Even
as the king Viduratha entered the ranks of the enemy, there was an intense
tuttut sound of intense crossfire. As the missiles collided, there were sounds
like khutkhut, tuktuk, jhunjhun.
O
Goddess, please tell me, why is it that though we are blessed by you, my
husband cannot win the battle?
SARASVATI
replied:
No
doubt, I was adored by king Viduratha for a considerable time; but he did not
pray for victory in battle. Being the consciousness that dwells in the
understanding of every person, I bestow upon that person that which he
seeks. Whatever it be that a person asks of me, I bestow upon him that fruit:
it is but natural that fire gives you heat. He had asked for liberation;
and he shall attain liberation.
On the other hand, the
king of Sindhu worshipped me, and prayed for victory in battle. Hence, the king
Viduratha will be slain in battle, and he will rejoin you both and in
course of time will attain liberation. This king of Sindhu will win the war and
will rule the country as the victorious monarch.
Both the kings lost
their vehicles, and they continued to fight standing on the ground. As
Viduratha was about to ascend a new one he was cut down by the king of
Sindhu. Viduratha's body was soon brought to the palace which the pursuing
enemy could not enter on account of Sarasvati's presence.
VASISTHA continued:
Seeing Viduratha fall,
the second Lila fell down unconscious. The first Lila said to Sarasvati: ''O
Goddess, see, this my husband is about to give up the ghost."
SARASVATI said:
Dear
one, all this terrible war, this destruction and death, are as real as a dream;
for there is neither a kingdom nor the earth. All this took place in the house
of the holy man Vasistha on top of the hill. This palace and this
battlefield and all the rest of it is nowhere but the inner apartments of your
own palace.
In
fact, the entire universe is there. For, within the house of the holy man
is the world of the king Padma; and within the palace of that king in that
world is all that you have seen here. All this is mere fancy,
hallucination. What is, is the sole reality—which is neither created nor
destroyed.
It is that infinite
consciousness that is perceived by the ignorant as the Universe Just as a
whole city exists within the dreamer, the three worlds exist in a small atom;
surely, there are atoms in those worlds, and each one of those atoms also
contains the three worlds.
The
other Lila who fell down unconscious has already reached that world in which
your husband Padma's body is lying.
LILA
asked:
O
Goddess, tell me: how did she go there already, and what are the people there
telling her?
SARASVATI
replied: Just as both of you are the fancied objects of the king, even so the
king himself and I are dream objects. One who knows this gives up looking
for 'objects of perception'. In the infinite consciousness we have created each
other in our fancy.
The
other youthful Lila was indeed yourself. She worshipped me and prayed
that she would never be widowed: hence, before the king Viduratha died she left
this place. Dear one, you are all individualised cosmic consciousness, but I am
the cosmic consciousness: and I make all these things happen.
Continued....
Love.
