Bhushunda Remains Unaffected By Time - 5

Sage Vasishtha

BHUSHUNDA continued:

There was a world in days of yore which is not far beyond our memory, for we witnessed it ourselves. 

VASISHTHA asked:

What happened to your brothers, for I see only you here?

BHUSHUNDA continued:

A very long time has passed, O sage, and in course of time my brothers abandoned their physical existence and ascended to the heaven of lord Shiva. Indeed, a long-lived persons who may be holy and saintly and strong are consumed in course of time by Time (or death).

VASISHTHA asked:

How is it that you have remained unaffected by the heat and the cold and the wind and the fire? 

BHUSHUNDA continued:

Truly, to be embodied as a crow held in contempt by the people is not a happy state, though the Creator has amply provided for the survival of even the humble crow. But we have remained immersed in the self, happy and contented: hence we have survived in spite of ever so many calamities. We have remained firmly established in the self, having abandoned the vain activities that are but torment of the body and the mind. To this physical body there is misery neither in life nor in death; hence we remain as we are, not seeking anything other than what is. 

We have seen the fate of the world. We have mentally abandoned identification with the body. Established in self-knowledge and remaining on the tree I see the passage of time. Through the practice of I have risen above the division of time. Hence, I am at peace within my heart and I am not affected by the events of the world. Let all beings vanish or let them come into existence; we have no fear at all. Let all these beings enter into the ocean known  as Time or death; but we are seated on the shores of that ocean and are therefore unaffected. We neither accept nor reject; we appear to be but we are not what appears to be. Thus do we remain on this tree.

Though we engage in diverse activities, we do not get drowned in mental modifications and we never lose contact with the reality.

Lord, that nectar for which the gods churned the ocean is inferior to the nectarine blessing that flows from the very presence of sages like you. I consider nothing more praiseworthy than the company of sages who are free from all cravings and desires. Holy one, even though I have already attained self-knowledge, I consider that my birth has been truly fulfilled, in that today I have seen you and I have enjoyed your company.