The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, Vol. 2 (of 4), Part 1 (of 2)

by Valmiki

29. As the mirage presents the appearance of a billowy sea, by the fluctuation of sunbeams on sand; so do all visible objects show themselves to the sight of the spectator, beside which they have no figure or form of themselves.

30. Like the cooling beams of the moon, and the burning light of the sun, do all things shine with their different lustres derived from Brahmá.

31. It is He, from whom all things have risen, unto him they return in their time; some after their transmigrations in a thousand births, and others after longer periods of their revolutions in various bodies.

32. All these various forms of beings in the multiform world are moving in their respective spheres by the will of the Lord. They come and go, rise and fall, and shine in their transitory forms, like the sparks of fire, fluttering and sparkling for a moment, and then falling and becoming extinct for ever.

CHAPTER LXXXXV.
Identity of the Actor and his Action.

Argument. It is for persuasion of men addicted to Acts that the Actor is identified with his Acts.

Vasishtha said:—There is no difference of acts, from the agent, as they have sprung together from the same source of their creator: they are the simultaneous growth of nature like flowers and their odour. (The Gitá says:—The actor, act and its effect, are naturally united together).

2. When human souls are freed from their desires, they are united with the supreme soul of Brahma, as the blueness of the sky which appears distinct to the eyes of the ignorant, is found to be joined with the clear firmament. (The human soul is a shadow of the supreme, as blueness is a shade of vacuity).

3. Know, O Ráma! that it is for the understanding of the ignorant, that the living souls are said to have sprung from Brahma: when they are in reality but shadows of the same.

4. Wherefore it is not right on the part of the enlightened to say that such and such things are produced from Brahma, when there is nothing that exists apart or separate from him: (on account of the unity of all existences and identity of the actor and the act).