36. As it was fostering this strong desire in itself, it grew old and decayed by disease, as a piece of wood is eaten up by inbred worms; then as he died with his consciousness of being the bird of Brahmá, he was born as the great stork of that God in his next birth.
37. The stork lived there in the company of the wise, he became enlightened from the views of worldly beings; he continued for ages in his disembodied liberation, and cared for nothing in future. (The soul that rests in the spirit of God, has nothing better to desire).
[CHAPTER LXIII.]
Dream of Jíváta.
Arguments:—All living souls are occupied with the thought of their present state, forgetful of the past, and altogether heedless of the future.
VASISHTHA continued:—This bird that sported beside the stalk of the lotus seat of Brahmá, once went to the city of Rudra with his god on his back, and there beheld the God Rudra face to face. (The inferior Gods waited upon the superior deities).
2. Seeing the God Rudra he thought himself to be so, and the figure of the God was immediately imprest upon his mind, like the reflexion of an outward object in the mirror.
3. Being full of Rudra in himself, he quitted his body of the bird, as the fragrance of a flower forsakes the calyx, as it mixes with the breeze and flies in the open air.