Philosophy and Religion / Yoga Vāsistha / Yoga-Vāsistha (6.2): Nirvāna-Prakarana

Válmiki

Yoga-Vāsistha, Book 6: Nirvāna-Prakarana (On ultimate extinction) - part 2. Chapter 214 - Description of the Great Jubilee of the Assembly

Vālmīki related: As the sage had finished saying these things, or so far, the celestial sounded their trumpets from heaven, as the clouds resounded in the rainy skies, with showers of nectarious rain drops ¹. The face of the sky was whitened on all sides, as by drifts of snow-falls in hoary winter, and the surface of the earth was covered by rain drops, dropping like showers of flowers. ²

The earth appeared to be blessed with prosperity in the beauty of the flowers, stretching their pistils and peduncles like beauties in their evening decorations, and sending afar the fragrance of their farinacious dust, like the perfumery on the persons of fairies, their outer garniture and inner cool sweetness are verily the gifts of the Gods.

The falling flowers of heavenly arbors, dropped down from their dried boughs, by the rampant and apish hurricane of heaven, are now vying with the glittering stars, scattered all over the face of the firmament, and deriding at their grin laughter with their bashful and blushing smiles.

The lowering clouds accompanied with sounds of trumpets, and drizzling rain drops and falling of flowers, ³; next lighted upon the court hall, like the shadowy snow fall on Himālayas head, and filled the assembly with wonder, and gaping mouths and staring eyes.

The assembly seated in their order, took hold of handfuls of these heavenly flowers; and poured them upon Vasistha with their obeisance, and cast away all their earthly cares and woes with those celestial offerings to the sage. ⁴

The King Daśaratha said: O wander! that we are so lightly released of our cares and woes, in this wide extended vale of miseries of the world; and that our souls are now lightened of their throws by your grace, like the heavy clouds lightened of their weight and floating lightly at last on Himālayas.

We have reached to the goal of our acts, and seen the end of our miseries of this life; we have fully known the knowable One ⁵, and have found our entire rest in that supreme state ⁶.

We have known to rest in the ultimate void in our meditation, and to get rid of our erroneous thoughts of bodies, by means of our intense application to the abstract ⁷.

It is by our riddance from the coinage and vagaries of our imagination, and by our escape from the feverish fervour for the sights of the dreaming world; as also by our ceasing to mistake the shells and cockles for silver, and by our deliverance from misdeeming ourselves as dead either in our sleep or dream, ⁸.

It is by our knowledge of the identity of the wind and its oscillation, and of the sameness of the water with its fluidity; as also by our distrust in this talismanic world, and in this fairy land of our fancy, ⁹.

It must be by our discredit in the magical scenes of this world, and in the aerial castles of fairies; as also by our mistrust in the limpid currents of the mirage; and in the aerial groves and double moons of heaven, ¹⁰.

It is no earthquake, if our tottering foot steps should shake and slip in our drunkenness; nor can we view a ghost in a shadow as boys do, nor see the braids of hair hanging down from the clouds in heaven.

From these and other instances, which you have given for our instruction; you have sir, at once effaced our credit in the visible sights of this world.

Rāma added: My ignorance is dispelled, and I have come to the knowledge of truth by your good grace; and O you chief of sages, I acknowledge you to have brought me to light from my impervious darkness.

I am freed from my doubts, and set to the light of the true nature of God; and I will now act as you sayst, in acknowledging the transpicuous truth ¹¹.

Remembering and reconsidering your words, that are so fraught with ambrosial sweetness and full of delight-some taste; I am filled with fresh delight, you already satisfied and refreshed by their sense ¹².

I have nothing to do for myself at present, nor is there any left undone or remaining to be done by me. I am as I am and have ever been, and always without any craving for me. ¹³

What other way to our true felicity can there be, than this that has been shown by you? or else I find this wide-extended field of the earth, to be so full of our woe and misery.

I have no foe to annoy me nor a friend to give any joy to me; I have no field to work in, nor an enemy to fear nor a good soul to rely in. It is our misunderstanding that makes this world appear so troublesome to ourselves, while our good sense makes it all agreeable to us. ¹⁴

How could we know all this ¹⁵ without your good grace unto us; as it is never possible for a boy, to ford and cross over a river, without the assistance of a boat or bridge.

Laksmana said: It is by reason of your removing the doubts, that had been inherent in and inherited by me in my repeated births; and it is by virtue of the merit, that I had acquired in my former births; that I have come to know the truth this day, by the divine sermon of the holy sage; and to feel the radiance of a holy light in me, shining as brightly as the cooling beams of moonlight.

It is strange that in disregard of his heavenly bright and vivid light, that men should be entangled in a thousand errors, and be burnt at last as dried wood or fuel, by their foul mistake and great misfortune.

Viśvāmitra said: O! it is by our great merit, that we have come this day, to hear this holy lecture from the mouth of the sage; and which has at once expurgated our inner souls, as a thousand lavations in the clear stream of Ganges.

Rāma rejoined: We have seen the highest pitch of all prosperity, and the best of all that is to be seen; we have known the end of all learning, and the last extremity of adversity; we have seen many countries and heard many speeches; but never have we heard, nor seen nor known anything better than the discourse on the beauty of the soul, which the sage has shown to us today.

Nārada added: Our ears are purified today, by the hearing of what we have never heard heretofore; to be preached by Brahma or the Gods above or men below.

Laksmana rejoined: Sir, you have entirely dissipated all our inner and outer darkness also; and have shown us the transcendent light, of the bright sun of the Divine soul.

Śatrughna said: I am satisfied and tranquilized, and uncomposed in the supreme soul; I am forever full and perfect in myself, and sit quite content with my soleity.

Daśaratha repeated: It is by the merit of our deeds, done and acquired in our repeated lives, that we have been, O you chief of sages, sanctified this day by your sacred and sanc­tifying speech.

VāImīki said: As the king and his courtiers, were speaking in this manner, the sage oped his mouth again, and thus bespoke his words fraught with pure and purifying knowledge.

Vasistha said: Hear me, O you moon like king of Raghu's race, and do as I bid you to do; Rise now and honour the assembled Brāhmanas, who deserve their due honour at the close of a discourse.

Rise therefore, and satisfying their desires with your ample gifts; and you will obtain thereby, the merit that attends on the learning of the Vedas, and doing your duties according to their dictates.

It is incumbent on even a mean worm like man, to honour the Brāhmanas to their utmost at the termination of a sermon on salvation; how much more important must it then be on the part of a monarch to acquit himself of this necessary duty.

Hearing this behest of the sage, the king held his reverential silence; and beckoned to his heralds to proceed to all the ten sides of his dominions, and invite thousands of Brāhmanas, that are acquainted with the Vedas forthwith ¹⁶.

He bade them to go to Mathura, Surāstra and Gauda, and to bring with them with due respect all the Brāhmanas, that are born of Vedic families, and are abiding in those districts and lands.

There then assembled more than ten thousands of Brāhmaness to the royal palace, and the king fed them all alike and paying particular regard to the more learned among them.

He treated them with the best sorts of food and rice, honoured them with their honorariums, and gave them a good many gifts; and after honouring them in this manner; he offered his oblations to the manes of his ancestors, and gave his offerings to the tutelar gods of his house. ¹⁷

The king Daśaratha next treated his friends and relatives with proper repast, and then fed his companions and servants and the citizens all on the same day. His attention was at last directed to the feeding of the poor and needy, and of the lame and blind and lunatics.

Having discharged to his utmost the duties of the festival, he commanded a great festivity to be held in his hall, all over decorated with silk and embroidery, and with gold, gems and pearls.

The city then being adorned and lighted, like the ever bright mount of Meru, there went on a merry dance and ball of giddy girls and players in every house: ¹⁸.

There was a ringing of bells and sounding of symbols all about, with the beating of drums and trimbrels at every door; flutes and wind instrument were blowing on every side, and guitars and wired instrument were playing with loud jingling, and vying with each other.

The markets were closed, and the marketers stopped in their course; the air appeared as an arbour of plants, shaking with the uplifted and quavering and waving arms of the merry dancers in the streets; and it seemed as the starry heaven, by the glittering light of the teeth of strolling players, displayed in their comic dance and loud laughter.

There was the heroic dance attended by the loud shouts of the players, and melodramas accompanied with the soft and sweet strains of the performers, there was also a staggering and strutting dance on one foot and leg, and thumping the ground with the other.

Here they flung wreaths of flowers glittering like stars and falling down in showers; and there the scattered flowers, which were strewn over the ground as rain drops, were indiscriminately trodding down under the feet of passers.

Here the actresses dance about with their loose ornaments and gestures of love; and there the bards chanted their hymns with clearness, as the Brāhmanas recited them and the song­stresses sang.

Here the sots and toppers drank their fill of wine; and the food mongers fed upon their eatables of various kinds ¹⁹.

The insides of houses were daubed with wine, as the outer bodies of the princes with ointment of moon light hue.

The attendant servants and waiting maids on the king, sauntered about trimmed in gaudy attires of various colours; and graced the royal festival with their decorations of necklaces and sweet perfumes on their persons.

The sprightly ballet girls, being besmeared with a paste of all perfumeries ²⁰, and decorated with glittering ornaments, repaired to the ball at the royal hall with all alacrity.

Thus the king Daśaratha held his entertainment for a whole week, and passed full seven nights in festive mirth and rejoicing; while he distributed his gifts and food for as many days, which redounded to exhaustless prosperity on earth.

Footnotes

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