Accordingly the King made his mind merge into the Uni versal Consciousness, and in that Samadhi surveyed all the events that had happened, from the date of his quitting his magnificent country down to the present period of the appear ance of Chudalai (in her real form). After^Samadhi, the just King became quite enraptured with joy and having embraced Chudalai, who stood shining before him as the personation of true love and grace, was struck dumb for a long time, and completely submerged in bliss for a moment.
Then having recovered himself, he seated her on his lap and said to her thus : * Thou hast, through thy vast intelligence, lifted me out of the unfathomable cave of thick darkness that I was entangled in. Who is there to compare to thee in all this wide world ? How can I> O tendril-like lady, requite thee for all thy kindness ? thou who hast reached the other side of the ocean of Samsara (mundane existence), O thou the perso nation of Justice without any desires, how can I aid thee in any way ?
To which the lady replied : Observing you drooping under the many actions of Tapas (penances) in the forest, I came with great effort in quest of you to elevate you above Samsara. Hence there is no necessity for you to eulogise me thus, as I but did my duty. Have you not, O my husband, freed yourself from all petty worldly actions, Sankalpas (thoughts) and Vikalpas (fancies) ?
Then the King said : * All doubts have now vanished out of my mind. I am devoid of desires and the idea of he terogeneity. I have become as immaculate as Akasa. I shall never hereafter fall through becoming of the form of (or, thinking about) objects. I have attained the incom parable Samadhi, the highest thing worthy of being attained.
I am free from mental joy or dire pains. I shall never here after shine as this or that (object). I am like the pure light ot the resplendent sun s sphere, which does not come into contact with any medium such as a wall, &c., and is there fore subject to no increase or diminution. I am like the Akasa which permeates all objects, and is yet undefiled. I am of the nature of Absolute Consciousness. I can now cognise my Reality to be no other than That. Therefore thou art my well-favored Guru. I worship thy lotus feet.
At which Chudalai asked him as to his future course of action. To which the King said : I am free from all love and hatred. From this day forward, I shall daily perform my duties strictly according to your dictates, like a crystal tinged with the five colors.
Then Chudalai said thus : If thou art willing to act up to what I say, it behoves thee then to now give up all thy ignorance and resume the regal duties once relinquished by thee. Let us both wield the sceptre of our kingdom for some time as Jivanmuktas and then attain Videhamukti, after the body is thrown aside. To this the King acquiesced. Then Chudalai rose up and, through dint of her concentrated San- kalpa, she acted as follows : She then and there first anointed him by bathing him in jewelled vessels full of the waters of the seven oceans, and then, having installed him on an effulgent throne bedecked with rubies, &c., blessed him with a long life. Then the King and his wife Chudalai, who were both of one mind, mounted upon a decorated elephant and went back to their town with their four-fold army amidst great rejoicings.
As soon as they reached the outskirts of their town, the four-fold army in their town came in advance to meet them. Thus both the armies joined together and went gaily along. There the King reigned with true love along with his wife for 10,000 years, and then attained a dis embodied emancipation.
“Thus, Oh Rama, if by associating yourself with the Karmas of the world, your quiescent Jnana is ever developed without the longing after objects, you will be able to enjoy real bliss and emancipation.” So said Muni Vdsishta of Hlu minaied mind and great Tapas to Sri Rama.
THE STORY OF KACHA.
Summary. Again is illustrated the tact that Chitta- Tyga alone constitutes the renunciation of all.
In the previous story I have related to thee the story of S ikhidwaja, the most enlightened of persons. If thou art as ripe as he, thou wilt never be affected by dire pains. Follow ing the same path is the learned Kacha, the son of Brihas- pati, the Deva-guru.* Thou shouldst be acquainted with his story also.
Rama asked “Please throw light upon the path through which Kacha came into direct cognition of the Supreme”.
Vasishta replied Muni Kacha, the son of Brihaspati, who had known the substratum of all things through a know ledge of the higher seat, approached the Devaguru, his father for enlightenment upon the best means of divorcing the dire elephant of Prana from the Keddha of mundane exist ence.
Devaguru said thus “This large expanse of the ocean of births, wherein do live the countless hosts of crocodiles, fish es, &c., can be bridged over only by the incomparable power of all-renunciation, involving great troubles and responsibili ties.” At these words of his father/Kacha abdicated all things and retiring into the forest, lived there 8 years, at the end of which period, he was visited by his father. Having accosted his father with due respects, he asked him the reason why in spite of the renunciation of all for about 8 years, his mental pains had not subsided- To which his father replied merely that he should give up everything and departed. After the departure of his father, he denied himself of even the barks of trees, cloths, &c., he had on. Thus was he stark naked, like a clear sky in the autumnal season, when the sun, moon, stars, &c., are clearly visible in the skies.
Again did Kacha visit his father and having prostrated himself lovingly before him, laid before him in plaintive tones the fact of his inability to get quiescence of mind, albeit the complete renunciation of all things. Thus did he consult his father who gave him the following advice “It is the opinion of the great that the mind is the all-in-all and that its mastery leads to the renunciation of all. Through such a mental abnegation it is, that thou wilt be able to free thyself from ail pains.” So say ing, Brihaspati (Jupiter) vanished.
Thereupon the resplendent Muni Kacha soliloquised to himself thus “I have been inquiring as to what mind is and have not been able to come to any conclusion. If the body with its parts is different from the mind, then all our efforts to separate them both are useless ; for how can the separation take place between the mind and the body, while they are themselves different from one another?” All his doubts about mind not being resolved, he again applied to his father to aid him in the solution of his doubts.
Brihaspati said thus “The wise who have understood what mind is, say that it is no other than Ahankara (the idea of one ). The idea of I existing within all creatures is the stainful mind.”
Kacha asked “lt; It is indeed difficult to avoid this idea of I . How is this adamant to be splintered to pieces ?”
Brihaspati replied All excruciating pains do not really exist. It is very easy to remove this Ahankara. Within the time taken in the squeezing of a flower or the twinkling of an eye, this AhankSra can be easily eradicated. No long dissertation is necessary in this topic. One only Principle alone is, which is the non-dual, the endless, the supreme Jnana, the immaculate, and the Plenum purer than Aka.sa. Meditate upon It without fluctuation of mind and free thy self from all pain with true calmness of mind. Being quite unreal, Ahankara will perish (through efforts). How ran Ahankara grow in the atmosphere of the meditation of the eternal ? Can dust arise out of the waters, or waters, out of the fire? Contemplating upon the Eternal, mayest thou be free from the differentiated conceptions of * I, he, &c. Tatwa Jn&na is that non-dual one which is subtle, imma culate, the supreme self-light, and the all which is not sub ject to the forms generated by the quarters, time, etc., and is not obscured or sullied by pains, &c. Mayest thou be in this certitude of Atmic Reality.”
So gave out Brihaspati the highest of mysteries. May you be, Oh Rama, in that self-same desireless state in which Muni Kacha was, who having abandoned the idea of “I,” “thou,” &c., and destroyed all internal attractions, was full of Atmic meditation as a Jivanmukta without any Vikalpas in his mind. In Kaivallya (or emancipation), this Ahankara is nothing but unreal. Therefore do not set your heart upon giving or taking it up. Whoever will ever dream of taking hold of or letting go the horns of a hare which are nothing but unreal.
Here Rama asked How in the Plenum of Brahma-Jna*na did there arise an element foreign to it ? Vasishta replied The laying hold of heterogeneous ideas which are unreal tends to the paltry re-births ; but the merging of the ideation into the one Reality without any doubts is the emanci pation from re-births.
