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Válmiki
Yoga-Vāsistha, Book 3: Utpatti-Prakarana (Evolution of the World). Chapter 119 - Illustration of the Gold-Ring
Vasistha said- The human soul reflecting on its egoism, forgets its essence of the Supreme soul; as the gold-ring thinking on its formal rotundity, loses its thought of the substantial gold whereof it is made.
Rāma said : Please tell me sir, how the gold can have its consciousness of its form of the ring, as the soul is conscious of its transformation to egoism.
The questions of sensible men, relate only to the substances of things, and not to the production and dissolution of the existent formal parts of things, and neither to those of the nonexistent; so you should ask of the substances of the soul and gold, and not of the ego and the ring, which are unsubstantial nullities in nature. 1
When the jeweller sells his gold-ring for the price of gold, he undoubtedly delivers the gold which is the substance of the ring and not the ring without its substance. 2
Rāma asked- If such is the case that you take the gold for the ring, then what becomes of the ring as we commonly take it to be? Explain this to me, that I may thereby know the substance of Brahma (underlying all appearances).
Vasistha said- All form, O Rāma, is formless and accidental quality, and no essential property of things. So if you would ascertain the nature of a nullity, then tell me the shape and qualities of a barren woman's son (which are null and nothing).
Do not fall into the error of taking the circularity of the ring, as an essential property of it; the form of a thing is only apparent and not prominent to the sight. 3
The water in the mirage, the two moons in the sky, the egoism of men and the forms of things, though appearing as real ones to sight and thought, cannot be proved as separate existences apart from their subjects. 4
Again the likeness of silver that appears in pearl-shells, can not be realized in the substance of the pearl-mother, or even a particle of it at any time or any place. 5
It is the incircumspect view of a thing that makes a nullity appear as a reality, as the appearance of silver in the shell and the water in the mirage; (all which are but deceptions of sight and other senses, and are therefore never trustworthy).
The nullity of a nil appears as an ens to sight, as also the fallacy of a thing as something where there is nothing of the kind- (as the silver in the pearl-mother and water in the mirage).
Sometimes an unreal shadow acts the part of a real substance, as the false apprehension of a ghost kills a lad with the fear of being killed by it. 6
There remains nothing in the gold jewel except gold, after its form of jewellery is destroyed; therefore the forms of the ring and bracelet are no more, than drops of oil or water on a heap of sand. The forms are absorbed in the substance, as the fluids in dust or sand.
There is nothing real or unreal on earth, except the false creations of our brain (as appearances in our dreams); and these whether known as real or unreal, are equally productive of their consequence, as the sights and fears of spectres in children. 7
A thing whether it is so or not, proves yet as such as it is believed to be, by different kinds and minds of men; as poison becomes as effective as elixir to the sick, and ambrosia proves as heinous as hemlock with the intemperate. 8
Belief in the only essence of the soul, constitutes true knowledge, and not in its likeness of the ego and mind, as it is generally believed in this world. Therefore abandon the thought of your false and unfounded egoism and individual existence. 9
As there is no rotundity of the ring inherent in gold; so there is no individuality of egoism in the all-pervading universal soul.
There is nothing everlasting beside Brahmā and no personality of Him as a Brahmā, Visnu or any other. There is no substantive existence as the world, but off spring of Brahmā called the patriarch. 10
There are no other worlds beside Brahmā, nor is the heaven without Him. The hills, the demons, the mind and body all rest in that spirit which is no one of these.
He is no elementary principle, nor is he any cause as the material or efficient. He is none of the three times of past, present and future but all; nor is he anything in being or not-being (inesse or posse or in nubibus).
He is beyond your egoism or tuism, ipseism and suism, and all your entities and non-entities. There is no attribution nor particularity in Him, who is above all your ideas, and is none of the ideal personifications of your notions. 11
He is the plenum of the world, supporting and moving all, being unmoved and unsupported by any. He is everlasting and undecaying bliss; having no name or symbol or cause of his own. 12
He is no sat or est or a being that is born and existence, nor an asat- nonest 13; he is neither the beginning, middle or end of anything, but is all in all. He is unthinkable in the mind, and unutterable by speech. He is vacuum about the vacuity, and a bliss above all felicity.
Rāma said- I understand now Brahmā to be self same in all things, yet I want to know what is this creation, that we see all about us. 14
Vasistha replied- The supreme spirit being perfectly tranquil, and all things being situated in Him, it is wrong to speak of this creation or that, when there is no such thing as a creation at any time.
All things exist in the all containing spirit of God, as the whole body of water is contained in the universal ocean; but there is fluctuation in the waters owing to their fluidity, whereas there is no motion in the quiet and motionless spirit of God.
The light of the luminaries shines of itself, but not so the Divine light; it is the nature of all lights to shine of themselves, but the light of Brahmā is not visible to sight.
As the waves of the ocean rise and fall in the body of its waters, so do these phenomena appear as the noumena in the mind of God (as his ever-varying thoughts).
To men of little understanding, these thoughts of the Divine mind appear as realities; and they think this sort of ideal creation, will be lasting for ages.
Creation is ascertained to be a cognition (a thought) of the Divine Mind; it is not a thing different from the mind of God, as the visible sky is no other than a part of Infinity.
The production and extinction of the world, are mere thoughts of the Divine mind; as the formation and dissolution of ornaments take place in the self same substance of gold.
The mind that has obtained its calm composure, views the creation as full with the presence of God; but those that are led by their own convictions, take the in-existent for reality, as children believe the ghosts as real existences.
The consciousness of ego (or the subjective self existence), is the cause of the error of the objective knowledge of creation; but the tranquil unconsciousness of ourselves, brings us to the knowledge of the supreme, who is above the objective and inert creation.
These different created things appear in a different light to the sapient, who views them all in the unity of God, as the toy puppets of a militia, are well known to the intelligent to be made and composed of mud and clay.
This plenitude of the world is without its beginning and end, and appears as a faultless or perfect peace of workmanship. It is full with the fullness of the supreme Being, and remains full in the fullness of God.
This plenum which appears as the created world, is essentially the Great Brahmā, and situated in his greatness; just as the sky is situated in the sky, tranquility in tranquility, and felicity in felicity. 15
Look at the reflection of a longsome landscape in a mirror, and the picture of a far stretching city in the miniature; and you will find the distances of the objects lost in their closeness. So the distances of worlds are lost in heir propinquity to one another in the spirit of God.
The world is thought as a nonentity by some, and as an entity by others; by their taking it in the different lights of its being a thing beside God, and its being but a reflection of Brahmā. 16
After all, it can have no real entity, being like the picture of a city and not as the city itself. It is as false as the appearance of limpid water in the desert mirage, and that of the double moon in the sky.
As it is the practice of magicians, to show magic cities in the air, by sprinkling handfuls of dust before our eyes; so does our erroneous consciousness represents the unreal world, as a reality unto us.
Unless our inborn ignorance (error) like an arbour of noxious plants, is burnt down to the very root by the flame of right reasoning, it will not cease to spread out its branches, and grow the rankest weeds of our imaginary pleasures and sorrows.
Footnotes
1. So men appraise the value of the gold of which the ring is made, and not by the form of the ring.
2. So the shapes of things are nothing at All, but the essential substance- Brahmā underlying all things, is all in all.
3. In European philosophy, form is defined as the essence of a thing, for without it nothing is conceivable. But matter being the recipient of form, it does form any part of its essence. Vasistha speaking of matter as void of form, means the materia prima of Aristotle, or the elementary sorts of it.
4. All these therefore are fallacies vanishing before vicārana or reasoning, the second ground of true knowledge.
5. The Sanskrit alliterations of kanam, ksanam, kvanu, cannot be preserved in translation.
6. Fright of goblins and bogies of mormos and ogres, have killed many men in the dark.
7. We are equally encouraged by actual rewards and flattering hopes, as we are depressed at real degradation and its threatening fear.
8. So is false faith thought to be as efficacious by the vulgar as the true belief of the wise.
9. This is said to be selfreliance or dependence on the universal soul of God.
10. All these are said to be negative terms in many passages of the śrūtis as the following : There is no substantiality except that of Brahmā. There is no personality (ādesa) of him. He is Brahmā the supreme soul and no other. He is neither the outward nor inward nor he is nothing.
11. He is none of the mythic persons of abstract ideas as Love and the like.
12. He is the being that pervades through and presides over all- sanmātram.
13. extinct
14. Are they the same with Brahmā or distinct from him?
15. These are absolute and identic terms, as the whole is the whole etc.
16. In the former case it is a non-entity as there can be nothing without God; in the latter sense it is real entity being identic with God.
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