SHIVOPADESHA 6

Manasá kalpitá múrttih nrńáḿ cenmokśasádhanii;
Svapnalabdhena rájyena rájánah manavástathá.

[If an idol produced out of the human imagination can bring about salvation,
Then can a person, by creating a kingdom in his dreams, become a king in the real sense?]

Mind has primarily two qualities: thinking and recollection. Thoughts are also of various types: first, thoughts regarding the existing environment; second, thoughts regarding the past environment; third, thoughts without any environment; and fourth, fantastic thoughts.

The first category of thoughts relates to the existing environment in which one is living, for instance, the earth, grass, trees and plants, rocks and stones, friends and foes, etc. For instance, when people see a snake at a distance, they forget everything else and start thinking about the snake. When a deer sees a tiger, it thinks only of that tiger; when someone is cooking, that person thinks only of salt, spices, oil, etc. Seated in the examination hall, the students think only about their question papers. These are all thoughts concerning the existing environment.

The second category is the thoughts of the past environment. When a prince falls into difficulty and is compelled to eat stale rice and gourd, then naturally he thinks about the delicious dainties of his royal palace. Those who have spent their childhood in luxury and comfort tend to reminisce about their happy childhood days during the hardships of their later years. A student who once stood first in his class, but who later fails in his examinations, sighs and remembers his achievements of the past. These are thoughts concerning past environments.

The third is thoughts having no environment. When someone is in a very disagreeable situation, passing his days in great misery and suffering, then he paints brightly coloured dreams and launches imaginary balloons in his mental sky. In the dazzling light of the golden pictures of his mental world, his mind starts glittering.

Raungiin nimeś dhúlár dulál
Paráńe chaŕáy ábiir gulál
Oŕná oŕáy shrávańer meghe saiṋcaramán nrtya
Hat́hát álor jhalkáni lege jhalmal kare citta.

[Colourful moments in the lives of the darling children of the dust
Sprays of coloured powder and rose-water,
Scarves flying through rain-swept clouds in a whirling, twirling dance –
Thrilled by these sudden flashes of light, the mind starts glittering.]

There is still another type of thought which we may call “fantastic thoughts”. The substance of any thought is not divorced from the real world; that is, whatever people see in imagination or think in contemplation, the materials of these thoughts are all collected from the external world. People cannot think of anything which they have not previously seen or perceived with their sense organs. This is the greatest imperfection of the human mind. One of the main qualitative differences between the unit mind and the Cosmic Mind is this: all the thoughts of the Macrocosm are original, each one is constantly new. The Macrocosm does not need to receive anything from the external world through sense organs. Even the minutest fraction of any Cosmic thought is completely novel: Bhávátiita abhinava dehi padam [“O Parama Puruśa who is ever-new and beyond the range of mental cognition, give me shelter at your feet”].

No two human faces are exactly the same, no two entities are identical in any respect. Because of this all-embracing originality of the Macrocosm, there are no identical entities anywhere in this universe. They may be similar, but not identical.

When people mentally combine some part or whole of an entity, with a part or whole of another entity, and then with a part or whole of still another entity – and, by blending all of these component parts, create an altogether new entity in their imagination, this is called “fantastic thought”.

Háns ár sajáru vyákarań mániná
Haye gela hánsjáru kemane tá jániná.

[Goose and porcupine, I don’t care about grammar
They become goosepine, I don’t know how.]

While painting pictures, people gather materials from thoughts of the existing environment, from thoughts of the past environment, from thoughts having no environment, or from fantastic thoughts. People resort to fantastic thoughts, or thoughts having no environment, out of fear, or sometimes due to disease, or in the hope of attaining happiness – but mostly to escape easily from the consequences of their misdeeds. Out of fear of tigers people imagined a tiger-god; out of fear of crocodiles, they imagined a crocodile-god; to overcome difficulties in the forest, they imagined a forest-goddess; in hot and humid climates where snakes abound, out of fear of snakes, they imagined a snake-god. These types of imagination, as I have said earlier, mostly arise due to fear or other such propensities.

Greedy people, in the hope or obsession of accumulating more wealth, and that, too, without any hardship, imagine a goddess of wealth. Students who do not want to labour hard to acquire knowledge, imagine a goddess of learning in the hope of easily passing difficult examinations. And instead of sustained individual effort, straightforwardness and utmost sincerity, which are essential to achieve salvation, people cherish the hope of attaining it from various imaginary gods and goddesses by ritualistic worship with easily-obtainable paraphernalia and by chanting a few mantras. All human imagination is based on elements collected from the external world. People cannot think an original thought; that is, they cannot think of anything which does not actually exist in the quinquelemental world. Only Parama Puruśa can do so. Hence when people create imaginary idols out of fear, greed, or any other propensity, none of those is original and none has even tánmátrik existence, much less material existence. Had Parama Puruśa conceived of those idols, they would have had physical existence, but in that case also, they would not have had absolute existence, because only Parama Puruśa has absolute existence; other things are merely imaginations of imaginations.⁽¹⁾ Hence in the first part of the shloka it has been said, Manasá kalpitá múrttih [“An idol produced out of the human imagination”].

I said a little while ago that lazy people, to achieve something easily, weave various types of imaginary nets, and spreading their wings over the hard soil of this earth, soar far, far, very far, into the distant blue sky. They do not think that one day they will have to come down to this dusty earth. People seek liberation and salvation in order to gain something in earthly life. Just as people try to gain something easily in the material world by flattery or deceit, they apply the same process to attain liberation or salvation. They do not know, they do not understand, that spiritual salvation is an entirely different matter.

All living beings have minds. Some minds are dormant, some are undeveloped, some are developed, some are highly developed. Human beings possess such highly-developed minds. Yet, however developed or expanded a human mind might be, after all it is still a unit mind; whereas the all-expanded mind of Parama Puruśa is the Cosmic Mind. All the pains and pleasures of human beings come from the unit mind.

Mana eva manuśyánáḿ kárańaḿ bandhamokśayoh;
Bandhastu viśayásaungi mukto nirviśayaḿ tathá.

Manah karoti karmáńi manah lipyate pátakaeh;
Manashca tanmaná bhútvá na puńyaeh na ca pátakaeh.

[Mind is the cause of human bondage and liberation;
Bondage means attachment to objects, and liberation means freedom from attachment.]

[It is mind which works and mind which sins –
For the mind which is immersed in the thought of God there is no virtue, no vice.]

It is the mind which carries the burden of pains and pleasures. In the mind is the gloomy black curtain of sorrow, and through this dark curtain pierces the silver light and golden glow of momentary happiness. As long as there are other entities outside the unit mind, there will continue to be sorrows and afflictions, desires, passions and pains. As a result of various types of physical or psychic clashes with other entities, the feelings of pain and pleasure rise and fall like bubbles in the mind. If, through sádhaná, people can merge their unit minds with the Cosmic Mind of Parama Puruśa, then the unit minds themselves become the Cosmic Mind: their individual identities are merged in that Cosmic “I”. In that condition, there remains nothing outside. Thus, there is no longer any possibility of physical or psychic clash with any external entity or object. All objects, all ideas, arise out of one’s mind. This is the state of liberation – a state of Cosmic bliss far above the domain of mundane pleasures and pains.

The unit consciousness is the witness of the unit mind, but we do not call the unit consciousness the Supreme Cognition, because this unit consciousness is simply a reflection of the Supreme Cognition on the unit mind. When spiritual aspirants totally surrender their all to the Supreme, they merge their unit consciousness into the Cosmic Consciousness with the unflagging speed generated by Tantric blessing.⁽²⁾ That mental state, devoid of saḿkalpa and vikalpa, is the state of mokśa.

As we have explained earlier, the human mind creates various idols from thoughts of the present environment, thoughts of the past environment, thoughts having no environment, and fantastic thoughts. Now, all the movements, gestures and postures of these idols are confined within the scope of the unit mind: when the unit mind so desires, they exist; when it does not, they disappear. That is, their existence depends entirely upon the human mind – they are wholly created by human beings, maintained by human beings, and ultimately will merge into the human mind. So how can they liberate human minds from psychic bondage and establish them in the Macrocosmic stance? Can they free human minds from saḿkalpa and vikalpa and merge the unit consciousness into Supreme Cognition?

It has been said, “When a person creates a kingdom in his dream…” What is a dream? To dream is to think while sleeping. This thinking may also be of four types: of the present environment, of the past environment, without environment, and fantastic.

During sleep these thoughts, in the absence of contact with the hard realities of the external world, appear to be real. Thus people who are not at all affected in the waking state by propensities of fear, anger, etc., may be deeply affected by them during dreams; because, as I said earlier, in the waking state, people know that they are imagining; but during sleep, they do not realize that the play of their imagination is going on. So during that period their dream-thoughts become hard reality for them.

During the time of waking, because there is much resistance from the external reality, there is not much speed of imagination; but during sleep, in the absence of this resistance, there is great acceleration. Within one second people can imagine a vast epic like the Mahábhárata. Sometimes during dreams the dreamers, propelled by such propensities as anger or greed, restlessly move their limbs about. If those moving limbs come in contact with any hard object, the imaginary dream is broken, the dreamer’s sleep is disrupted and the dreamy fantasy woven in nets of imagination comes abruptly to an end.

Svapna yadi madhur eman
Hok se miche kalpaná
Jágiyo ná ámáy jágiyo ná.

[If a dream is so sweet, let it be
A false imagination –
Don’t awaken me, don’t awaken me.]

When people mentally create a dream kingdom with four imaginary palaces and take their seat on an imaginary throne of gold, in that case they become monarchs in their dream, no doubt, but in reality, are they truly monarchs? Upon awakening they find that they were all along sleeping on a tattered mat with a ragged blanket. Just as becoming the monarch of a kingdom created in the imagination is fantastic and totally false, similarly to expect that idols created by the human imagination can grant liberation and salvation is not only a remote hope but a disappointment from beginning to end. Thus Shiva stated in clear language: svapnalabdhena rájyena rájánah mánavástathá [“can a person, by creating a kingdom in his dreams, become a king in the real sense”]?

SHIVOPADESHA 7

Mrcchiládhátudárvádimúrttáviishvarobuddhayo;
Klishyantastápasáh jiṋánaḿ viná mokśaḿ na yánti te.

[Those who think that Parama Puruśa is confined within idols made of clay, stone, metal or wood,
Are simply torturing their bodies with penances – they will surely not attain salvation without self-knowledge.]

In the previous shloka it was said that people seek to fulfil their aspirations and needs easily by creating idols in their imaginations. But in this shloka it is said that people not only imagine those figures in their minds but also give external shape to those imaginary creations with the help of the five fundamental factors. Sometimes they use clay, sometimes metals like gold or silver, sometimes wood. They spend a great deal of money making these idols and ritually worshipping them. Elaborate arrangements are made to confine Parama Puruśa, who has created each and every entity of this universe, within that clay, stone, metal or wood – to bathe Him, to place Him in a very soft bed, to dress Him in royal apparel for specific festivals, and to prepare special delicacies to please Him. In some places the various items of offering to the deity are sold at exorbitant prices. Then, at night, the deities are placed on their appointed beds, and the doors of the temples are closed. It is then declared that the god is now sleeping. The god is sleeping! Parama Puruśa is asleep! Then how is the administration of the universe continuing? These are deceptions of the imagination: to imagine idols, and then to imagine that the god is asleep! By this false imagination people confine God within idols of clay or stone, mental or wood – and to propitiate these false gods and goddesses, how many hardships people endure, how much wealth they waste on pilgrimages! And what is at the root of all of this? – the far-fetched conceptualization of idols. By ascribing godhood to those idols, people bear so many hardships.

Nothing in this universe happens in vain. Then is it futile to bear hardships for an idol of clay? No, this also is not futile. Suddenly one fine morning, when people realize that these hardships have not the least absolute value, they become vehement opponents of these dogmas. If they do not get the opportunity to speak out against dogma due to circumstantial pressure, they lament internally and pray to Parama Puruśa, “O Lord, I now realize my mistake. Now lead me along Your path.”

Rigorous penance does not lead to the least spiritual realization – far less to liberation or salvation. Rather the mind becomes gradually narrower and narrower. The only way to attain salvation is through self-knowledge, and for this one requires pure conduct in the external world, pure thought in the mental world, and whole-hearted surrender to the Supreme Entity – the shelter of all, the one who is hidden in each and every entity – as the polestar of one’s life.

Jagatke sájácchen ye má
Diye kata ratna náná
Tumi sájáte cáo sei máyere
Diye chár dáker gahaná
Jagatke kháoyácchen ye má
Diye kata khádya náná
Tumi kháoyáte cáo sei máyere
Álocál ár but́ bhijáná!
Tyajiba sab bhedábhed
Ghuce yábe maner khed
(Omá) shata shata satya Veda
Tárá ámár nirákárá.

[The Mother who is adorning this universe with so many jewels –
Do you want to adorn that Mother with a dress of tinsel?
The Mother who is feeding the world with so much food –
Do you want to feed that Mother with sun-dried rice and soaked gram?
I will remove all distinctions, all my mental anguish.
O Má! all the Vedas are true – my goddess Tárá is formless.]

(Here the words “Má” and “Tárá” refer to Brahma.)

In the medieval age many Puranas were composed on the various idols of gods and goddesses. Of all the authors of these Puranas, Vyasadeva is the foremost. He, also, after realizing his mistake in this regard, prayed to Parama Puruśa in these words of apology:

Rúpaḿ rúpavivarjitasya bhavato yaddhyánena varńitam;
Stutyá’nirvacaniyatá’khilaguro dúriikrtá yanmayá.
Vyápitvaḿ ca nirákrtaḿ Bhagavato yattirthayátrádiná;
Ksántavyaḿ jagadiisho tadvikalatádośatrayaḿ matkrtam.

[You who are formless, I have given You form, though You can only be realized in meditation – You who are inexpressible, I have limited You by my eulogies– You who are all-pervasive, I have confined You to places of pilgrimage – O Lord, for these three faults of mine, arising due to my mental distortion, please pardon me.]

To the Supreme One, who is the central figure of all existence, of all ideas of the universe, one should offer only one’s soul. One should offer one’s most favourite object – the quintessence of one’s existence. And while offering one should say, Nivedayámi cátmánaḿ tvaḿ gatih Parameshvarah [“O Supreme Lord, I offer myself to You – You are the culmination of the journey of my life”].

The sádhaná to assimilate the ideation of Parama Puruśa by surrendering one’s “I” feeling unto Him, is the sádhaná of self-knowledge, and one can attain salvation only by this type of sádhaná.

No one can escape the consequences of his or her actions by resorting to falsehood. This applies not only to the mundane sphere, it applies in the psychic world as well. This is the essence of countless words.

SHIVOPADESHA 8

Jágratsvapnasuśuptyádi caetanyam yad prakáshate;
Tad Brahmáhamiti jiṋátvá sarvavandhaeh pramucyate.

[The three states of wakefulness, dream and sleep are expressed by the Supreme Consciousness –
One who realizes that That is Brahma, is liberated from all bondages.]

The mind has four states: jágrata [wakefulness], svapna [dream], suśupti [sleep], and turiiya [merger in Cosmic Consciousness]. Of these four, the first three are expressed due to the wish of Parama Puruśa. When the unit mind, in its unbounded love for God, merges its individual feeling of existence, all its sweet vibrations, all its rhythmic ideations, in the eternal bliss, in the Supreme Entity, and arrives, temporarily or permanently, at a state of mind without any saḿkalpa or vikalpa, this state of highest wisdom, the state of union with Supreme Cognition, is the state of turiiya. The state of turiiya is the state of eternal bliss, and thus it has no external expression.

The state of wakefulness means the state of mind in which the conscious mind assimilates, transmits and projects vibrations to and from the external world of the five fundamental factors with the help of the sense and motor organs through the afferent and efferent nerves. Or, in this state the conscious mind may think or recollect something directly through the vibration of the nerve cells without the aid of the sense and motor organs or afferent and efferent nerves.

During the state of wakefulness, at every moment, the external stimuli of human life strike the nerve cells through the afferent and efferent nerves. Sometimes this is pleasurable, sometimes painful. In this state people cannot live even a moment without inferential contact, that is, without the experience of the sweetness or harshness of the material world. Thus in the waking state they think and recollect thoughts which are entirely derived from the vibrations in the nerve cells.⁽³⁾

The influence of the thoughts and recollections derived from the vibrations of the nerve cells is not as great as that of the perceptions of the afferent and efferent nerves. When one’s mental concentration is slightly increased, even temporarily, or when the mind becomes slightly introverted, the influence of the pains and pleasures experienced in the physical world temporarily decreases; and at that time the influence of the thoughts and recollections derived from the vibrations in the nerve cells increases. A person in this condition, by means of a certain process and increased mental force, can temporarily suspend the functioning of another person’s afferent and efferent nerves and exert his or her will-power on that other person’s nerve cells, movements, thoughts and recollections. This process is called “hypnotism”. Dr. Mesmer, a famous psychologist of Europe, invented a therapeutic system to cure diseases with the help of hypnotism. This system is now called “mesmerism”.

Of the three expressed states of the human mind, only in the wakeful state is there the maximum utilization of the mind. In this state people can materialize many of their internal thoughts and can do much good to the society and the world at large. To one who has received proper training in life, this state of wakefulness is like a crimson dawn; all people should try to remain in this wakeful state for as long as possible without endangering their health. The assimilation of knowledge from the external world and its implementation in the world, occurs wholly in this waking state. Those who sleep too much, whose eyes are always half-closed in drowsiness, can utilize only a small percentage of their physical and psychic existence. Thus it has been said,

Śad́adośáh puruśeńeha hántavyáh bhútimicchatá;
Nidrá tandrá bhayaḿ krodha álasyaḿ diirghasútratá.

“Those who want to develop in life must destroy these six defects in themselves: nidrá [sleep], tandra [drowsiness], álasya [lethargy], bhaya [fear], krodha [anger], and diirghasútratá [procrastination].”

The wakeful state in human beings is expressed because of the wish of Parama Puruśa, because of His grace; people have no right to boast about it.

I said a little while ago that dreaming means thinking or recollecting during sleep. Now the first question that arises is this: Why do people not always think or recollect during sleep? During the wakeful state, people are always thinking or recollecting. Even when people meditate in the wakeful state, they are thinking of, or recollecting, Supreme Consciousness. In the waking state, the mind never remains inactive. Then why does it not always dream during sleep?

The answer is, the sleeping state means a state of rest for the mind. But if, before or at the time of sleep, one is tormented with deep sorrow, or becomes overjoyed with extreme happiness, or is afflicted with a serious disease, or is brooding over imaginary pains and pleasures – then during sleep if the gases in the body rise and create vibrations in the nerve cells, one starts thinking and recollecting. That is why people do not always dream during every sleep.⁽⁴⁾

Very often, whenever there is concentration of mind for any reason, during sleep vibrational waves from the all-knowing unconscious mind stimulate the nerve cells, and the dreamer gets the answer to questions which were haunting his or her mind. But these answers can never be received during the state of disjointed thinking. One thing more should be remembered in this regard, that the answers from the unconscious mind, the repository of all knowledge, are received primarily during dream and only secondarily during the wakeful state; but much of the knowledge thus gained during dream is immediately forgotten as soon as the dream is over. On rare occasions, a little of that knowledge lingers in the mind even after arising from sleep.

Although the knowledge from the unconscious mind flows down to the subconscious only secondarily during the wakeful state, when it does flow down, in most cases it remains well-imprinted in the subconscious mind and thus easily enters the conscious mind from the subconscious.

Many diseased or distressed persons, in order to gain the solutions for their sorrows, prostrate before the idols in the temples. In this situation, they are constantly thinking of their diseases and the remedies of their sufferings and the ways to remove them. This ultimately leads to the temporary concentration of the mind. When, after remaining in this state of concentration for a while, their minds ultimately become benumbed, then from the all-knowing unconscious mind the sought-after solution penetrates into their subconscious. Since such a state is a state neither of wakefulness nor of sleep nor of dream, the answer can easily penetrate the subconscious mind, and from the subconscious enter the conscious. People may think that the remedy to their distress was the boon of such-and-such god or goddess, but this was not actually the case at all.

Normally the temporary or permanent concentration of mind occurs as a result of one of five mental processes: kśipta [restlessness],⁽⁵⁾ múd́ha [attachment], vikśipta [scattered thinking], ekágratá [concentration], and nirodha [mental suspension].

Those who are lying before the idols are receiving the solution to their problems from their unconscious minds into their subconscious minds as a result of their temporary ekágratá, mental concentration.

The state of dream is a very peculiar state. Although in ninety-five per cent of the cases, dreams do not come true, in five per cent they do. During dreams a beggar lying on tattered rags becomes a king, while a king becomes a beggar, lying on his dusty bed. In dreams, people cry out in unbearable agony, and in dreams they are transported in the joy of attaining everything they desire.

Kál ráter svapne ámi
Ádho álo jochanáy
Se ek notun desh
Dekhechigo niráláy;
Sethá kon phul phot́e go
Sethá kusume náhiko káńt́á
Bala kon chánd ot́he go
Sethá jiibane náhiko bháńt́á
Sethá phuler kánane kusuma kalirá
Kabhu náhi muracháy
Dekhechigo dekhechigo niráláy.

[Last night in dream
I saw a new land
In the dim half-light of the moon,
A solitary realm;
I wonder what flowers bloom there,
And what moon glows in that sky –
There the flowers have no thorns,
There life’s flow has no ebb,
There the buds never wither –
I had a dream of such a solitary land.]

That person’s life is successful who dreams about Parama Puruśa:

Svapne táre dekhechinu
Svapne hálo paricay
Svapne bhála besechinu
Dekhechinu premamay.

[I saw Him in a dream
In dream I made His acquaintance,
In dream I loved Him,
I called to Him, “O Lord full of love.”]

In the lives of many people, a time may come when their days are full of the thorns of miseries, but at night, during dream, they transcend their pains and pleasures. Then, meeting their Iśt́a in dream, they beam with joy and laughter in the ocean of bliss. All the sufferings and sorrows of their lives, great or small, merge into that indescribable ocean of bliss. Those who experience this type of dream are truly fortunate. It is they who can say,

Cokhe dekhá pái náko
Dekhá hay mane mane
Se milan sundara
Sakala duhkhahara
Svapne báṋciyá tháki
Bhule tháki jágarańe.

[I do not see Him with my eyes,
I see Him in my mind;
In that beautiful meeting,
All sorrows disappear;
In dream I am alive –
In waking, I forget.]

Even in the waking state their lives are drenched in the drowsy sweetness of that dreamy atmosphere, and then in their lives, that dream becomes a reality. As a result, the waking state for them becomes meaningless.

Then cannot those dreamy persons do any good to the society? Yes, certainly they can, and in a better way. This state of drowsiness is not dullness or crudeness; rather it is the golden opportunity to fully utilize one’s existence by touching the feet of Táraka Brahma, as long as there is life.

The human propensities that operate in the mundane sphere are five in number: áhár [food], nidrá [sleep], bhaya [fear], maethuna [begetting progeny] and dharma sádhaná [spiritual practice]. Of these five, only the first four play a part in the lives of animals. The peculiar nature of these five propensities is this: if they are given indulgence, they increase. And they easily come under control with a slight effort; only in the initial stage, one must struggle a little to control them.

Of these propensities, the first four are primarily physical and secondarily mental, and the fifth one is equally physical, mental and spiritual. The amount of the first four required for physical and mental health is minimal; but the need of the fifth, dharma sádhaná, is unlimited – the more the better. If the need for any of the first four is channelled into the fifth, then so much the better, there may no longer be any necessity for that propensity at all.

Yes, we were discussing sleep. After labouring beyond a certain point in the wakeful state, one’s nerve fibres become exhausted and one feels the need to rest. In the wakeful state, as the nerve cells are constantly performing the functions of thinking and recollecting, they become fatigued. Thus for psychic and physical health, one needs to sleep – the exhausted nerve cells and fibres will fall into sleep of their own accord. The nerve cells of those who do physical labour become extremely exhausted, and that is why the moment they go to bed they immediately fall asleep.

Those who do a lot of mental labour combined with a little physical labour, also fall asleep immediately upon going to bed, due to the tiredness of their nerve cells. But those who perform some mental labour, but proportionately less labour of the nerve fibres [that is, physical labour], suffer from insomnia. They use various types of drugs and injections to induce sleep by forcing the nerve cells and nerve fibres to stop functioning. So it can be imagined how dangerous and harmful is the effect of those drugs and injections.

Getting the amount of sleep necessary to maintain physical and mental health should not be criticized. But as with any of the four vrttis, if sleep is encouraged, people can spend twenty-three out of the twenty-four hours of their day in sleep. This kind of sleep is as bad as death. Human beings have come onto this earth to do some work. Now if they spend most of their time in sleep, when will they work? If a major portion of life is spent only in sleep, is that not another name for death?

Jiṋánashástravinodena kálaḿ gacchati dhiimatám;
Vyasanena ca múrkhánám nidrayá kalahena vá.

[Intelligent people spend their time studying books of knowledge;
Whereas fools waste their time in useless pastimes, sleep and quarrels.]

Human beings want to emerge from the dark chasms of sleep and death into the world of light – golden flashes of light piercing the heart of darkness. That golden light is a dynamic and spirited life, which people can enjoy only in the waking state.

Those who are experiencing all the pulsations of life, who are throbbing with pains and pleasures, hopes and disappointments, why should they say,

Ámi ándháre bendhechi ghar
Álor desher páre
Cháyá diye gherá se ye
Marań nadiir dháre;
Nái t́hikáná kúl-kinárá
Calte giye dishehárá
Ándhár ráter ánágoná
Path kii shudhái yáre táre.

[I have built my house in darkness
On the other side of the world of light,
Covered with shadow, beside the river of death.
No address, no arrival –
Going there, people lose their way.
The dark night comes and goes –
Whom should I ask where to find the path?]

It is due to Parama Puruśa that all these three states, waking, dreaming, and sleeping, are manifested; due to His existence the minds of human beings enter the states of wakefulness, dream, sleep and turiiya. All these states are gifts of His grace – the blessings of His blissful play. The slightest expression of His grace gives rise to the feelings of existence of all creatures – due to His blessing the entire universe from Brahmá, the Cosmic Creator, to a blade of grass, is billowing and swinging in endless waves. When people attain self-realization in sádhaná, then they realize, “O Parama Puruśa, You are vast, You are unfathomable – and I am small and insignificant. But I am a small fraction of Your immeasurable limitlessness, and I will completely surrender to You all the feelings of saḿkalpa and vikalpa of my mind and totally obliterate the distinctions between ‘I’ and ‘You’.” When these distinctions of “I” and “You” are dissolved, people become liberated from all bondages.

From how many bondages human beings suffer! Human bondages are chiefly of three types: physical, mental and spiritual. But when, remembering Parama Puruśa, they surrender all the sweetness of their existences to Him, then and only then can they attain permanent liberation from those three bondages. Shiva says, “In this state, shattering all bondages, they attain the supreme stance of eternal bliss.”

Footnotes

(1) Human beings are the imagination of Parama Puruśa, and idols are the imagination of human beings, so idols are “imaginations of imaginations”. –Trans.

(2) Tantric abhiśeka, a boon of rapid spiritual progress conferred by a Tantric guru. –Trans.

(3) That is, from the stored sensations of the material world. –Trans.

(4) That is, they dream only when the aforesaid conditions are fulfilled. –Trans.

(5) Kśipta is a restless, distracted state when too many vrttis operate in the mind. –Trans.