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SEPTEMBER, 1893.]
NOTES ON TUL'SI DAS.
233
knowledge shine. A man cannot trust for salvation to his good works (karma)," for often do they mislead and the wisest are thereby made fools 30 (65). A work (karma) done for mere reputation (núma-kúra) defileth, for it is done without considering its effects (66). Flee evil communications. Holiness waneth when near wickedness, as the moon waneth when approached by the sun, and waneth as it goeth farther from it (67).
As thy father and thy mother were born, so hast thou been born, but thou art not one with thy father and thy mother (thou art only one with the Lord) (68). Hence thou art one with the whole universe (which is one with him), yet, at the same time thou art a distinct separate being (69). Even as gold is made into various ornaments, but still remaineth gold: so is the soul, and only by the Lord's ce can the wise man test it (as a goldsmith testeth the ornament, and knoweth that it is gold) (70).33 It is one thing throughout, yet it hath many qualities and many names," , beyond the possibility of counting, and thou canst only ascertain its true nature with the help of a spiritual guide (71). The gold is the rootsubstance, and it is only the adjuncts (upádhi) of name, form, &c., which cause it to appear as the countless ornaments of the body (72). The form of the root-substance may change owing to its adjuncts, and according to them it is beautiful or the reverse, and only the clear intellect considereth the effect of these qualities in his mind (74).
When thou seest the outer form, give thou it its name and tell of its qualities only after
29 I retain throughout the word karma besides translating it. Here it means good works, which, I may note, are of three kinds, those done for the love of God (manasika), those done for personal salvation (kiyika), and those done for mere reputation (nama-kara). The names, however, do not agree with the descriptions, which are Baij'nath's.
20 Baijnath gives several examples. Two will suffice to explain the author's meaning. The pious Nriga gave the same cow to two Brahmans by mistake, and was cursed in consequence. Here a good karma led to a bad result. Ajamila, a notorious sinner, accidentally, and not intending it, uttered the name of God when at the point of death, and thereby got salvation. Here a bad karma led to a good result. Hence the moral is, put not your trust in karma or works, but in faith in the Lord.
31 All commentators explain this by a reference to the Sankara doctrine of May, which was ignored by Ramanuja, who only recognizes the Lord in two conditions of cause and effect, karanárastha and karyavastha. If the interpretation is true (which I greatly doubt), then Tul'st Das has superadded to Ramanuja's doctrine, a doctrine of sakti-maya. Baij'nath's explanation is as follows, As a son is born from the union of his father and his mother, so the soul comes into living being from the union of the Lord (févara) and MayA. At the will of the Lord Maya became fakti, and then became a triple-qualified self (triguntmaka). Mâya has two forms, vis., of cause and of effect, and Îávara projected a portion of himself, like seed vtjavat), into the causal form (karaṇa-rupa, rajas). Thence was produced the soul in a condition of forgetfulness of its true self, and imagining its body, &c., to be its real self. At the same time MAy& in its form of effect (karya-rapa), having deluded the organs of sense, &c., and having caused them to forget happiness in the Lord, made them devoted to temporal happiness. Hence the poet tells the soul not to think himself one with his earthly father and mother, or even with his supreme parents favara and karaṇa-rupa Maya, but to recognize himself as really one with the Lord only.
sa Here we come back to Râmânuja's doctrine of the eternally separate individuality of the soul. There is nothing about the śakti-maya in the text. Indeed in doha 16 the poet apparently treats Sit& as a kind of sakti, and he assuredly would not call her Maya.
35 Baijnath carries on his explanation,-Just as gold is made into many ornaments, yet still remains gold, and its quantity remains unchanged, and is not diminished, so, with MAyA for a material cause, the formation of bodies takes place, but the true nature of the self (atma-tattva) is in no way minished, but ever remains unaltered.
54 Gold may have many qualities, e.g., it may be used for charity or for debauchery, for food or for clothes, ornaments, and so on, and many names, as, a specified coin, a bracelet, an earring, and so on.
According to Baijnath, gandhana is a trade term used by goldsmiths for gold. So also Sesh Datt Sarma. It is not given in the usual dictionaries.
36 Baijnath says ornaments (bhashana) are of twelve classes according as they are worn on the crown of the head (1), forehead (2), ear (3), throat (4), nose (5), arm (6), wrist (7), finger (8), waist (9), foot (10), ankle (11), toe (12). Each of these classes contains countless ornaments.
37 From the 44th to the 74th doha, the poet has dealt with the question of the soul recognizing its own form. He now deals with the question of recognizing the form (rupa) of the Lord. According to Baij'nath, the Lord has five principal forms, viz. (1) Antarydmin, the Inward Ruler, who is void of quality, nirguna, (2) Para, He who becomes incarnate, like Rama, out of pity for mankind, (3) Vydha (not explained), (4) Vibhava, He who becomes incarnate for special purposes, such as Nrisimha, &c., (5) Archd, Local forms, such as Jagannatha, &c., No. 2-5 have qualities (saguna). Antaryamin (inward ruler) is usually mistranslated by Hindt scholars as antarjñânin, the inward knower (antar ko janat, Baijnath).
