Hemalekha

“That cannot be happiness which is tinged with misery. Misery is of two kinds: one caused by the body and the other by the mind. Mental suffering is far worse than physical pain. The whole world seems afflicted with suffering and distraction of the mind. If you analyse, you will see that desire is the cause for mental suffering. Respite gained by the fulfilment of one desire cannot be happiness, because there is another waiting to take its place. Desires push you into endless actions.

“You consider me beautiful and derive pleasure out of my beauty. The beauty that you perceive in me is only the reflection of the subtle concept already in your mind. The mind draws an image of something beautiful in conformity with its own repeated conceptions. The repeatedly drawn image becomes clearer and clearer till it appears solidly as an object. An attraction springs up in mind by constant mental association. The mind becomes restless and stirs up the senses and seeks fulfilment of its desires in the object. Oft- repeated mental pictures is the reason for infatuation.”

Hemalekha then makes the following extraordinary observation:

तथा च यो यो यस्यां तु रति विन्दति मानवः ।
सुन्दर्या वापि चान्यस्यां तत्र सौष्ठवं उल्लिखेत्‌ ॥
 

tathā ca yo yo yasyāṁ tu rati vindati mānavaḥ
sundaryāṁ vāpi cānyasyāṁ tatra sauṣṭhavaṁ ullikhet
 

Whoever finds pleasure in anything, the beauty therein is only mental imagery. The idea of beauty lies in one’s own desire innate in the mind.

One whose mind is composed is not swayed by desires.

Hemachuda was astounded to receive this reply from his beautiful wife.

The stage of Vairagya

Hemachuda was fascinated by the logic of his wife’s forceful words. As he thought more and more about Hemalekha’s words, he started developing a distaste for earthly pleasures. He discussed again and again with his wife about the nature of sensory pleasures and their inability to produce lasting fulfilment. A sense of Vairagya or detachment started developing in prince Hemachuda.

Enjoyments ceased to interest him, but the force of habit still remained with him. He was therefore unable to enjoy himself or desist all of a sudden. He became repentant when he fell a prey to his old habits. His mind was swinging like a pendulum between the old habits and the wisdom gained from his wife. He became melancholic.

Hemalekha became aware of the change in him and asked him one day why he had lost his old cheer. He told his wife, “Hemalekha, what you told me on the last occasion has barred all means of pleasure for me.

राज्ञा वितीर्णा विषयः सुखदोऽपि समन्ततः ।
वध्यं न सुखयेत्‌ यद्रत्‌ तथा तस्मान्न मे सुखम्‌ ॥

rājñā vitīrṇo viṣayaḥ sukhado’pi samantataḥ
vadhyaṁ na sukhayet yadvat tathā tasmānna me sukham
                                    – v.24

I find nothing that can make me happy, just as a man who is awaiting his execution feels.

Hemalekha was pleased to hear this. She felt it was a good symptom and saw that Grace of the Supreme Lord was working in him.

The Stage of Faith, Effort and Grace

Hemalekha decided to impart further knowledge to Hemachuda. She told him that developing faith in the words of the wise, was a very important factor in achieving the Supreme goal. She told him, “People will not gain anything, either during their lifetime or after death, by endless discussions or blind acceptance. Of the two however, there is hope for the latter but none for the former. Beware of intellectual gymnastics parading as logic.” Hemachuda asked his wife, “My dear! You say that faith bestows the highest good. But on what should I place my faith?”

Hemalekha answered, “O Prince! That is best which does not yoke you again to suffering. Whatever has the impress of misery cannot be good. Discriminating zeal is what is needed in assessing the right path. You will be quickly benefitted if you turn away from dry, ruinous logic and engage in purposeful discussions. Be guided by the experience of the wise, accompanied by zeal and constant efforts. More than anything else, Grace is needed. Without it, one cannot overcome the delusion caused by the mind. Therefore worship the Primal Cause of the universe as the starting point. Be devoted to Him. He will soon enable you to succeed in your attempts to destroy the illusion.

तमेव सर्व भावेन भक्तयाशु शरणी कुरु । 
श्रेयसि त्वां याजयेत्‌ स त्वं न तत्परतां व्रज ॥

tameva sarva bhāvena bhaktyāśu śaraṇī kuru 
śreyasi tvāṁ yājayet sa tvaṁ na tatparatāṁ vraja
                         – VII-50

Surrender yourself directly and unhesitatingly to Him. He will ordain the best for you and you need not ask for it.

“Of all methods of approach to God, loving dedication to Him is the best and surest in its results. He is the Transcendent Being, formless, and out of Grace to His devotees, He assumes a form. Therefore, be wise and worship the one pure, unblemished Transcendence. If unable to comprehend this state, one may worship Him with a concrete form.”

Hemachuda, on hearing the truth about the need for God’s Grace in his quest for supreme knowledge, took to worshipping Him with intense devotion. By and by, the Supreme Being’s Grace descended on him. He became totally indifferent to pleasure because his mind was entirely absorbed in the practical investigation of the Truth. Once more Hemachuda sought his wife for further guidance to reach the state she was enjoying. Hemalekha was pleased to see the prince in a calm frame of mind. She decided to take him to the next level in his quest. She started instructing him about the greatest path to Moksha, namely Atma Vichara.

The Stage of Atma Vichara

Continuing her instructions to her husband Hemachuda, Hemalekha said to him, “O Prince! Investigate the nature of the Self with a keen intellect. The Self is not an object to be perceived or described. The Self does not admit of specification and so no teacher can teach it. However, you can realise it within you as it resides in an unblemished intellect. It pervades all, from personal God to amoeba, but it is not cognizable by the mind or senses. No external agency can illumine it, but it illumines all, everywhere and always. I can only explain to you the means to Self-realisation.”

Prince Hemachuda was all eagerness to receive further instructions from his wife. Hemalekha continued, “As long as you are contaminated with notions of me or mine, the Self cannot be found, for it lies beyond cognition and cannot be realised as my Self!

ममार्थ अखिलं त्यक्त्वा यत््यक्तु नैव शक्यते । 
तदात्मानं समालक्ष्य परं श्रेयः समाप्नुहि ॥

mamārthaṁ akhilaṁ tyaktvā yattyaktuṁ naiva śakyate |
tadātmānaṁ samālakṣya paraṁ śreyaḥ samāpnuhi ||
                      – IX -16

Analyze all those things that are cognized as mine and discard them all. What remains, transcending all - know that to be the Self.

After receiving these clear instructions, Hemachuda retired to a lonely resort and locked himself in, ordering his servants not to allow anyone inside. He started contemplating on what his wife had told him. He thought, “When the Self is not known, all else is in vain, as if done in a dream. I will now investigate the matter. My home, wealth, kingdom, treasure, women, cattle – none of these is me, they are mine. I certainly take my body to be myself but it is only a tool. This body is mine, built up of blood, flesh and bones and is constantly changing every moment. How can it be the changeless Self? I have one body in the wakeful state but take on others during dream. I am always aware, but I do not realise that pure state of awareness. The reason for this inability is not clear to me. It seems to be obstructed by many factors pertaining to the non-Self butting in. They cannot appear without my mental imagery of them to obstruct the Self.” Thinking thus, Hemachuda forcibly arrested his thoughts. Immediately, a blankness superseded. He continued his meditation and with a mind in a restful state, saw a blazing light, without any circumference. He regained his normal consciousness after some time. He began to think that the experience lacked constancy and decided to repeat it and dived within himself. This time he fell into a long sleep and dreamt wonderful dreams. He woke up and felt frustrated. He wondered how he could have lapsed into a dream state. He felt that the blankness and light experienced earlier must also have been in the nature of dream. He checked his mind once again and remained in a thought-free state for some duration. He felt blissful in that state. It was like sleep in so far as he was not externally aware. The reason for the peculiar state of bliss was not clear to him. There was nothing in that state to be a cause for imparting bliss. He asked himself whether these experiences indicated there were stages of development in the realization of the Self. He decided to ask his wife and sent for her.

The Stage of Self-Absorption

Hemalekha came to the resort, having been summoned. She saw the prince in a peaceful frame of mind. The prince asked his wife, “My dear, as advised by you, I engaged myself in the investigation of the Self. I had diverse visions and experiences. Thinking that the constant Self-awareness is dimmed by mental activities, I forcibly suppressed my thoughts and remained calm. After many experiences, eventually a unique bliss overpowered me briefly. Is this the Self or something else? Please analyse my experiences and advise me.” Hemalekha listened to him carefully and started speaking to him sweetly. She said, “Listen to me, my dear! Your efforts in turning the mind inward is a good beginning. However, this will not produce Self-realisation, for the simple reason that the Self remains realised at all times. If it is a product of something, it cannot be the Self. How can the Self be got anew? Is there any moment when the Self is not the Self? Control of mind alone cannot produce it.

“Though the Self is always there, it is not recognised by you even with a controlled mind, because you are not conversant with it. Attend carefully! In the short interval before blankness appeared and after the control of the mind, there remains a state free from the effort to control and the perception of blankness. Always remember that state as one of perfect and transcendental happiness. All are deceived in that state because their minds are accustomed to be turned outward. Even scholars and yogis do not realise the Self because it is not realizable but already realized.

गत्वा दूर्‌ न तत्‌ प्राप्य स्थित्वा प्राप्त हि सर्वदा। 
न तद्विचार्य विज्ञेयं अविचाराद्रिभासते ॥

gatvā dūraṁ na tat prāpyaṁ sthitvā prāptaṁ hi sarvadā 
na tadvicārya vijñeyaṁ avicārādvibhāsate
                      – IX-82A

Realization is not attained by going far but only by staying still; not by thought processes but by cessation of thought.

“Effort towards realisation is like attempting to stamp with one’s foot on the shadow cast by one’s head! Effort will always make it recede. Although people understand space, they are not aware of it because they are taken in by the objects in the space. They understand the universe in space but have no regard for space itself. Similar is the case with regard to the Self; they pay attention to the mental forms but not the consciousness underlying the mind.”

Hemachuda was keenly listening to his wife, absorbing her words. Hemalekha continued, “The world consists of knowledge and objects known. The objects are non-Self and perceived by the senses. Knowledge is dependent on the knower for its existence. The knower does not require any tests for knowing his own existence. The knower therefore is the only reality behind knowledge and objects. That which is self-evident without the necessity to be proved alone is real; not so other things. Objects and their knowledge are only reflections in the eternal, self-luminous supreme consciousness which is the same as the knower and which alone is real. Therefore prince, realise with a still mind your own true nature, which is one pure, undivided consciousness, underlying the restless mind.

“Realise with a still mind the state between sleep and wakefulness, the interval between the recognition of one object after another, or the gap between two perceptions. This is the Real Self, inhering in which, one is no longer deluded. Let not your mind be outgoing. Turn it inward; control it just a little and watch for the Self, always remembering that the investigator himself is the essence of the being, the Self of the self. Be also free from the thought, ‘I see’. Remain still like a blind man seeing. What transcends seeing and not-seeing is what you are. Be quick!” Hemachuda did accordingly and having gained that state referred to by his wife, he remained peaceful and absorbed for a long time unaware of anything beside the Self.

Hemachuda was soon to learn that this exalted state was also not the final state!

Jivanmukti

Hemalekha noticed that her husband had attained supreme peace and so did not disturb him. He opened his eyes after a while and saw his wife nearby. Eager to fall into that state once more, he closed his eyes. Immediately, Hemalekha took hold of his hands and asked him sweetly, “My Lord, tell me what makes you feel that you gain something by closing your eyes. What is it that happens, on the eyes being closed or left open?”

On being pressed for an answer, Hemachuda looked as if he were drunk and replied reluctantly and haltingly. “My dear! I have found pure, untainted happiness. I cannot find the least satisfaction in the activities of the world now. They are tasteless to me like a sucked-out orange. What a pity that people are unaware of the bliss of their own Self! They run after pleasures like cattle chewing the cud incessantly. Earlier, I used to run after sensual pleasures, unaware of the boundless ocean of bliss within me. I was so infatuated, I mistook them for lasting happiness. Enough of these activities that make us pursue pleasures, but which only end in sorrow! Hemalekha, my dear! I appeal to you to let me fall into that peaceful state of the bliss of the Self. I pity you that though knowing this state, you are not in it but are ever engaged in activities!”

Hemalekha smiled on hearing this and said to him, “You do not yet know the highest state of sanctity, a state which is not besmirched by duality. Reaching this, the wise transcend duality and are never perplexed. That state is yet very, very far from you! Your small measure of wisdom is as good as no wisdom because it is not unconditional but remains conditioned by closing the eyes.”

Hemachuda was astonished to hear this. His wife continued, “Perfection cannot depend on activity or otherwise, on effort or no effort. How can that state be a perfect one, if mental or physical activity can influence it? Can displacement of the eyelid by the width of a barley grain make all the difference to it? Again, how can it be perfect if located only in the interior? It is ridiculous to think that an eyelid one inch long, can shut out the expanse in which millions of worlds revolve in one corner alone!

“You must be careful to see the knots created by the bonds of illusion that come in the way of perennial bliss. These knots give rise to mistaken ideas, the chief of which is the thought ‘I-am-the-body’. This in turn gives rise to the endless cycle of births and deaths. The second knot is the differentiation of the world from the Self. The truth is, the being-consciousness of the Self is the mirror in which the phenomena are simply reflected. The other knots include differentiation of beings among themselves and from the Universal Self. These knots have originated from time immemorial and recur with unbroken ignorance. The man is not finally redeemed unless he extricates himself from the countless knots of ignorance.

“The state which resulted in the closing of your eyes cannot be enough. Your conviction ‘I shall lose it by opening my eyes’ or ‘I know it’ is the knot waiting to be cut. It is not an attainment though, as whatever can be attained is not the perfect state. Be strong and root out your thoughts and the deep-rooted knots like ‘I will see’, ‘I am not this’, ‘This is non-Self’ and such.

पश्य सर्वत्र चात्मानं अखण्डानन्दवृहितम्‌ । 'पश्यात्मन्यखिलं लोकं दर्पणप्रतिविम्बवत्‌॥

paśya sarvatra cātmānaṁ akhaṇḍānandabṛṁhitam 

paśyātmanyakhilaṁ lokaṁ darpaṇapratibimbavat 
(X-37)

Find wherever you turn, the one undivided, eternal, blissful Self. Watch the whole Universe reflected as it rises and subsides in the Self. See the Self both within and without. Abide in the peace of your true Self, devoid of phenomena.

At the end of her speech, Hemachuda’s confusion was cleared up. He gradually became well established in the perfect Self bereft of any distinction of within or without. Being always equable, he led a very happy life with Hemalekha, his wife and Guru. He reigned over his kingdom, engaged in all activities of governance, and lived the life of a Jivan Mukta (liberated while yet alive).

His father, the king, heard about the change in Hemachuda. He was amazed to see that his son was a different person altogether. Hemachuda was no longer affected by the sway of pleasures or sorrows. He treated friends and foes alike; he was indifferent to loss or gain. He engaged in royal activities like an actor in a play. He seemed like a person always intoxicated with wine; yet he performed all his duties perfectly. The king also wanted to be instructed to reach the same state as his son. Eventually, he too became a realised soul. So too all his ministers, citizens, all classes of people in his land, including children and the pet animals! The whole land was populated with sages and philosophers.

It came to be known as the land of Wisdom and praised by all the rishis. The land owed its reputation to the wise princess Hemalekha, a teacher of extraordinary merit.

This remarkable story sees the progression of the prince Hemachuda from Satsang, Vairagya, Faith, Effort, Grace, Atma Vichara, Atma Nishta and finally to Jivan Mukti.

January 2024