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Yoga Vasistha in PoemChapter IV: Dealing With Existence (...continued)4. The Story of Dashura From Orphan to Sage Dashura was the son of a great sage
Both parents died when he was young
The forest he lived in nurtured him well
Teaching him wisdom—he became a sage
In a huge tree he took up abode
Which seemed to bridge earth to sky
He felt creation to be the Lord’s cosmic form
Sun and moon as eyes—nature sounds as hymns
His later austerities were performed through the mind
The mind is a magazine of tremendous power
Heart and mind were thoroughly purified
He shone as a sage with the highest wisdom
The sage handed her a nearby creeper
And assured her she would soon have a son
Just as the creeper would have flowers
The grateful forest deity departed gracefully
Without self-knowledge one is only a fool
No matter what might be his accomplishments
So she implored the sage to care for him
The sage consented—she departed gracefully
Story in a Story Listen attentively to this inspiring story
It gives great insight concerning this world
Once lived a mighty king called Khotta
Capable of conquering all the worlds
His three bodies engulfed the worlds
Best, middling and least they were
Established in space—a city he built
With fourteen roads and three sectors
Several types of beings he created too
Arranged with different appearances
Different life-spans to each he assigned
Each had nine gates and were well ventilated
Here the king besports himself
In the company of ghosts and goblins
Fearful of inquiry or investigation
Protectors of the mansions—different bodies
Just like this does the cycle repeat
Construction, destruction and migration
Wailing aloud—helpless and ignorant
Sometimes in joy but mostly sunk in misery
Vasistha's Insight Thus does he live—comes, goes and flourishes
Tossed in the ocean of world-appearance
This illustration is creation, universe and man
The king in the story is but a notion or wish
The city built by the king is the entity
The ghosts guarding the city are ego-principle
The king roams this world in waking and dream
From one city, body and realm to another
He still drifts between wisdom and pleasure-seeking
As all notions have not yet been abandoned
This causes even more suffering and torment
Till he renounces all notions for liberation
When infinite consciousness is somehow aware
Of consciousness itself as an object
This consciousness now perceived as an object
Becomes gross and seemingly fills much space
Hold on to existence—abandon all ideas
By ideas does future come into being
Abandon thought—'tis the seed of ideas
Without thought-seed—ideas and notions cease
As notions weaken—great joy is experienced
One feels freer from earlier turmoil
The ropes that bind are thought constructions
Abandoning thought is abandoning bondage
Infinite consciousness is itself pure existence
Do not let ideas or thought cloud your vision
Rest established in the self—in consciousness
'Tis what the best of holy men ever dwell in
Gird up your loins for this task on hand
With the self—seek the self of all
Fuel for the journey is self-effort
Clarity will be had as you tread along
All notions including that of ego-sense
Must be ruthlessly abandoned—let go
The heart will be flooded by infinite space
'Tis verily the presence of the supreme Lord
These forms you consider so desirable
All these things that seem worth striving for
Are all formations of the very same substance
That you yourself are also composed of
The wise are not enamored by these forms
They ever abide in the truth—substance of all
Hear now the most inspiring song of Kaca
Son of the preceptor of the gods
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