July 28, 2026
hemādiṣu suvarṇatvaṁ narādiṣu parākramaḥ
kācakacyaṁ ca ratnādau varṣādiṣvavabhāsanaṁ (17)
VASIṢṬHA continued:
Then I became the fire-element through the contemplation of that element (teja-dhāraṇā). Fire or light is predominantly satva and therefore it is always luminous and it dispels darkness even as a king makes thieves flee his presence. I realised the misery of darkness which destroys all good qualities because I became the light in which everything is seen. Light bestows form on everything even as a father bestows form on his offspring. In the nether world light shines at a minimum level and there is greater darkness. In heaven there is light alone and always. Light is the sun that makes the lotus of action blossom.
I became the good colour (suvarṇa) in gold, etc., I became vitality and valour in men, in jewels I sparkled as their fire, in rainclouds I became the light of the lightning, in passionate women I became the twinkle in their eyes, I became the strength of the lion. I was myself the hatred of the demons in the gods and the hatred of the gods in the demons. I became the vital essence of all beings. I experienced being the sun, the moon, the stars, precious stones, fire (including the fire of cosmic destruction), lightning, lamp. When I became fire, the burning cinders became my teeth, the smoke my hair and fuel was my food. In the blacksmith’s workshop, I became the fire that made the iron red-hot and when it was beaten I flew out as sparks.
RĀMA asked:
O sage, when you had thus become the fire-element, were you happy or unhappy?
VASIṢṬHA replied:
Just as when a person sleeps he becomes temporarily insentient though he is a sentient being, consciousness becomes an inert object. When it thinks of itself as the elements (earth etc.,) it thinks of itself as being inert. In fact, however, there is no such division of consciousness into subject and object.
Hence, whatever I experienced in the states of earth, water and fire, I experienced only as Brahman. If I had in fact become inert, how could I experience what it is to be earth, etc.? The sentient person thinks “I am asleep” and he appears to be insentient. If one wakes up to the truth concerning oneself, then the materiality of the body vanishes. With the subtle (ātivāhika) body he is then able to enter anything anywhere. This subtle body is nothing but pure intelligence. When one enters another state with this intelligence out of his own wish, then obviously one does not experience unhappiness or sorrow.
Just as the world seen and experienced in a dream is enveloped by the darkness of ignorance and is therefore unreal, even so are the other elements that one experiences. When one touches a river of sparks which he fancies in his own mind, he does not experience pain. Such was the case with my elemental experiences.