CHAPTER XVIII. Ascertainment of the Example Or Major Proposition
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Valmiki and Mitra, Viharilala
Vasishtha said:—
The several parts of this work as already related, give rise to the understanding, as seeds sown in a good field never fail to produce good fruitage.
2. Even human compositions are acceptable when they are instructive of good sense; otherwise the Vedas also are to be renounced (as unreliable); because men are required always to abide by reason.
3. Words conformable with reason are to be received even if spoken by boys; otherwise they are to be rejected as straws though pronounced by the lotus-born (Brahmá himself).
4. Whoever drinks from a well by reason of its being dug by his ancestors, and rejects the holy water of the Ganges even when placed before him, is an incorrigible simpleton.
5. As early dawn is invariably accompanied by its train of light, so is good judgment an inevitable attendant on the perusal of this work.
6. Whether these lessons are heard from the mouth of the learned, or well studied by one’s self, they will gradually make their impressions upon the mind by one’s constant reflection on their sense.
7. They will first furnish (to the learner) a variety of Sanskrit expressions, and then spread before him a series of holy and judicious maxims, like so many ornamental creepers to decorate the hall.
8. They will produce a cleverness joined with such qualifications and greatness, as to engage the good grace of gods and kings.
9. They are called the intelligent who know the cause and effect of things, and are likened to a torch-bearer who is clear sighted in the darkness of the night. (Like the stoa of the Stoics).
10. All their erroneous and covetous thoughts become weaker by degrees, as the regions of the sky are cleared of their mists at the approach of autumn.
11. Your thoughts require only the guidance of reason (to hit the right), as every action needs be duly performed to make it successful.
12. The intellect becomes (by culture) as clear as a great lake in autumn, and it gets its calmness (by reason), like that of the sea after its churning by the Mandara mountain.
13. Like the flame of a chandelier cleansed of its sootiness and dispelling the shroud of darkness, the refined intellect shines forth in full brightness, and distinguishes (the different natures of) things.
14. The evils of penury and poverty cannot overpower on them, whose strong sight can discern the evils of their opposites (wealth and riches); as no dart can pierce the mortal parts of a soldier clad in full armour.
15. No worldly fears can daunt the heart of the wise man, however nearest they may approach to him. Just as no arrow can pierce through a huge solid stone.
16. Such doubts as “whether it is destiny or our own merit that is the cause of our births and actions,” are removed (by learning), as darkness is dispelled by day-light.
17. There is a calm tranquility attending upon the wise at all times and in all conditions (of life); so also does the light of reason like solar rays, follow the dark night of error.
18. The man of right judgment has a soul as deep as the ocean and as firm as a mountain, and a cool serenity always shines within him like that of moon-light.
19. It is he who arrives slowly at what is called “living-liberation;” who remains calm amidst the endless turmoils (of the world), and is quite aloof from common talk (i.e. unnoticed by the world).
20. His mind is calm and cool at every thing; it is pure and full of heavenly light; shining serenely as the autumnal night with the radiance of moon-beams.
21. When the sun of reason illumines the cloudless region of the mind, no portentous comet of evil can make its appearance (within its sphere).
22. All desires are at rest with the elevated; they are pure with the steady, and indifferent to the inert, like the body of light clouds in autumn.
23. The slanders of envious ill-wishers are put out of countenance (by the wise), as the frolics of goblins disappear at the approach of day.
24. The mind that is fixed on the firm basis of virtue, and placed under the burthen of patience, is not to be shaken by accidents; but remains as a plant in a painting (unmoved by winds).
25. The knowing man does not fall into the pit-falls lying all about the affairs of this world: for who that knows the way will run into the ditch?
26. The minds of the wise are as much delighted in acting conformably to the precepts of good books and the examples of the virtuous, as chaste women are fond of keeping themselves within the bounds of the inner apartments.
27. Of the innumerable millions of atoms which compose this universe, every one of them is viewed in the light of a world in the mind of the abstracted philosopher.
28. The man whose mind is purified by a knowledge of the precepts of liberation, neither repines nor rejoices at the loss or gain of the objects of enjoyment.
29. Men of unfettered minds look upon the appearance and disappearance of every atomic world, as the fluctuating wave of the sea.
30. They neither grieve at unwished-for occurrences nor pine for their wished-for chances; and knowing well all accidents to be the consequences of their actions, they remain as unconscious as trees (totally insensible of them).
31. These (holy men) appear as common people, and live upon what they get; whether they meet with aught of welcome or unwelcome to them, their minds remain unconquered.
32. They having understood the whole of this Sástra, and having read and considered it well, as well as pondered (on its purport), hold their silence as in the case of a curse or blessing (which is never uttered by saints).
33. This Sástra is easy to be understood, and is ornamented with figures (of speech). It is a poem full of flavours and embellished with beautiful similes.
34. One may be self taught in it who has a slight knowledge of words and their senses; but he who does not understand the purport well, should learn it from a pandit.
35. After hearing, thinking and understanding this work, one has no more need of practising austerities, or of meditation and repeating the Mantras and other rites: and a man requires nothing else in this world for the attainment of his liberation.
36. By deep study of this work and its repeated perusal, a man attains to an uncommon scholarship next to the purification of his soul.
37. The ego and the non-ego, that is, the viewer and the view, are both but chimeras of the imagination, and it is their annihilation alone, that leads insensibly to the vision of the soul.
38. The error of the reality of ego and the perceptible world, will vanish away as visions in a dream; for who, that knows the falsehood of dreams, will fall into the error (of taking them for truth?)
39. As an imaginary palace gives no joy or grief to any body, so it is in the case of the erroneous conception of the world.