Posts
Yoga Vashishtha 3.106.52~72
(Under the pressure of extreme circumstances, all considerations of family tradition and social duty are abandoned)
राजोवाच।
अथोक्ता सा मया भर्ता भवामि तव सुव्रते।
केनापदि विचार्यन्ते वर्णधर्मकुलक्रमाः ॥ ५२॥
ततस्तयौदनादर्धं मह्यमेकं समर्पितम्।
माधव्येवामृतादर्धमिन्द्रायार्तिमहत्पुरा ॥ ५३॥
जम्बूफलरसः पीतः स भुक्तः पक्कणौदनः।
विश्रान्तं च मया तत्र मोहापहृतचेतसा ॥ ५४॥
मां तत्रार्कमिवापूर्य सा प्रावृट् श्यामला गता।
हस्तेन समुपादाय प्राणं बहिरिव स्थितम् ॥ ५५॥
दुराकृतिं दुरारम्भमाससाद भयप्रदम्।
पितरं पीवराकारमवीचिमिव यातना ॥ ५६॥
तया मदनुषङ्गिण्या स्वार्थस्तस्मै निवेदितः।
मातङ्गाय भ्रमर्येव निःस्वनेनालिलग्नया ॥ ५७॥
(३.१०६.५८–६७)
अथ विश्रम्य चण्डालभोजनान्यजिनासने।
संचितान्युपभुक्तानि दुष्कृतानीव भूरिशः ॥ ६८॥
अनन्तदुःखबीजानि न मनोज्ञतराण्यपि।
तानि प्रणयवाक्यानि श्रुतान्यसुभगान्यलम् ॥ ६९॥
निरभ्राम्बरनक्षत्रे कस्मिंश्चिद्दिवसे ततः।
तैस्तैरारम्भसंरम्भैस्तैर्वस्त्रविभवार्पणैः ॥ ७०॥
दत्ताप्यनेन सा मह्यं कुमारी भयदायिनी।
सुकृष्णा कृष्णवर्णेन दुष्कृतेनेव यातना ॥ ७१॥
सरभसमभितो विनेदुरत्र प्रसृतमहामदिरासवाः श्वपाकाः।
हतपटुपटहा विलासवन्तः स्वयमिव दुष्कृतराशयो महान्तः ॥ ७२॥
The King said:
3.106.52–57
> Then I told her, “O virtuous one, I shall become your husband. In times of crisis, who bothers about caste rules, family customs or social order?”
> Then she offered me half of her cooked rice, just as Madhavi once offered half of the nectar to Indra when he was in great distress.
> I drank the juice of the jambu fruit and ate the rice of the outcaste settlement. There I rested, my mind overcome by delusion.
> Like a dark monsoon cloud that fills the sky around the sun, she took hold of me as if seizing my very life-breath that stood outside, and then left.
> She went to her father—a frightful, ill-formed man of massive body who looked like the torments of the lowest hell—and approached that terrifying figure of evil deeds.
> Accompanied by me, she announced her personal wish to that Chandala, just as a female bee clinging with a soft hum announces itself to an elephant.
3.106.58–67
> In these intervening verses the narrative continues with the king’s further experiences in the Chandala settlement: the father’s response, the arrangements made for the union, the living conditions among the outcastes, the food and daily life, the gradual acceptance of that degraded existence, and the growing sense of degradation and delusion that settled upon the king’s mind as he remained there.
3.106.68–72
> After resting, I partook of the Chandala meals served on animal-skin seats—meals that had been collected in abundance, like heaps of sinful deeds.
> Those words of affection I heard were seeds of endless sorrow; they were not at all pleasing, and they were thoroughly unpleasant.
> Then, on a certain day when the sky was clear and the stars were visible, amid all those excited preparations and the offerings of clothes and wealth,
> That girl, who inspired fear, was given to me by him. She was very dark, black in complexion, like the torment that follows an evil deed.
> All around, the dog-eaters shouted loudly in great excitement, reeking of strong liquor; with beaten drums and joyful display they seemed like great heaps of sin themselves.
Detailed Summary of the Teachings:
These verses form part of a larger story in which a king recounts how, under the pressure of extreme circumstances, he abandoned all consideration of caste, family tradition and social duty. The teaching begins by showing that when survival or intense desire is at stake, the ordinary rules of varna and kula are quickly set aside. The king’s ready agreement to marry an outcaste woman illustrates how fragile social conventions become once personal need overrides them.
The episode next describes the king’s complete immersion in a life he would normally regard as impure and degrading. He accepts food from a Chandala household, rests in that environment, and allows his mind to be overtaken by delusion. The text thereby demonstrates how quickly the discriminating intellect can be clouded when one repeatedly associates with what is considered low or impure. The senses and the mind gradually accept what was once repulsive.
A further teaching concerns the power of attachment and the company one keeps. The woman, described as dark and fearful, draws the king deeper into that world; her words of affection become seeds of endless sorrow. The verses warn that even pleasant-sounding expressions of love, when rooted in a base or deluded context, plant the causes of future suffering. Attachment born of ignorance does not liberate; it binds more tightly.
The narrative then moves to the formalization of the union amid the noisy celebrations of the Chandala community. The atmosphere of liquor, drums and wild excitement is presented as the outer reflection of inner disorder. The king’s participation in this scene underscores that once one has crossed certain moral and social boundaries, the surrounding environment itself reinforces and multiplies the original error. Sinful associations tend to grow into larger heaps of misconduct.
Finally, the entire passage serves as a cautionary illustration within the larger philosophical framework of Yoga Vasistha. It shows how a single decision made under delusion can lead a person of high status into progressive degradation, how the mind loses its clarity step by step, and how the consequences of such choices appear as both inner torment and outer chaos. The teaching is that true discrimination must be maintained even in crisis; otherwise the soul sinks into conditions that multiply sorrow rather than remove it.
No comments:
Post a Comment