Chapter 7 - Keśidhvaja instructs Khāṇḍikya in yoga

Keśidhvaja

Why didn’t you demand my kingdom, free from impositions? Nothing is dearer to kṣatriyas than winning sovereignty. 1

Khāṇḍikya

Understand, Keśidhvaja, why I didn’t request your realm, which an unwise person might desire. 2

It’s the duty of all kṣatriyas to defend their subjects and to slay in righteous battles those who challenge their authority. 3

It wasn’t wrong of you to seize the kingdom from me, when I was unable to defend it. I’ve now set aside such ignorance that merely tied me down. 4

My desire for sovereignty was the product of my birth, my lust and greed, not the fault of another man, and was a bar to virtue. 5

Wise men think it’s wrong for kṣatriyas to ask for gifts. That’s why I didn’t foolishly request the realm. 6

Unwise men whose hearts are carried off by a sense of self, drunk with pride, crave sovereignty—not men like me! 7

Parāśara

King Keśidhvaja was delighted. ‘Excellent!’ he cried and said to Khāṇḍikya Janaka with affection: ‘Listen to what I say. 8

On account of ignorance, I wanted to escape from death, so I ruled the kingdom and undertook many sacrifices, but I squandered merit in enjoyments. 9

You’re lucky that your heart was drawn to the power of contemplation. Now listen, pride of our family, to the nature of ignorance. 10

The error that the self consists in something that’s not the self, and what is not one’s own is indeed one’s own, is the twofold seed from which grows the tree of ignorance. 11

The ignorant embodied being, who occupies a body composed of fivefold elements, bewildered by the darkness of delusion, stridently proclaims this view: “I am this body.” 12

The self is different from space, air, fire, water and earth, so who’d maintain that it exists within the body? 13

As the self is not an aspect of the body, what wise person thinks he owns his house, his fields and other things, when these can only be enjoyed through bodily means? 14

Similarly, as the self is not an aspect of the body, what thoughtful man regards his sons and grandsons arising from his body as his own? 15

Every act a person undertakes is to satisfy the body, but if the spirit and the body are distinct, then everything that he regards as vital will further bind him. 16

Just as a house that’s built of clay is plastered with a mix of clay and water, in that same way, the body, which consists of earth, is kept alive with earth and water.^[1] 17

If a person’s body, consisting of five elements, is sustained by food of these same elements, then what has that person to be proud of? 18

Trudging on the worldly path of a thousand births, he’s wearied by delusion and cloaked in the dust of yearning. 19

Washing off that dust in the warming bath of knowledge, he sheds the weariness of delusion gathered on saṃsāra’s roads. 20

When fatigue is at an end, his heart grows light and he attains supreme nirvāṇa, matchless and transcending pain. 21

The self entails the pure state of nirvāṇa and embodies wisdom. The blemishes of suffering and ignorance mark the natural world, but not the self. 22

Water in a pot takes heat from the fire beneath it, without contact with the flames, even as it boils and bubbles, sage. 23

Similarly, the self, interacting with the natural world and corrupted by egoism and pride, manifests properties of that world, even though it’s separate and unchanging. 24

That’s why I say that it is the seed of ignorance and, apart from yoga, there is no antidote for suffering.^[2] 25

Khāṇḍikya:

Then describe that yoga, fortunate king. In the lineage of Nimi, you’re thought to be an expert on the subject, as you grasp the sense of all the relevant treatises. 26

Keśidhvaja:

Listen, Khāṇḍikya, and I’ll explain the reality of yoga. A sage established in this practice, having reached the state of the Absolute, will never fall from it again. 27

A man’s mind is the cause of both his bondage and his liberation. Attachment to the objects of the senses causes bondage, while freedom from attachment leads to liberation. 28

Having withdrawn the mind from the objects of the senses, the knowledgeable sage should contemplate the highest lord, the Absolute, to accomplish liberation. 29

The Absolute attracts the being who shares its nature and contemplates that state, sage, just as a magnet, made of iron, has the power to attract the same material. 30

The particular mental exercise, undertaken through one’s own endeavour, and during which the union with the Absolute is felt, is known as ‘yoga’. 31

A practitioner whose yoga is marked by performance of the highest excellence in this regard is said to occupy the cusp of liberation. 32

A practitioner who begins to master himself in this way is said to be disciplined through yoga, and one who has attained the supreme Absolute is said to have accomplished samādhi, or perfect union. 33

If the heart of the former has been sullied by faults, then he will experience liberation after practising yoga during further lifetimes. 34

A practitioner who has accomplished samādhi will achieve liberation in his own lifetime, as his accumulated karma is soon consumed in the fire of yoga. 35

The practitioner should embrace chastity, nonviolence, truth, honesty and poverty, while remaining free from desire and directing his mind towards its proper object. 36

The self-restrained individual should undertake study, purity, contentment and austerity, while bending his mind towards the highest Absolute. 37

These five, known as the major and minor observances, respectively, offer great rewards to those who want them, but result in liberation for those who are free from yearning. 38

Imbued with these qualities, and adopting a posture such as bhadrāsana,^[3] the self-restrained practitioner should discipline himself by means of the ten previously mentioned observances. 39

After repeated practice, he supresses the flow of air called prāṇa with breath control or prāṇāyāma, either with a seed or without one. 40

By means of the twofold practice of alternately controlling the airflows of prāṇa and apāna—inhalation and exhalation—a third form of control arises from the suppression of both of these. 41

The foundation for most individuals is gross form, best of brahmins, but for one who practises yoga, the foundation is the infinite deity. 42

Having withdrawn the sense organs from sensations such as sound to which they are attracted, one who knows yoga should focus on mental activities, intent on curbing senses. 43

By this practice, a state of supreme control arises even for those whose minds are fickle, but if the senses are untamed, the practitioner will remain unable to reach union. 44

With breath controlled through prāṇāyāma, and senses curbed by the practice of withdrawal, one may set one’s steadied mind on the perfect refuge. 45

Khāṇḍikya:

Tell me, fortunate king, what’s the perfect refuge for the mind, on which basis every source of blemish is destroyed? 46

Keśidhvaja:

The refuge of the mind is the Absolute, and it’s twofold, sire: formed and formless, or primary and secondary. 47

Realisation of this refuge is threefold, your majesty. You must understand all this: that which is called the Absolute, that which is known as action and that which consists of both. 48

Realisation in the form of action is one; that marked by the Absolute is another; and that marked by both is the third. Hence, realisation is threefold. 49

Sanandana and other sages reached realisation of the refuge marked by the Absolute. The deities and other beings, both mobile and immobile, achieved realisation marked by action. 50

For Brahmā, born of the golden egg, and other deities, knowing their responsibilities, realisation is twofold and is marked by both Absolute and action. 51

Until all knowledge and action directed towards differentiation have ceased, for those who see distinctions, all the world is one thing and spirit is another, your majesty. 52

Realisation that is free from differentiation is pure existence, is beyond the reach of words and is to be comprehended as the Self; this is called the Absolute. 53

This is the supreme, unborn, unchanging form of formless Viṣṇu, the highest spirit, marked by ubiquity and diversity. 54

Since the practitioner cannot contemplate that form, your majesty, one should meditate on the physical form of Hari that lies within the reach of all. 55

Lord Brahmā, Indra, chief of Vasus and protector of his subjects, the Maruts, Vasus, Rudras, the suns, the stars and planets, 56

Gandharvas, yakṣas, Daityas and all other creatures of divine origin, humans, animals, mountains, oceans, trees and rivers, 57

All beings, your majesty, and those which are the cause of beings, beginning with primal Matter and ending with differentiated entities, sentient and insentient, 58

One-footed, two-footed, many-footed and footless—all these are manifest forms of Hari to be apprehended by three kinds of realisation. 59

All this, the entire world of mobile and immobile things, is filled with Viṣṇu’s energy in the form of the highest Absolute. 60

This energy of Viṣṇu is said to be primary. That energy which is called consciousness, kṣetrajña, is secondary. That which is known as ignorance or action is called energy of the third kind. 61

On account of the all-embracing and omnipresent energy of consciousness, your majesty, one undergoes all kinds of worldly sufferings in succession. 62

And because it’s obscured by that third force, the energy known as consciousness is observed to a greater or lesser degree in creatures, sire. 63

In unliving things, it’s very weak. In living things that do not move, it’s a little stronger. In those that creep or slither it’s stronger still, and stronger yet again in those with wings. 64

It’s stronger in wild animals than in birds, and stronger again in domesticated beasts. It’s stronger yet in humans than in animals. That’s why we have mastery over them. 65

It’s stronger in nāgas, gandharvas, yakṣas and other divine beings than in humans, sire. 66

In mighty Indra, protector of his subjects, it’s stronger than in all the other deities. Brahmā is also set apart by a greater share of energy than mortal men. 67

All these are forms of Viṣṇu, sire, since they’re pervaded by his energy, as by ether. 68

The second state of the being known as Viṣṇu on which practitioners of yoga meditate, great sage, is the shapeless form of the Absolute, called by the wise ‘the existent’. 69

All those energies are established in it, sire; it’s a form of the universal being and is the other great form of Hari. 70

It brings forth, as if in sport, deities, animals, humans and other living things, all of which are forms of his energy, your majesty. 71

This all-pervading, uninterrupted activity of the immeasurable deity is for the benefit of the worlds and does not arise for the sake of action. 72

One disciplined through yoga should contemplate that form of the universal being, sire, to purify himself, as it expunges all iniquity. 73

Just as fire with leaping flames burns a dried-out thicket when fanned by wind, so does Viṣṇu abiding in ascetics’ hearts destroy their sins. 74

One should therefore fix one’s mind on the basis of all forms of energy, a technique known as pure dhāraṇā, or ‘holding’. 75

It’s the perfect place for one’s own mind and for the universal being. It lies beyond the three modes of realisation and is attained by ascetics for their liberation, sire. 76

The minds of others find no refuge, tiger of a man. The deities and all other imperfect beings come into existence as the result of actions. 77

The manifest form of the lord has no desire for any other refuge. This meditation is called ‘holding’ because the mind retains this very image. 78

Now you’ll hear about the form of Hari to contemplate, your majesty. In the absence of such a basis, holding is impossible: 79

A lovely, pleasing face, eyes like lotus petals, smooth cheeks, a broad and brilliant forehead, 80

His well-matched ears with finest earrings hanging from their lobes, a neck as white as conch-shell, while his broad chest bears Śrīvatsa. 81

His belly with its deep navel is crossed by three graceful folds. His long arms are either four or eight in number. 82

His strong legs are well-formed, and his lotus-like feet and hands are shapely. One should meditate on this form of Viṣṇu, the Absolute being, clad in garments of pure yellow. 83

Adorned with diadem, lovely armlets, bracelets and other jewellery, 84

Holding bow and conch, mace and sword, prayer beads and discus—the ascetic, who himself consists of Viṣṇu, should contemplate this form with a focused mind. 85

As long as he maintains the practice of dhāraṇā, your majesty, while walking, standing or doing anything he likes, if this image never leaves his heart, he may regard the practice as perfected. 86

Next, the wise person may meditate on the lord in tranquil form, without the conch or sword, bow or discus or other items, holding only prayer beads. 87

When this state of dhāraṇā is stable, he should visualise the image without the diadem, armlets and other ornaments. 88

Then the wise man should set his mind on the deity with a single limb. Next he should meditate on the body to which that limb belongs. 89

A single mental image of Viṣṇu’s form, stable and unbroken, is known as dhyāna, or ‘meditation’, and is reached in six initial stages, sire. 90

When this heavenly form is borne in mind, free from other thoughts, as a result of meditation, that state is known as samādhi. 91

If the highest Absolute is to be achieved, your majesty, then knowledge will enable it. Similarly, the Self is reached when all other forms of realisation are exhausted. 92

Consciousness has the means, while knowledge is the means by which one reaches liberation. When liberation has been reached, the role of knowledge has been fulfilled and is no more. 93

When the individual self reaches the realisation of its true nature, then it becomes one with the supreme Absolute, no longer divided from it. The separation of the two is caused by ignorance. 94

When ignorance that gives rise to difference is finally transcended, who would distinguish between the Absolute and the self, when such distinction does not exist? 95

I’ve described yoga to you, Khāṇḍikya, as requested, part in brief and part in full. What else may I do for you? 96

Khāṇḍikya:

Now that the reality of yoga has been explained, you’ve done everything for me. All impurities in my mind have been removed through your instruction. 97

The word ‘mine’, which I’ve used so often, is a lie. Those who know what must be known can’t say otherwise, your majesty. 98

‘I’ and ‘mine’ are forms of ignorance that dictate daily conduct. The highest goal can’t be described, as it’s beyond the scope of words. 99

Go now, for all you’ve done is for my benefit, Keśidhvaja, as you’ve described eternal yoga, which leads to liberation. 100

Parāśara:

King Keśidhvaja received due homage from Khāṇḍikya, brahmin, then returned to his own capital. 101

Khāṇḍikya gave his kingdom to his son and retreated to the forest with his heart set on Govinda to perfect his yoga practice. 102

There, delighting in this single quest and purified by virtues such as self-restraint, the king achieved absorption in the purest Absolute in the form that’s known as Viṣṇu. 103

Keśidhvaja turned his back on his responsibilities and indulged his senses, but still performed the rituals without attachment to the outcome to accomplish liberation. 104

In spite of worldly pleasures, he was cleansed of all his sins and, being purified, brahmin, achieved that perfection which results in the destruction of all suffering. 105

So ends Chapter Seven in Book Six of the glorious Viṣṇu Purāṇa.

Footnotes and references:

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[1]:

One of the commentators suggests that ‘earth’ and ‘water’ stand for food and drink.

[2]:

As will become apparent in the following verses, yoga in this context refers to spiritual union with the divine accomplished through meditation.

[3]:

Authorities disagree on the definitions of this posture, but all are variations on sitting cross-legged.