thou) and me ditate upon such identity. Now listen to the utterances of Brahma seated on the honey-dropping lotus flower.”
Vasishta s own history. At which Rdghava enquired of Vasishta the cause of such utterances when Vasishta went on thus “ Out of Chidakasa
* which is the endless, the all-per vading, the seat of all and the illuminator of all objects, there arose Vishnu. Brahma arose out of the lotus of his heart and evolved, as so many creations of his mind, this earth and other diverse objects. Now the author of the universe, Lord Brahma, (in the course of its progress), found the many noble souls in Bharata-Varsha (the portion of land including India) writhing under extreme pains and was moved to pity, like a father towards his afflicted son. Contemplating upon the salvation of these afflicted ones, he came to the conclusion that the cycle of births and deaths cannot be arrested by either Japas (uttering of Mantras) or Tapas (religious auste rities) macerating the body or the many kinds of gifts or bathing in such holy waters as the Ganges and others or any other means except through Atma Jnana.
Therefore, through his stainless mind, he created us all, like himself, with a bowl and, in the hand, a rosary of beads. So was I born and having saluted him, I was shewn a seat on a petal on the northern side of the lotus in which he was gloriously seated- There he pronounced a curse on my mind that it should be enveloped by Maya for one Muhurta (or 48 minutes). There at my mind became stupified and I began to play the woman like an illiterate and ignorant person devoid of all spiritual wisdom. Observing me thus, Brahma questioned me as to the cause of my dire sorrow. To which I asked him how this Samsara arose and how Moksha can be attained after freedom from existence.
Upon which he blessed me with a true cognition of the higher state. As its result, I was in a non-fluctuating state, owing to my cognition of Jnana Atma Reality. Upon which Brahma remarked to me thus. “it was we that enveloped thy intelligence by the base Maya and then cleansed it of Maya after having annihilated the latter. We have ordained that all souls shall be initiated by thee and attain Moksha- After the dawning of full Jnana, thou shalt soon go to Bharata-Varsha in Jambudwipa which is the land of all perishable Karmas (religious works). There shalt thou initiate men, having the four qualifications (of attaining salvation), into Atma Jnana; but shalt initiate lovers of (ritualistic) Karmas), in whom the conception of egoism has not vanished, into the due performance of such Karmas.”
“ According to his mandates, I go to Bharata-Varsha and live in it so long as humanity exist there. I have no longing for any objects in this world. I shall ever be in the Sushupti (dreamless sleeping) state and thus be able to overstep the limits of the painful mind, though engaged in the daily ac tions of the world No actions of mine identify themselves with my Self. Oh valorous Rama, those intelligent disciples alone will be knowers of Atma who, after thoroughly dis criminating between a guru of all-full Jnana and another of Ajnana, find an asylum in a supreme immaculate Guru (vis., the former).
Those only who understand the teachings of their Gurus (from all aspects) by an instantaneous appre hension of what they (the Gurus) mean and at what they drive, will see them realised (afterwards) as in an objective vision. The stainless Guru will never initiate into Tatwa Jnana those who are weak-willed and addicted to sensual desires.
