Sarga 14¶

Vairāgya Prakaraṇa · On life (āyus) (23 verses)

Sarga 14 at a glance

Śrī Rāma's speech continues: on life (āyus).

Life is as fragile as a drop on a leaf; for those without self-knowledge it is only weariness — but for those who know, life becomes joy (1.14.1–1.14.4).
Images of life's instability: wind, waves, the moon's reflection, lightning (1.14.5–1.14.9).
What true life is: "he alone lives whose mind does not live by thinking"; scripture is a burden to the undiscerning (1.14.10–1.14.14).
Life worn away by disease, sorrow, old age and death, watching like a cat (1.14.15–1.14.23).

Verse 1.14.1¶

श्रीराम उवाच ।
आयुः पल्लवकोणाग्रलम्बाम्बुकणभङ्गुरम् ।
उन्मत्तमिव संत्यज्य यात्यकाण्डे शरीरकम् ॥ १.१४.१ ॥

आयुः (life) पल्लव-कोण-अग्र-लम्ब-अम्बु-कण-भङ्गुरम् (fragile as a water-drop hanging at a leaf's tip) अकाण्डे (suddenly, at an unexpected time) शरीरकम् उन्मत्तम् इव सन्त्यज्य (abandoning the poor body like a madman) याति (departs).

Translation: Śrī Rāma said: "Life is as fragile as a drop of water hanging from the tip of a leaf. Without warning it abandons the body, like a madman leaving a house."

Pointers for Reflection:

आयुः — life-span. This sarga is Rāma's meditation on life itself.
The drop on the leaf. One of the most famous images of impermanence in Indian literature: a drop of dew, trembling at a leaf's tip, about to fall.
Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.1.26: श्वोभावा मर्त्यस्य — the things of mortals last only till tomorrow.

Verse 1.14.2¶

विषयाशीविषासङ्गपरिजर्जरचेतसाम् ।
अप्रौढात्मविवेकानामायुरायासकारणम् ॥ १.१४.२ ॥

विषय-आशीविष-आसङ्ग-परिजर्जर-चेतसाम् (for those whose minds are worn out by contact with the serpents of sense-objects) अप्रौढ-आत्म-विवेकानाम् (whose discernment of the Self is immature) आयुः आयास-कारणम् (life is a cause of weariness).

Translation: "For those whose minds are worn out by the venom of sense-objects, whose discernment of the Self is still immature, life is only a cause of weariness."

Pointers for Reflection:

The key qualification. Rāma does not say life is weariness for everyone — only for those without mature आत्मविवेक. The next verse gives the other side.

Verse 1.14.3¶

ये तु विज्ञातविज्ञेया विश्रान्ता वितते पदे ।
भावाभावसमाश्वासमायुस्तेषां सुखायते ॥ १.१४.३ ॥

ये तु (but those who) विज्ञात-विज्ञेयाः (have known what is to be known) वितते पदे विश्रान्ताः (rest in the vast state), तेषाम् आयुः (for them life) भाव-अभाव-समाश्वासं (a consolation amid being and non-being) सुखायते (becomes happiness).

Translation: "But for those who have known what is to be known and rest in the boundless state, life amid all coming and going becomes a comfort and a joy."

Pointers for Reflection:

The turning point of the sarga. Life is not bad in itself. For the knower, life is सुख, happiness. This is the whole hope of the Yoga Vasiṣṭha: not escape from life, but a transformed life — wisdom lived, not renounced.
विज्ञातविज्ञेय. Compare 1.1.50 (ज्ञातज्ञेय) and 1.3.15. The one who knows the knowable lives life as joy.
Gītā 7.2: यज्ज्ञात्वा नेह भूयोऽन्यज्ज्ञातव्यमवशिष्यते — knowing which, nothing more remains to be known.
Situations can be hard; experience need not be. This verse holds the key to the whole sarga. Life's situations (परिस्थिति) — loss, illness, injustice, separation — are not in our control. Our experience of them depends on the state of the mind (मनःस्थिति), the वृत्ति with which we meet them. The same event is crushing to one mind and bearable, even peaceful, to another. For the knower, the verse says, life itself "becomes joy" — not because the events change, but because the one who meets them has changed.
Śrī Rāma's own life as the proof. Hardly a single situation in his life was good:
- on the eve of his coronation he was sent into exile for fourteen years;
- his father died of grief while he was away;
- Sītā was carried off by Rāvaṇa, and he searched for her through forests and across the sea;
- he fought a terrible war to win her back;
- even after returning as king, he had to live apart from her again for the sake of his people.
Yet his inner state was never shaken. In Vālmīki's account he accepts the exile at once, without anger at Kaikeyī. Tulsīdās opens the Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa of the Rāmacaritamānasa with a prayer to exactly this quality: प्रसन्नतां या न गताभिषेकतस्तथा न मम्ले वनवासदुःखतः । मुखाम्बुजश्री रघुनन्दनस्य मे सदास्तु सा मञ्जुलमङ्गलप्रदा ॥ — the beauty of Rāghava's lotus face, which did not brighten at the news of his coronation, nor fade at the sorrow of exile in the forest — may it always bring me blessing. Bad situations; no bad experience.
Why, and how? This is what the Yoga Vasiṣṭha is about to teach him. Rāma in this sarga is still the one who says life is only sorrow; the Rāma of the epic is the one who has heard Vasiṣṭha. The difference is knowledge (विज्ञातविज्ञेय) and rest in the vast state (विश्रान्ता वितते पदे), which is exactly what this verse names. The teaching does not promise better situations; it promises a mind that is free in every situation.
The power of thought. The Yoga Vasiṣṭha holds that the mind shapes experience — "the mind is the cause of all things" (1.16.25) — and that what we repeatedly think, we become (the pure and impure वासना of 1.3.11). This makes a practice possible: in every situation, cultivate a positive वृत्ति, a thought of acceptance, trust or compassion, in place of resentment or fear. Patañjali gives the same method: वितर्कबाधने प्रतिपक्षभावनम् — when disturbed by negative thoughts, cultivate the opposite (Yoga Sūtra 2.33).
Gītā 2.14–15 and 2.56: मात्रास्पर्शास्तु कौन्तेय शीतोष्णसुखदुःखदाः । आगमापायिनोऽनित्यास्तांस्तितिक्षस्व भारत ॥ — contacts with objects bring cold and heat, pleasure and pain; they come and go, they do not last — endure them, Bhārata; and the one of steady wisdom is दुःखेष्वनुद्विग्नमनाः सुखेषु विगतस्पृहः — undisturbed in sorrow, without craving in pleasure. Kṛṣṇa does not promise Arjuna an easy war, only a steady mind within it.

Verse 1.14.4¶

वयं परिमिताकारपरिनिष्ठितनिश्चयाः ।
संसाराभ्रतडित्पुञ्जे मुने नायुषि निर्वृताः ॥ १.१४.४ ॥

मुने (O sage), वयं (we) परिमित-आकार-परिनिष्ठित-निश्चयाः (with convictions fixed on limited forms) संसार-अभ्र-तडित्-पुञ्जे आयुषि (in a life that is a flash of lightning in the clouds of saṃsāra) न निर्वृताः (find no peace).

Translation: "But we, O sage, whose convictions are fixed on limited forms, find no peace in a life that is like a flash of lightning in the clouds of worldly existence."

Pointers for Reflection:

परिमित — limited. The problem is not life, but identifying with limited forms. Freedom comes from knowing the unlimited.

Verse 1.14.5¶

युज्यते वेष्टनं वायोराकाशस्य च खण्डनम् ।
ग्रथनं च तरङ्गाणामास्था नायुषि युज्यते ॥ १.१४.५ ॥

वायोः वेष्टनम् (wrapping up the wind) आकाशस्य च खण्डनम् (cutting up the sky) तरङ्गाणां च ग्रथनम् (and stringing waves together) युज्यते (may be possible); आयुषि आस्था न युज्यते (but trusting in life is not).

Translation: "One might wrap up the wind, cut the sky into pieces, or string waves together like beads — but one cannot rely on life."

Pointers for Reflection:

Impossible tasks. Three things that cannot be done; trusting life is even less possible. A powerful rhetorical verse.

Verse 1.14.6¶

पेलवं शरदीवाभ्रमस्नेह इव दीपकः ।
तरङ्गक इवालोलं गतमेवोपलक्ष्यते ॥ १.१४.६ ॥

[आयुः] शरदि अभ्रम् इव पेलवम् (flimsy as an autumn cloud) अ-स्नेहः दीपकः इव (like a lamp without oil) तरङ्गकः इव आलोलं (restless as a ripple) गतम् एव उपलक्ष्यते (is seen as already gone).

Translation: "Life is flimsy as an autumn cloud, like a lamp without oil, restless as a ripple; it is seen as already gone."

Pointers for Reflection:

Already gone. Life is perceived only as it passes. Each moment, once noticed, is already past.

Verse 1.14.7¶

तरङ्गं प्रतिबिम्बेन्दुं तडित्पुञ्जं नभोम्बुजम् ।
ग्रहीतुमास्थां बध्नामि न त्वायुषि हतस्थितौ ॥ १.१४.७ ॥

तरङ्गं (a wave) प्रतिबिम्ब-इन्दुं (the moon's reflection) तडित्-पुञ्जं (a flash of lightning) नभः-अम्बुजं (a lotus in the sky) ग्रहीतुम् आस्थां बध्नामि (I might hope to grasp); न तु हत-स्थितौ आयुषि (but not life, which has no stability).

Translation: "I might hope to grasp a wave, the moon's reflection, a flash of lightning, or a lotus in the sky — but not life, which has no stability at all."

Pointers for Reflection:

The moon in the water. One of the Yoga Vasiṣṭha's favourite images: the reflected moon looks real, but cannot be held.

Verse 1.14.8¶

अविश्रान्तमनाः शून्यमायुराततमीहते ।
दुःखायैव विमूढोऽन्तर्गर्भमश्वतरी यथा ॥ १.१४.८ ॥

अविश्रान्त-मनाः (with a restless mind) विमूढः (the deluded one) अन्तः गर्भम् अश्वतरी यथा (as a mule [carries] an embryo within) दुःखाय एव (only for sorrow) शून्यम् आततम् आयुः ईहते (longs for an empty, extended life).

Translation: "The deluded one, his mind never at rest, longs for a long and empty life — only to his sorrow, like a mule carrying an embryo that will be its death."

Pointers for Reflection:

The mule's embryo. In Indian lore, a mule dies in giving birth. Longing for long life without wisdom brings only suffering.

Verse 1.14.9¶

संसारसंसृतावस्यां फेनोऽस्मिन्सर्गसागरे ।
कायवल्लयाम्भसो ब्रह्मञ्जीवितं मे न रोचते ॥ १.१४.९ ॥

ब्रह्मन् (O sage), अस्यां संसार-संसृतौ (in this flow of worldly existence) अस्मिन् सर्ग-सागरे (in this ocean of creation) काय-वल्ली-अम्भसः फेनः [इव] (like foam on the waters of the body) जीवितं मे न रोचते (life does not please me).

Translation: "In this flow of worldly existence, in this ocean of creation, life — like foam on the waters of the body — does not please me, O sage."

Pointers for Reflection:

Foam on water. Foam is water, appearing briefly in a form. Life, too, is an appearance on something deeper.
Reading note. The online text reads कायवल्लयाम्भसो; the online word analysis takes it as कायवल्लीयाम्भसः. The sense is clear.

Verse 1.14.10¶

प्राप्यं संप्राप्यते येन भूयो येन न शोच्यते ।
पराया निर्वृतेः स्थानं यत्तज्जीवितमुच्यते ॥ १.१४.१० ॥

येन (by which) प्राप्यं सम्प्राप्यते (what is to be attained is attained) येन भूयः न शोच्यते (by which one does not grieve again) यत् परायाः निर्वृतेः स्थानं (which is the abode of supreme peace), तत् जीवितम् उच्यते (that is called life).

Translation: "That alone is called life by which what is worth attaining is attained, by which one never grieves again — the abode of supreme peace."

Pointers for Reflection:

A new definition of life. Real life is not mere breathing, but the life of one who has reached the goal. A key verse.
Gītā 6.22: यं लब्ध्वा चापरं लाभं मन्यते नाधिकं ततः । यस्मिन्स्थितो न दुःखेन गुरुणापि विचाल्यते ॥ — having gained which, one thinks no other gain greater; established in which, one is not shaken even by great sorrow.

Verse 1.14.11¶

तरवोऽपि हि जीवन्ति जीवन्ति मृगपक्षिणः ।
स जीवति मनो यस्य मननेन न जीवति ॥ १.१४.११ ॥

तरवः अपि हि जीवन्ति (trees too live) मृग-पक्षिणः जीवन्ति (beasts and birds live); सः जीवति (he truly lives) यस्य मनः मननेन न जीवति (whose mind does not live by thinking).

Translation: "Trees also live; beasts and birds live. He alone truly lives whose mind no longer lives by restless thinking."

Pointers for Reflection:

A famous verse. Mere biological life is shared with trees and animals. True life is the life of one whose mind is free from compulsive thinking (मनन).
मनोनाश — the end of the mind. A central idea of the Yoga Vasiṣṭha: liberation is the dissolving of the mind as a separate, restless entity (compare 1.3.9, the mind melting like ice).
Gītā 6.25: आत्मसंस्थं मनः कृत्वा न किञ्चिदपि चिन्तयेत् — making the mind rest in the Self, let one think of nothing at all.
Thought and experience. The mind that 'lives by thinking' is the mind that turns every hard situation into suffering. The mind that rests in the Self can meet the same situation without being broken by it — see the note on Śrī Rāma's life at 1.14.3.

Verse 1.14.12¶

जातास्त एव जगति जन्तवः साधुजीविताः ।
ये पुनर्नेह जायन्ते शेषा जरठगर्दभाः ॥ १.१४.१२ ॥

ये पुनः इह न जायन्ते (those who are not born here again) ते एव जगति (they alone in the world) साधु-जीविताः जाताः जन्तवः (are beings born to good purpose); शेषाः (the rest) जरठ-गर्दभाः (are old donkeys).

Translation: "Only those beings who will not be born here again were born to good purpose. The rest are like old donkeys."

Pointers for Reflection:

Strong words. Rāma measures a good birth by whether it leads to freedom from rebirth.
Gītā 8.16: मामुपेत्य तु कौन्तेय पुनर्जन्म न विद्यते — having come to me, there is no rebirth, Kaunteya.

Verse 1.14.13¶

भारोऽविवेकिनः शास्त्रं भारो ज्ञानं च रागिणः ।
अशान्तस्य मनो भारो भारोऽनात्मविदो वपुः ॥ १.१४.१३ ॥

अ-विवेकिनः शास्त्रं भारः (scripture is a burden to the undiscerning) रागिणः ज्ञानं च भारः (and knowledge a burden to the passionate); अ-शान्तस्य मनः भारः (to the restless, the mind is a burden) अन्-आत्म-विदः वपुः भारः (to one who does not know the Self, the body is a burden).

Translation: "Scripture is a burden to the undiscerning; knowledge is a burden to one full of passion; the mind is a burden to the restless; the body is a burden to one who does not know the Self."

Pointers for Reflection:

One of the most quoted verses of the Yoga Vasiṣṭha. Everything — even scripture and knowledge — becomes a weight when the right inner quality is missing.
A warning for students and commentators. Learning without viveka is a burden. Compare 1.3.7, the pits of scripture.
Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.23: नायमात्मा प्रवचनेन लभ्यो न मेधया न बहुना श्रुतेन — not by much learning is the Self attained.

Verse 1.14.14¶

रूपमायुर्मनो बुद्धिरहंकारस्तथेहितम् ।
भारो भारधरस्येव सर्वं दुःखाय दुर्धियः ॥ १.१४.१४ ॥

दुर्धियः (for the foolish) रूपम् आयुः मनः बुद्धिः अहंकारः तथा ईहितम् (form, life, mind, intellect, ego and desires) सर्वं (all) भार-धरस्य भारः इव (like a load to a porter) दुःखाय (lead to sorrow).

Translation: "For the foolish, form, life, mind, intellect, ego and desire all lead to sorrow, like a load to a porter."

Pointers for Reflection:

The porter's load. We carry our own body, mind and ego like a porter carries a sack. Freedom is setting the load down — not destroying it, but no longer carrying it as one's own.

Verse 1.14.15¶

अविश्रान्तमनापूर्णमापदां परमास्पदम् ।
नीडं रोगविहङ्गानामायुरायासनं दृढम् ॥ १.१४.१५ ॥

आयुः (life) अविश्रान्तम् (restless) अन्-आपूर्णम् (never full) आपदां परमम् आस्पदम् (the chief abode of misfortunes) रोग-विहङ्गानां नीडं (a nest for the birds of disease) दृढम् आयासनम् (a firm cause of toil).

Translation: "Life is restless, never full, the chief home of misfortunes, a nest for the birds of disease, a constant source of toil."

Pointers for Reflection:

Gītā 8.15: पुनर्जन्म दुःखालयमशाश्वतम् — birth again, the home of sorrow, impermanent. The Gītā's दुःखालय and Rāma's आपदां परमास्पदम्.

Verse 1.14.16¶

प्रत्यहं खेदमुत्सृज्य शनैरलमनारतम् ।
आखुनेव जरच्छुभ्रं कालेन विनिहन्यते ॥ १.१४.१६ ॥

कालेन (by time) प्रत्यहं खेदम् उत्सृज्य (bringing fatigue every day) शनैः अलम् अनारतम् (slowly, constantly) [आयुः] आखुना जरत्-छुभ्रम् इव (as a rat [gnaws] an old hole) विनिहन्यते (is destroyed).

Translation: "Day after day, slowly and constantly, life is worn away by Time, as a rat gnaws through an old wall."

Pointers for Reflection:

Time as a rat. Gradual, unnoticed, relentless. The image returns in Sarga 23 onward, where Rāma reflects on Time (काल).

Verse 1.14.17¶

शरीरबिलविश्रान्तैर्विषदाहप्रदायिभिः ।
रोगैरापीयते रौद्रैर्व्यालैरिव वनानिलः ॥ १.१४.१७ ॥

शरीर-बिल-विश्रान्तैः (resting in the holes of the body) विष-दाह-प्रदायिभिः (giving burning poison) रौद्रैः रोगैः (by fierce diseases) व्यालैः वन-अनिलः इव (as forest air by serpents) आपीयते (life is drunk up).

Translation: "Fierce diseases, nesting in the body's hollows and spreading burning poison, drink up life as serpents drink in the forest air."

Pointers for Reflection:

Serpents drinking the wind. Indian lore says snakes live on air. Disease feeds on life the same way.

Verse 1.14.18¶

प्रस्नुवानैरविच्छेदं तुच्छैरन्तरवासिभिः ।
दुःखैरावृश्च्यते क्रूरैर्घुणैरिव जरद्द्रुमः ॥ १.१४.१८ ॥

प्रस्नुवानैः (oozing) अविच्छेदं (without break) तुच्छैः अन्तर-वासिभिः (petty, dwelling within) क्रूरैः दुःखैः (by cruel sorrows) घुणैः जरत्-द्रुमः इव (as an old tree by woodworms) आवृश्च्यते (it is eaten away).

Translation: "Cruel sorrows, petty yet living within, oozing ceaselessly, eat away at life as woodworms eat an old tree."

Pointers for Reflection:

Small inner sorrows. Not great tragedies but petty, persistent worries do the most damage.

Verse 1.14.19¶

नूनं निगरणायाशु घनगर्धमनारतम् ।
आखुर्मार्जारकेणेव मरणेनावलोक्यते ॥ १.१४.१९ ॥

मरणेन (by death) नूनं आशु निगरणाय (surely to swallow it quickly) घन-गर्धम् अनारतम् (with great greed, constantly) मार्जारकेण आखुः इव (as a mouse by a cat) अवलोक्यते (it is watched).

Translation: "Death watches life constantly, with great greed, ready to swallow it quickly — as a cat watches a mouse."

Pointers for Reflection:

Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.2.25: यस्य ब्रह्म च क्षत्रं च उभे भवत ओदनः । मृत्युर्यस्योपसेचनं क इत्था वेद यत्र सः ॥ — for whom priests and warriors are both food, and death itself the sauce — who knows where That is? The Upaniṣad reverses Rāma's image: the Self swallows even death.

Verse 1.14.20¶

गन्धादिगुणगर्भिण्या शून्ययाऽशक्तिवेश्यया ।
अन्नं महाशनेनेव जरया परिजीर्यते ॥ १.१४.२० ॥

गन्ध-आदि-गुण-गर्भिण्या (full of qualities like smell) शून्यया अ-शक्ति-वेश्यया (empty, a home of weakness) जरया (by old age) महा-अशनेन अन्नम् इव (as food by a great eater) परिजीर्यते (it is consumed).

Translation: "Old age, full of smells and other changes, empty, a home of weakness, digests life as a great glutton digests food."

Pointers for Reflection:

Old age as digestion. जीर्ण means both "digested" and "worn out". The pun runs through the Sanskrit.

Verse 1.14.21¶

दिनैः कतिपयैरेव परिज्ञाय गतादरम् ।
दुर्जनः सुजनेनेव यौवनेनावमुच्यते ॥ १.१४.२१ ॥

यौवनेन (by youth) दिनैः कतिपयैः एव (in just a few days) परिज्ञाय (having recognised) गत-आदरं [आयुः] (life, which no longer values it) सुजनेन दुर्जनः इव (as a good person [leaves] a bad one) अवमुच्यते (is abandoned).

Translation: "Youth, after only a few days, sees that life no longer values it and leaves, as a good person leaves a bad one."

Pointers for Reflection:

Youth leaves. The theme of Sarga 20 is foreshadowed: youth stays only a few days.

Verse 1.14.22¶

विनाशसुहृदा नित्यं जरामरणबन्धुना ।
रूपं खिङ्गवरेणेव कृतान्तेनाभिलष्यते ॥ १.१४.२२ ॥

विनाश-सुहृदा (by the friend of destruction) नित्यं जरा-मरण-बन्धुना (by the constant kinsman of old age and death) कृतान्तेन (by Death) खिङ्ग-वरेण इव (as by a lecher) रूपम् अभिलष्यते (beauty is lusted after).

Translation: "Death, friend of destruction and constant companion of old age, covets our beauty as a lecher covets a woman."

Pointers for Reflection:

Death desires beauty. A dark image: what we cherish most is exactly what death takes.

Verse 1.14.23¶

स्थिरतया सुखभासितया तया सततमुज्ज्ञितमुत्तमफल्गु च ।
जगति नास्ति तथा गुणवर्जितं मरणभाजनमायुरिदं यथा ॥ १.१४.२३ ॥

स्थिरतया सुख-भासितया तया (by that seeming stability and that seeming happiness) सततम् उज्झितम् (always forsaken) उत्तम-फल्गु च (worthless at its best) जगति (in the world) तथा गुण-वर्जितं न अस्ति (nothing is so devoid of value) यथा इदं मरण-भाजनम् आयुः (as this life, the vessel of death).

Translation: Forsaken always by real stability and real happiness, worthless even at its best — nothing in the world is so empty of value as this life, the vessel of death.

Pointers for Reflection:

A closing verse in a longer metre (drutavilambita).
Remember 1.14.3 and 1.14.10. Rāma's sweeping judgment applies only to life without knowledge. For the one who knows, life becomes joy (1.14.3), and "that alone is called life" (1.14.10). The sarga holds both sides.