VANITY OF THE WORLD

The vanity of the mind is synonymous with the vanity of the world. The more the mind modifies itself, the more it projects itself outside, and the more it becomes aware of the outside world. Vanity revolves around the display and appearance of all things worldly and earthly. Māyā, or illusion, is a veil that gives illusionary reflections to our sensual perceptions. The more one externalises through sense-perceived perceptions, the deeper one sinks into the whirlpools of Māyā. It is a conceit that displays distorted proportions in order to conceal the material beneath the ephemeral glitteration. The awareness of the outside world, according to Swami Krishnananda, is primarily due to the presence of Vrittis, or psychoses of the mind. This is caused by the multitude of thoughts that the mind generates in a matter of seconds. The mind, if it remains uncontrolled, has a tendency to move outward to savour the sense perceptual enjoyments emanating from the objective dimensions of the temporal world. Man exists and knows that he exists; he has a direct awareness of his existence, says sage philosopher, Swami Krishnananda. However, he also recognises that his existence is not permanent, that death does not spare anyone, and that all living things, including plants, animals, and humans, have a finite ending. Man also understands that the world he lives in, which he perceives as an object of knowledge, is ultimately not real because it is susceptible to destruction. Then real, is what?

The world, according to Adi Shankaracharya, is unreal, and real is Brahmān, or the Cosmic Self.The statement “brahma satyam jaganmithyA jIvo brahmaiva nAparahanena vedyam sacchAstram iti vedAntaDiNDimah" (Adi Shankaracharya, Brahma Jnanavali Mala, 20) is a famous of Adi Shankaracharya and the teachings of Advaita Vedānta:

Brahma Satyam: Brahmān is the true reality.

Jagan mithya: It is impossible to categorise the world of appearances as real or unreal.

Jivo brahmaiva naparahanena: The jiva (individual self) and Brahmān (Cosmic Self) are non-different.

The Advaita Vedānta posits that the world is an illusion, or Māyā, and salvation requires to renounce it and pursue knowledge.

1. Outline

 Futility and conceitfulness are the sublime essences of vanity in the world. Human being utilises all his time during this birth to pursue for fame, recognition, certification and material gains knowing very well that all these are evanescents being issued by other temporal and transitory elements. 

This has been well affirmed in Yoga-Vasistha. During His conversation with Sage Vasistha, Sri Rama asserts unambiguously that everything in our universe, whether it be movable or immovable, is fleeting, just as objects seen in a dream (Yoga-Vasistha 1.28.1). We experience wealth for a while, followed by a period of misfortune; similarly, we experience health for a while, followed by illness not too long after (Yoga-Vasistha 1.28.25). He continues by asserting that this outwardly lovely but ultimately miserable world has nothing that can provide the soul with tranquillity. The playful boyhood ends, the intellect squanders in the society of women like a deer in a cave, the body succumbs to old age, and all a man can do is weep for his foolishness (Yoga-Vasistha, 1.27.1–1.27.2). As Swami Vivekananda wisely advises, this life is short, the vanities of the world are transient, but they alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive. He exhorts never waste time chasing fleeting recognition and instead aim for something meaningful in this brief life. He encourages his listeners to have the fortitude to face life head-on because they firmly believe that they are eternally rooted in the Ātman, or Self, which transcends all chronological and temporo-spatial constraints. Realising the limitless ātman through letting go of the egotistical self would become the unbreakable source of their courage to face pain head-on. Being centred in the infinite heart of the ātman indicates progressing towards an all-encompassing moral code since it is not limited by the self-centred boundaries of the "I." One transcends dread and hatred for the "other" as a fundamentally alien being through this journey back to one's unbreakable centre of existential gravity.(Barua, A. Living in the World by Dying to the Self: Swami Vivekananda’s Modernist Reconfigurations of a Premodern Vedāntic Dialectic. Hindu Studies 27, 125–148 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11407-022-09335-w). 

In a conversation with Swami Rama Krishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda brings up some important issues like death and despondency. Despair and gloomy thoughts will take over, breaking the heart. However, allow the days to pass as if new vigour had entered the heart, as if the continual reminder of death were giving you a fresh lease on life and increasing your level of thoughtfulness by bringing the truth of the proverb "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity" to mind at every turn. Hold on! As the days, months, and years go by, you'll sense that the little power inside of you is growing into a powerful force and that the spirit within is awakening with the strength of a lion! He goes on to remark that in our world, both praise and criticism are meaningless. They only serve to elevate a man's mood. It's enough praise and criticism, but why think about them? Let everyone carry on, minding their own business. At the last moment, I, along with everyone else, will equally accept credit and blame. We are here to work, and when the call comes, we have to leave.

2. Scriptures

Pure illusion reigns in samsara, says Ashtavakra Gita (18.73), which will continue until self realisation, but the enlightened man lives in the beauty of freedom from me and mine, from the sense of responsibility and from any attachment. Ashtavakra stresses to observe the external phenomenon without reacting to it. The propensity of mind is to respond to every one of these external happenings directed at you. Before one takes action there is a little space, which Ashtavakra says needs silent observation to wake up to the truth that enlightenment is the absence of the desire to act. This slent meditative posture, according to Ashtavakra, is bliss.

The Yoga-Vasistha (1.27.1–1.27.41) highlights the futility of living in this world. It says one becomes more infatuated with desires as they venture outside. The frost of old age stifles the body's beauty like a fading lotus bloom, suddenly drying up the fountain of man's worldliness. Death takes immense pleasure in the body as it nears the end of its life. The head has grey hairs, and the body grows slender, like a creeper losing its blooms as it ages. The flood of avarice sweeps away all living things, uproots the tree of contentment that is growing on the bank, and rushes unceasingly through this planet. The human body is like a skin-covered vessel that sails the world's oceans (without its helmsman of reason). Sensual delights throw it around, and the pressure of its whale-like desires causes it to submerge. The world is a wilderness filled with sensuous trees and avaricious creepers, each sprouting hundreds of desires. Our imaginations wander aimlessly through this forest, like monkeys, seeking food, but they never find anything. It is a rare person in this world who does not give in to sorrow when faced with difficulties, who is not overjoyed with wealth, or who is not enamored with women. It is not so brave, in my opinion, to fight fearlessly on the battlefield and endure the war elephants, as it is to bear the mental upheavals amid the torrents of sensual desires. I see no such deeds in the world that continue until men are finally freed. Fools' actions, motivated by a quest for fulfillment, only serve to satisfy their earthly restlessness. A man is always beset by both good and bad luck, regardless of whether he lives in a rock crevice, inside a mountain wall, or inside an iron-framed wardrobe. Both our wealth and our sons are the only things that provide us joy. As foolish as expecting benefits from poison infusion, believing they will help us is foolish. When old people are reduced to the miserable condition of their bodies deteriorating and their lives eroding, they must be severely troubled by thoughts of their impious past lives. After spending their formative years pursuing worldly pleasures and other desires at the expense of morality and piety, men are left with anxieties that cause their thoughts to tremble like peacock's feathers when a breeze blows across them. Therefore, how can a man ever achieve tranquility? To the worldly-minded, wealth, whether it be forthcoming or unattainable, earned through hard work or luck, is as deceptive as the high waters of rivers that rise only to fall. The rich man just settles down to enjoy his winnings after defeating his adversaries and obtaining enough wealth to hold him back; however, death strikes and shatters his happiness. Observing the foul refuse of worldly wealth amassed by the lowest classes of people as merely temporary, the enamoured rabble fails to recognise their impending disintegration. Men are traveling from one side to the other, like passengers in a parade, joining at their meeting point. This is the illusory combination of our spouses and companions present for our reunion in the afterlife. No one is aware of the real reason for this enigmatic existence. Old age will eventually steal away the blossoming grace and beauty. Men's youthful aspirations also travel far, much like lotus buds grow in the winter. The tree, destined to be a valuable asset to humanity due to the abundance of fruits and flowers it carries, will ultimately meet its demise at the hands of the merciless axe. Therefore, how can upright men hope to escape death's harsh grasp?  What is that thing in the world that has no fault in it, and what is that which does not afflict or grieve us; what being is born that is not subjected to death, and what are those acts that are free from deceit? Those living a Kalpa age are reckoned as short-lived, contrasted with those living for many Kalpas, and they again are so in respect to Brahma. Therefore, since time is finite, our perceptions of its length or shortness are completely inaccurate. We refer to mountains as rocks, trees as wood, and animals as flesh, with man being the greatest among them. All these entities are susceptible to death and decay due to their composition of matter. It makes sense that this fantastical world would seem like a miraculous reality to the wise and an awe-inspiring sight to the human mind, given that everyone finds the dreams they have to be incredibly fascinating. Even in old age, those corrupted by their avarice for earthly pleasures won't listen to sermons on their eternal problems, perceiving them as false chimaeras akin to a flower or a vine growing in the sky. People persist in deluding themselves into believing they can rise to the status of their superiors, but their delusions lead them to plummet even lower, akin to monsters from the summit of a hill, in their quest for the fruits of a verdant vine that lies beyond their reach. Young men who waste their money on selfish pleasures are as worthless as plants that grow in a dark, difficult-to-reach tunnel, spreading their leaves, branches, fruits, and shadows for no one to exploit. Everyday and varied acts of nature are poisonous in their essence; they may seem delightful and captivating to the heart for a while, but ultimately cause suffering and dismay in the wise person's intellect. A guy is addicted to greed and susceptible to many evil schemes and deceptions; a good guy is no longer visible, not even in dreams, and no deed is easy. I'm not sure how to get past this stage of human existence. (Yoga-Vasistha, 1.27.1-1.27.41)

3. Remarks

The world's vanities are the ephemeral quality of perceptual reality. It implies that in the greater scheme of things, material possessions, power, and prosperity are ultimately pointless and unimportant. It conveyed a sense of disillusionment with the surface-level components of life as well as an understanding of the fleeting nature of all things, including fame and relationships, fortune and material possessions, physical attractiveness and beauty, power, position, and status. Since beauty and physical attractiveness are ephemeral and deteriorate with time, obsessing on them is also vanity. The source of beauty is not external embellishment but rather one's inner essence, the timeless elegance of a calm and serene soul that holds immeasurable value in God's eyes.

-Asutosh Satpathy