CHAPTER XIII. GOVERNMENT OF THE MIND.
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Valmiki and Mitra, Viharilala
Argument. Reasons and Rules of Restraining the Mind from the instance of Janaka’s insouciance.
Vasishtha continued:—Now Ráma! Reflect on the Supreme spirit, in thy own spirit like Janaka; and know the object of the meditation of the wise, without any difficulty or failing.
2. The wise men of the latter genus rájasa-sátvika or active goodness, obtain their desired objects by themselves (of their own institution), like Janaka and other holy sages.
3. As long as you continue to restrain your organs of sense from their objects, so long will the divine soul grace your own inward soul with its presence.
4. The Lord God and Supreme soul, being thus gracious to thee; thou shalt see a halo of light cast over all things, and dispersing all thy woes from thy sight.
5. The sight of the Supreme spirit, will remove the plentiful seeds of bias from thy mind; and it will drive away the woeful sights of misery, pouring upon thy view in copious showers.
6. Continue like Janaka in the wilful discharge of thy duties, and prosper by placing thy intellectual sight, on the divine light shining in thy inward spirit.
7. It was by his inward cogitations, that Janaka found the transitoriness of the world; and by placing his faith in the unchangeable Spirit, he found its grace in time.
8. Hence neither the pious acts of men, nor their riches nor friends, are of any use to them for their salvation from the miseries of life, unless it be by their own endeavor for the enlightenment of their soul.
9. They who rely their faith in the gods, and depend upon them for fulfilment of their desires and future rewards, are perverted in their understandings, and cannot be heirs of immortality.
10. It is by reliance in one’s reasoning and resignation, and by his spiritual vision of the Supreme spirit, that he is saved from his misery in this ocean of the world.
11. The attainment of this blessed knowledge of intuition, which removeth our ignorance, is as what they call thy getting of fruit fallen from heaven (i.e. a heavenly and accidental fruit).
12. The intelligence which looks into itself as Janaka’s, finds the soul developing of itself in it, as the lotus-bud opens of itself in the morning.
13. The firm conviction of the material world, melts into nothing under the light of percipience; as the thick and tangible ice, dissolves into fluidity under the heat of the sun.
14. The consciousness that this is I (i.e. one’s self-consciousness), is as the shade of night, and is dispelled at the rise of the sun of intellect, when the Omnipresent light appears vividly to sight.
15. No sooner one loses his self-consciousness that ‘this is himself,’ than the All-pervading Soul opens fully to his view.
16. As Janaka has abandoned the consciousness of his personality, together with his desires also; so do you, O intelligent Ráma, forsake them by your acute understanding and of the mind discernment.
17. After the cloud of egoism is dispersed, and the sphere is cleared all around; the divine light appears to shine in it, as brightly as another sun.
18. It is the greatest ignorance to think of one’s egoism (or self-personality); this thought being relaxed by the sense of our nothingness, gives room to the manifestation of holy light in the soul.
19. Neither think of the entity nor non-entity of thyself or others; but preserve the tranquility of thy mind from both the thoughts of positive and negative existences; in order to get rid of thy sense of distinction between the producer and the produced (i.e. of the cause and effect, the both of which are identic in Vedánta or spiritual philosophy).
20. Again your fostering a fondness for something as good, and a hatred to others as bad; is but a disease of your mind for your uneasiness only. (Since all things are good in their own kinds, and nothing bad in its nature, and in the sight of God, who pronounced all things good).
21. Be not fond of what you think to be beautiful, nor disgusted at what appears hateful to you, get rid of these antagonist feelings, and be even-minded by fixing it on One, before whom all things are alike and equally good: (all partial evil is universal good. Pope.)
22. They that view the desirable and the detestable in the same light, are neither fond of the one nor averse to the other.
23. Until the fancy of the desirableness of one thing and dislike of the other, is effaced from the mind, it is as hard to have the good grace of equanimity, as it is difficult for the moonlight to pierce through the cloudy sky.
24. The mind which considers one thing as some thing à propos, and another as nothing to the purpose (the one as desirable and the other worthless); is deprived of the blessing of indifference, as the brier sákota is despised, not standing with all its fruits and flowers.
25. Where there is a craving for the desirable, and an aversion to what is unseemly, and when there is a cry for gain and an outcry at one’s loss; it is impossible for even mindedness, dispassionateness and tranquility of the mind, to abide then and there in that state.
26. There being only the essence of one pure—Brahma diffused throughout the universe, how very improper is it to take the one as many, and among them something as good or bad; (when the Maker of all has made all things good).
27. Our desires and dislike, are the two apes abiding on the tree of our hearts; and while they continue to shake and swing it with their jogging and jolting, there can be no rest in it.
28. Freedom from fear and desire, from exertions and action, together with sapience and equanimity, are the inseparable accompaniments of ease and rest.
29. The qualities of forbearance and fellow feeling, accompanied with contentment and good understanding, and joined with a mild disposition and gentle speech, are the indispensable companions of the wise man, who has got rid of his desires and the feelings of his liking or dislike.
30. The mind running to meanness, is to be repressed by restraining the passions and appetites; as the current of water running below, is stopped by its lock gate.
31. Shun the sight of external things, which are the roots of error and fallacy; and consider always their internal properties both when you are awake and asleep, and also when you are walking about or sitting down.
32. Avaricious men are caught like greedy fishes, in the hidden net of their insatiable desires, and which is woven with the threads of worldly cares, and is under the waters of worldly affairs.
33. Now Ráma! cut the meshes of this net, with the knife of thy good understanding; and disperse it in the water, as a tempest rends the thick cloud and scatters it about the air.
34. Try O gentle Ráma! to uproot the root of worldliness, which sprouts forth in the weeds of vice, with the hatchet of your perseverance and the eliminating shovel of your penetration.
35. Employ your mind to hew down the cravings ＜of＞ your mind, as they use the axe to cut down a tree, and you will then rest in quiet as you arrive at the state of holiness.
36. Having destroyed the former state of your mind by its present state, try to forget them both by your heedless mind in future, and manage yourself unmindful of the world. (There is a play of the word mind in the original).
37. Your utter oblivion of the world, will prevent the revival of your mind; and stop the reappearance of ignorance which is concomitant with the mind.
38. Whether you are waking or sleeping or in any other state of your life; you must remember the nihility of the world, and resign your reliance in it.
39. Leave off your selfishness (mamatá or mei tatem), O Ráma! and rely in the disinterestedness of your soul; lay hold on what ever offers of itself to you and without seeking for it all about.