CHAPTER XIV. ASCERTAINMENT OF THE THINKING PRINCIPLE.
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Valmiki and Mitra, Viharilala
Argument. People unworthy of persuasion, their transmigrations, and purification of the mind.
Vasishtha said: These multitudes of men, that are carried away by the waves of the torrents of the sea of worldly pursuits; are deaf and dumb to the admonitions of their spiritual instructors.
2. They are not fit to derive the benefit of the spiritual knowledge, which I have propounded in this yogasástra by my rational discourses.
3. They who are born blind and can see nothing, are not to be presented with the picture of a garden, portrayed with blooming blossoms and beautiful flowers by the intelligent artist.
4. There is no such fool that would present fragrant odours to one, whose nostrils are snorting under some nasal disease (pinasa. Polypus), nor so great a dolt, that would consult an ignorant man on spiritual matters.
5. What lack-wit is there, that would refer a question on law or religious subjects, to one of ungoverned passions and organs of sense, or whose eyeballs are rolling with the intoxication of wine.
6. Who asks of the dead the way he should go, or one in the grave about the concourse in the city; and what witless man is there that resorts to an idiot to clear his doubts.
7. Of what good is it to advise a witling, whose serpentine mind is coiling and creeping in the cave of his heart; and though it lies there in silence and sightless, is yet ungovernably wild?
8. Know there is no such a thing as a well governed mind, for though you may fling it at a distance from you, yet it is never lost or annihilated. (The unsubdued mind recurs to us in repeated births).
9. The simpleton who does not bear his sway over his false and delusive mind, is tormented to death by its venomous smart, as if stung by a deadly reptile.
10. The learned know the vital powers, and the operations of the organs of action, to depend on the action and force of the soul; say then, O Ráma, what is that thing which they call the mind. (The three functions of motion, thought and organic action, being conducted by force of the vital breath, it is in vain to suppose the existence of the mind).
11. The vital breath gives the force for bodily actions, and the soul produces the power of knowledge; the organs act by their own force, and the supreme spirit is the main source of all.
12. All forces are but parts of the omnipotence of the supreme Spirit; their different appellations are but inventions of men.
13. What is it that they call the living soul, and which has blindfolded the world; and what they term as the mind, is really an unreality and without any power of its own.
14. Ráma! I have seen the continued misery arising from their false conception of the unreal mind; and my pity for them has caused my incessant sorrow.
15. But why should I sorrow for the ignorant rabble, who bring their woe by their own error? The common herd is born to their misery like beasts and brutes.
16. The ignorant rabble are born in their dull material bodies, for their destruction only. They are born to die away incessantly, like the waves of the ocean.
17. What pity shall I take for them, that are seen every day to perish under the jaws of death, like numbers of animals immolated in the shambles.
18. For whom shall I sorrow, when I see billions and trillions of gnats and moths, are destroyed day by day, by gusts of wind (which is their element and support).
19. Whom shall I sorrow for, when I observe on every side the millions of deer and beasts of chase, that are killed every day in the hills and forests, by their hunters and sportsmen.
20. Whom shall I feel for, when I find innumerable shoals of small fishes, that are devoured every day in the waters, by the bigger ones!
21. I see an infinite number of animalcules, to be eaten up by flies and fleas; which in their turn, are devoured by the voracious spiders and scorpions.
22. The frog feeds on flies, and is on its turn devoured by snakes. The birds of prey swallow the snake, and the weasel preys upon them.
23. The weasel is killed by the cat, which is killed again by the dog; the bear destroys the dog, and is at last destroyed by the tiger. (জীবস্যজীবনাহার:—One animal is food to another.)
24. The lion overcomes the tiger, and is overcome on its turn by the sarabha (a fabulous beast with eight feet). The sarabha is overthrown by its fall on rocky steeps, in its attempt to jump over the gathering clouds.
25. The clouds are worsted by tempests, and these again are obstructed by the rising rocks and mountains. The mountains are split by thunder claps, and the thunderbolts of heaven are broken by the thundering Sakra (Jove).
26. This Sakra or Indra is vanquished by Upendra or Vishnu (his younger brother), and Vishnu is made to undergo his incarnations in the shapes of men and beasts. He is subjected to the vicissitudes of pain and pleasure, and to the conditions of disease, decay and death. (Change is the order of nature.)
27. Big-bodied beasts are fed upon by the leeches and fleas that stick to their bodies to suck their blood; and men fraught with knowledge and armed with weapons, are infested by their bloodsucking bugs and gnats.
28. Thus the whole host of living bodies, are continually exposed to feed upon and to be fed by one another, with remorseless voracity.
29. There is an incessant growth of leaches, fleas and ants, other small insects and worms on the one hand; and a continued dissolution of both the big and puny bodies in every place on earth.
30. The womb of the waters, bears the breed of fishes, whales, hippopotami and other aquatic animals; and the bowels of the earth, produce the multitudes of worms and reptiles to infinity.
31. The air teems with the brood of birds of various kinds, and the woods abound with wild beasts, and lions and tigers, the fleet deer and other brutes.
32. There are inborn worms growing in the intestines, and upon the skin of animal bodies; and parasitical insects and animalcules, feeding upon the bark and leaves of trees.
33. Insects are seen to be born in the crusts of stones, as frogs, vajrakítas and others; and many kinds of worms and insects, are found to grow in and subsist upon the faeces and excrements of animals.
34. In this manner an endless number of living beings, are being born and perishing for ever and ever; and it is of no avail to them, whether kind hearted men are joyous or sorrowful at their births and deaths.
35. The wise can have no cause for their joy or grief, in this continued course of incessant births and deaths of the living world.
36. Such is the nature of all the different series of animal beings, that they incessantly grow to fall off like the leaves of trees. (These are known as the ephemerids and the heirs and poor pensioners of a day).
37. The kind-hearted man, who wishes to remove the sorrows of the ignorant by his advice, attempts an impossibility, as that of shrouding the allpervasive sunshine, by means of his umbrella.
38. It is useless to give advice to the ignorant, who are no better than beasts in their understandings; as it is fruitless to talk to a rock or block of wood or stone in the wilderness.
39. The dull-headed ignorant, who are no better than beasts, are dragged by their wilful minds, like the cattle by their halters.