RAMA asked: Holy sir, does a yogi's physical body then become an ethereal body?
VASISTHA replied:
The ethereal body alone is: by persistent fancy, it appears to be linked to a physical body. Just as when an ignorant man (who thinks he is the physical body) dies and the body is cremated, has a subtle body, even so the yogi on being enlightened while living, has an ethereal body.
The physical body is only the creation of one's ignorant fancy, and is not real. There is no difference between the body and the ignorance. To think they are two—this indeed is samsara (repetitive history).
VASISTHA continued:
In the meantime, Sarasvati restrained Viduratha's jiva from entering into the body of king Padma.
THE ENLIGHTENED LILA asked Sarasvati:
O Goddess, from the time I sat here in contemplation till now, how much time has elapsed?
SARASVATI replied:
Dear one, it is a month since you entered into contemplation. During the first fifteen days, your body, on account of the heat generated by pranayama, became vaporized. Then it became like a dry leaf and fell down. Then it became rigid and cold. The ministers then thought that you had died of your own accord and cremated that body.
Now, on account of your own wish you appear here in your ethereal body. In you there are no memories of past life nor latent tendencies brought forward from previous incarnation. For when the intelligence is established in the conviction of its ethereal nature, the body is forgotten, even as in youth one forgets life as a foetus. Today is the thirtyfirst day and you are here. Come, let us reveal ourselves to this other Lila.
When the second Lila saw them before her, she fell at their feet and worshipped them.
SARASVATI asked her: Tell us how you came here.
THE SECOND LILA replied:
When I fainted in the palace of Viduratha, I did not know anything for some time. I then saw that my subtle body rose to the sky and was seated in an aerial vehicle which brought me here. And, I saw that Viduratha was lying here asleep in a garden of flowers. I thought he was fatigued from battle and without disturbing him, I fan him.
Sarasvati immediately let Viduratha's jiva enter the body. The king at once awoke as if from slumber. The two Lilas bowed to him.
The king asked the enlightened Lila, "Who are you, who is she, and from where has she come?"
The enlightened Lila replied: "Lord, I am your wife in your previous incarnation and your constant companion, even as a word and its meaning are. This Lila is your other wife; she is my own reflection, created by me for your pleasure. And, she who is seated on yonder golden throne is the goddess Sarasvati herself. She is present here on account of our great good fortune."
Hearing this, the king sat up and saluted Sarasvati*. Sarasvati blessed him with long life, wealth and so on, and enlightenment.
Continued…
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