Slowly getting back to blogging…But this article is no work of mine. It is the translation & handiwork of a very dear but lazy friend of mine [takes one to know one] Lathashree …So read on, N-Joy & Comment Maadi !

May the forces of the Universe be with each one of us!
[Too much of science fiction Happening :)…Plss adjust Maadi]

~Saba Khadri~

Dear all, this story is very complete. It is delightful as a play of words, delightful in its knowledge about plants and animals, delightful as a manifestation of thoughts, delightful in its utility to teach about illusion and power of mind and delightful in its exploration of the love of creation.

May your lives be blessed.

Love, Latha

A quotation, in full, from The Yoga Vasishta. An abridged version of Abhinanda Pandita's Laghu-Yoga Vasishta translated by K.N.Subramaniam. Published by Sura Books (P) Ltd., Chennai. (2003). Glossary: (translation by Lathashree K.S.) available at the end.

Section 6: Liberation; Chapter 6: The Story of Hundred Rudras (Verse 2-47)

There was a hermit who was devoted to the practice of samadhi and he was spending the whole day through such contemplation. His mind perfected by samadhi had become so pure that whatever it thought, it became the object instantly, like waters assuming the form of a wave.

Once he took respite from samadhi and sitting on his seat contemplated on the worldly process. As he was contemplating, a thought arose in his mind spontaneously-'for the love of it, let me act like a common man'. Thinking thus, his mind took the form of another individual, like the waters assuming the form of a wave by mere discarding of the former state.

After assuming through imagination, the existence of an individual, he also named himself,"I am Jivata" through sheer accident. The imagined individual roamed around for long in a dream-city among its streets. He drank intoxicant drinks and passed into oblivion and sleep. He saw in a dream that he was a brahmana who was completely satisfied with his learning and holy conduct. He became a brahmana as a result of mere imagination, like reaching one place from another.

Once, that brahmana, after a day's activities, slept deeply like a tree in the form of a seed. The brahmana saw himself as a great chieftain. The chieftain, after food, slept deeply and saw himself in a dream as a great ruler with a vast kingdom. As a king, he slept deeply and saw himself in dream as a celestial nymph.

The celestial nymph, tired of amorous sport slept deeply and saw herself as a deer. The deer with fleeting looks fell asleep and because of intense thought saw herself as a creeper. Even animals cognise dreams as a result of inherent nature. Mind has an indestructible tendency to remember things seen and heard.

The deer became a creeper, filled with flowers and fruits, in the bower, which a forest nymph frequented. The creeper assuming the form of a seed with full potential was self-cognizant and saw its own full form. Spending sometime in an inert form of sleep, the creeper saw itself as a bee.

The bee got attached to the lotus blossoms on the stalk. Even the mind of intelligent beings gets fascinated only by some object.

An elephant came to pluck the lotus. The bee alongwith the lotus got crushed. She saw the elephant and as a result of contemplation of the elephant, saw herself as an elephant. The bee that became an elephant fell into a huge pit and was captured.

The elephant became a king's favorite and was tamed suitably. It got killed in some battle. The elephant by contemplation of the bee over its neck became a bee again. The bee got killed by an elephant again. By contemplation of the hamsas nearby, the bee became a hamsa. The hamsa by uniting with other birds, became born as a hamsa in the Brahmasaras Lake. After it was born, it sported in the lake.

The bird saw once a Rudra. The bird then had the firm understanding, 'I am Rudra'. It assumed the form of Rudra and happily went around. Because of the conduct as that of a devotee of Siva, and because of association with persons of holy conduct, Rudra came to possess pure and complete knowledge about all past lives. With a clear cognition of the past, Lord Siva told him while in solitude, about the hundred dream manifestations of his.

'How wonderful is Maya! How it deludes the world! Though absolutely unreal like the waters of a mirage, it looks real!' The Rudra then remembered his various dream manifestations one by one. He recalled the hundreds of years that he had spent in his dream manifestations. The Rudra then went to the hermitage where the hermit was there like a corpse and awoke him. The hermit awoke and recalled the hundred dream manifestations. Then, the Rudra and the hermit went to the town where Jivata lived and awoke him and awestruck by the Play of the Mind recalled the dream manifestations. Since each of the dream manifestation was born of pure Chitta (Mind) every manifestation remembered the True Essence.

Sage Vasista says,"Whatever has been seen exists as it was seen in the treasure of Chitta. One attains from the Mind whatever one wants because it is all-containing.”
-End of quotation.

Glossary:
Brahmasaras- Head of Brahma (?)
Chitta-Mind
Hamsa-swan, alternatively Breath as basis of life in the in-going and out-going breath.
Jivata-one who is alive
Maya-Illusion
Rudra-devotee of Siva, alternatively, Siva.
Samadhi-single-minded contemplation