“ Such a person will be indifferent to all fruits of actions. He will be all-full without any deterioration. He will be proof against the attacks of the Vikalpas of actions, virtuous and sinful. His mind will not cling to any. Like a crystal which, though reflecting the five colors, is yet not discolored by it, so though in his mind are reflected the fruits of actions, yet it will not be tinged with them. In common with other men, he will be worshipping with true devotion ; and though his body is cut asunder through malice, he will be unaffected by pleasures or pains, they being merely like reflections in his mind.
Though engaged in worldly actions such as eulogies (to God) and the celestial sacrifices, whether worshipped by others or not, he will ever be conforming to the dictates of the Vedas and be utterly disconnected in mind with worldly concerns. He will neither be the object of fear to those with whom he comes in contact nor will be terrified by any in the world, Such a full-minded person will rest in the Supreme Seat, whether he associates or not with desires, anger, fear and contentment, whether he refrains from being in the state menrioned before or is in a childlike state or whether he dies in Benares or in a Chandala s (the lowest casteman s) house.”
“ Persons should worship this lofty soul, seeing that with the reaching of the Absolute Consciousness in Moksha, he has destroyed his mind and that inasmuch as bondage is caused by the gloom of Ajnana, he has destroyed this gloom. There fore it is the duty of those who wish to destroy re-births, to venerate such an exalted personage by ever praising, salu ting, worshipping, glorifying and visiting him with entrea ties. Not even Yajnas or ablutions, Tapas or gifts will confer, on one, the same effects as those derivable from the services rendered with true love to those who have glorified themselves in a state of never-fluctuating Jndna, free from Samsaric-existence. “
Having thus taught him with true love, Lord Bra/hma now passing under the pseudonym of Manu, departed to his effulgent mansion in Satyaloka. Oh Rama, with feet tinkling with bells, thus did the famous King Ikshwaku cling fast to this kind of vision and rest in the certitude of Atma.” So said Vasishta.
THE STORY OF A MUNI AND A HUNTER.
Summary. This story is meant to illustrate the Turya enjoyment.
On being questioned by Rama as to what the wondrous traits are in those Jivanmuktas who have worshipped the eternal Brahman through their great wisdom (but without the psychical powers of Anima, &c.) Vasishta said thus The in comparable intelligence of a Jna”ni will ever find wonders (or delight) in the non-dual Atma. With stainlessr.ess, fullness and quiescence, the Jivanmukta will be in Atma only. What wonder is there in walking in the skies and other psy chical powers developed out of Mantras, Tapas and other means? Anima and other powers accrue only to those persons who expand their minds gradually in this world with intense efforts. But Atma-Jnanis long not for these Siddhis. There is one thing peculiar to them. They have not the minds of the base.
Their minds are immaculate, being free from desires. Without the characteristics of caste and orders of life and through the freedom from the trammels of the delusion of the longstanding births and deaths, they will be the enjoyers of partless bliss. Besides, desires, anger, pains, greed, accidents, &c., full of Vasanas, will daily dwindle into nothing.
Vasishta continued again : Like a Brahmin who after giving up his noble status, degrades himself into a Sudra, Es a (the Lord) degrades himself into a Jiva. The myriads of Jivas will, at every creation, shine beyond number. Through the flutter of that causal ideation, the Jivic Eswaras will be generated in every stage (of evolution). But the cause is not here (in this world). The Jivas that arise from Eswara and flourish thereby, subject themselves to repeated re births through the Karmas perfomed by them. This, Rama, is the relationship of cause and effect, (though there is no cause for the rise of Jivas), yet existence and Karmas, are reciprocally the cause of one another. All the Jivas arise, without cause, out of the BVahmic Seat ; yet, after their rise, their Karmas are the cause of their pleasures and pains.
And Sankalpa arising from the delusion of the ignorance of Atm;i is the cause of all Karmas. As thus the cause of bondage is Sankalpa, you should root it away from you as completely as possible. The des truction of this primeval (cause) Sankalpa is itself Moksha. This destruction of Sankalpa should be intelligently prac tised. Where there exists the conception of the objects anil the enjoyer of the same r thou shouldst, my son, gradually and at all times destroy this Sankalpa without losing* sight of the same.
Do not become of the form of objects or the knower, enjoying tlie same. Having destroyed all the slight ed Sankalpas, mayest thou become That which remains. When the five organs get into objects (along with the mind), the desires engendered therein do constitute bondage ; but the non-attraction towards them is Moksha. If thou art even in the least tinged with the desires of objects, then it will involve thee in the meshes of existence. Oh beautiful Rama, if thou are not pleased with obj-ects, then thou wirt be free from existence. Do not in the least bestow any de sires upon the hosts of objects, movable and fixed, from straw up to gold.
Where there is no desire, what is there to feed upon or to perform or abandon ? Thou art neither the agent nor the enjoyer. Thou art alone the quiescent personage with thy mind extinct. Again, the wise will never grieve for things past, or about things of the future ; but they will perform their present Karmas duly, and be a master of them. Pride, illusion and desires ar2 so many binding- cords of the mind. Through the discriminative mind, the lower mind is power fully mastered by the wise. Having developed much dis crimination, may you destroy the delusions of the heteroge neous mind through the one pointed Manas (mind), like an iron severing another iron.
The intelligent cleanse a dirty cloth with the dirty earth only. A murderous Agni-Astra (missile) is counteracted by Varuna- Astra. The venom of serpent-bite is removed by its antidote of an edible poison. So also is it in the case of Jiva.
The Jiva has got three forms (or aspects). The first two are the base ones, vts., the gross and the subtle. The third is the supreme Brahman. Having gained this Brahman, may you free yourself from the first two forms. The gross body was designed for the purpose of enjoyment with hands and feet, eyes and the rest. The painful mind which is of the form of Sankalpa and produces the conception of Samsara is the subtle mental body.
The third aspect is, to all Jivas, the Jnana Reality which is without beginning or end or hetero geneities. Oh Rama with lotus hands, the immaculate Turya seat is above this. Being absorbed in this Turya seat, may you not identify yourself with the first two forms but destroy them both altogether.
At these words of Yasishta, Ragava asked the Muni thus: Please describe to me in detail this Turya or Brahmic state which is higher than the three Avasthas (Jgrata, Swa- pna, and Sushupti). To which Vasishta, with words shed ding ambrosial showers, replied Remaining in the certitude of Atma without desires and with an equal vision over all, having completely eradicated all conceptions of differentia tions of (i I or he”, existence or non-existence is Turya.
That state of Jivanmukti free from delusions, wherein there is the supreme certainty of Atma, equal vision over all and the witness-ship to all worldly acts is Turya state. Being without the painful Sankalpa, it is neither the waking state nor the sleeping state. Nor is it the ordinary Sushupti state, as there is (in Turya) the absence of the knowledge (of enjoy ment). All the world becomes then absorbed in the benefi cent Atma. To ripe Jndnis, this world is itself Turya (or they can enjoy the Turya state in this state) ; but to the ignorant, the universe is their settled abode (or they pinion their minds to the visibles only). If after the idea of “I” vanishes, the mind sees all things equally and performs all actions in such a manner that it cannot be said to perform them, then that is the Turya state to it.
Though you are the prince of men full of Jnana, please hearken, oh intelligent Rama, to a story that occurred in days of yore. In a spacious forest, a Tapaswin was in a state akin to that of a Mourn.* A warlike hunter who was a veteran in archery approached this Muni, and addressed him thus :
“Through the infliction of my arrows breathing fire, a stag ran up to this place. Will you please tell me where it fled to ?” To which the stainless Tapaswin replied thus :
Oh person of good qualities, we are only a band ofTapaswins, tenanting this forest, having equal vision over all. We never involve ourselves in the stainful Ahankara prompt ing men to worldly actions. Is it not the mind that associ ates itself with the actions of the organs in objects? It is long since the mind of the form of Ahankara left me truly and completely. I now know nothing of the waking, dreaming, or the sleepless dreaming states. I am now become of the Turya state. All the diverse visibles do not exist in the pure Turya state.” The hunter without understanding the dis quisitions of the Muni quitted that place.
Therefore please listen to me attentively.
There is no state other than Turya ; Jn3na divested of all its stainful diversities is Turya. Nought else is in this world but It. The Jagrata state is coupled with terrible actions ; the dream ing state, with becalmed actions and the dreamless sleeping state, with Ajnna (ignorant) actions. These are the three states of consciousness to a discriminative mind. If the lower mind perishes, it becomes the Sat and the non-dual and the all-equal state. Such a certitude of mind it is, the Jndnis develop and attain. In that Turya state in which the differenceless and ancient Jivanmuktas do abide as the great and the transcendent Rishis without any bondage, may you, my son, ever live firmly without the painful Sankalpas and Vikalpas and free yourself from all pains.
