Eventually the concentrated force of his will penetrated the realm of existence where the ordinary mind was unable to reach. Then, as recounted in the scriptures, he transcended his body-consciousness and saw the relationship between the body, the senses and the different faculties of the mind.He finally entered the vast realm of unconscious mind, known as chitta, where he encountered the dormant karmas related to his million and millions of past lives. But in this state of deep spiritual absorption, he became disoriented. Although his mind was clear and one pointed out, he could not tell if he was dreaming or if his unconscious mind was present on the screen of pure conscio.
However, as he focused more closely, confusion vanished and realized that he was in samadhi. His consciousness transcended the realm of time and space and he was blessed with the intuitive experience of his sanchita karmas. All of his previous life was before him and there was no distinction between them and his present life.
Allowing his consciousness to expand further, he traveled deeper into the backyard of time. The more he searched, the more he discovered about himself. The experience was shocking. He was overwhelmed by the numberless life-forms, he had assumed in the past. He had been a king, an insect, a beggar, an elephant, a demon, a celestial being and everything in-between. He had hurt others and others had hurt him. He saw millions of individual souls-some he had hated and others hated him;some he had loved and they had loved him.All that had ever happened to him had created an impression, and all these memories were stored intact. While there had been sporadic moments of pleasure, a stream of intense pain constantly circulated through all these encounters. Since entering this state, he had not been conscious of the memories accumulated, nor had it been achieved through them.
"How and why did I get entangled in this apparently never-ending karma chain? He was thinking "How large our unconscious mind would handle all these karmic seeds!" What force preserves these seeds to enable them to grow and sprout at specific times , making them manifest as destiny? Not all of these dormant karmas are immediately awakened. Who decides which group to activate?
Overwhelmed by the sheer number of his dormant karmas, Jaigishavya grew disheartened. He realized it would gather momentum and become active at some point, pushing him to migrate from one form of life to another.
"I can see the past of trillions of lifetimes of my transmigration," he thought, "but I still can't see the beginning of the outer path of my soul. This means that there are so many dormant karmas lying outside my present intuitive ability. I can't do anything about my dormant karmas outside of my consciousness-nor do I have the right to delete, rewrite, throw-away or recreate the dormant karmas that I ha. If so, how can they do it?
When Jaigishavya was lost in the maze of his own self-discovery, one of the everlasting guides, the sage Avatya, thought that someone needed his help. The sage works for his primordial master, Bhagavan Narayana, who helps advanced seekers who have become trapped at a higher level that no scriptures or human teachers can reach them.Trying to cut the final knot of ignorance of the yogi, sage Avatya emerged from the universal pool of consciousness and descended into Jaigishavya 's consciousness. Jaigishavya prostrated before him, and sage Avatya lovingly lifted him and spoke, "You were overwhelmed to discover the vastness of your karmic field.Jaigishavya responded, "It is disheartening that I still have so many karmas locked in my mind after my long commitment to rigorous yogic practices. And even though they are there, I don't know how to get rid of them."
Sage Avatya replied, "You have been able to penetrate your own chitta because of your austerities and your meditation practice, the vast unconscious mind where the subtle impressions of all your past actions are stored. You are consciously experiencing your unconscious. You think you are witnessing the contents of your mind while remaining above it, but you are not; you are actively involved.
"O Compassionate Ocean, how can I rise above Maya?
"The first step in breaking the veil of maya," explained Avatya, "is to sharpen your intellect, so that you can understand clearly why you are drawn to know your past. Your curiosity in your past is an indicator of your desire to regain it. And this desire to regain your past is due to your attachment. Since you are attached to your deeds, the fruits of your efforts and their subtle impression. You treasure them in your mind-field, although you know how useless, ugly or painful they are."The first step in breaking the veil of maya," explained Avatya, "is to sharpen your intellect, so that you can understand clearly why you are drawn to know your past. Your curiosity in your past is an indicator of your desire to regain it. And this desire to regain your past is due to your attachment. Since you are attached to your deeds, the fruits of your efforts and their subtle impression. You treasure them in your mind-field, although you know how useless, ugly or painful they are."
"People are attracted to unpleasant, gross and violent stories because stories help them reassociate memories and concepts from their past thoughts. This reassociation provides a sense of enjoyment. Even as worldly people listen to these stories for fun, spiritual people find comfort in hearing them in samadhi.As a result, they may engage in a related action, thus creating more karmas. This is how their dormant karmas turn into active karmas, which is the fabric of destiny."
"If you are negligent, this conscious experience of your unconscious can trick you. In fact, it has already tricked you. You reassociate yourself with your dormant karmas by brooding them and figuring out when, how and why you first created them."
Avatya saw Jaigishavya grow more troubled. "Let me help you," the sage said gently. "I will correctly formulate the question that is already in your mind in a state of hodgepodge."Tell me, how many karmas hast thou? Remember when you performed your first operation, reaped its seed, and in your mind stored its impression? When did the next set of action become active and motivated you to perform? When did you know your karmic action process from potential, to latent and then to reactive?
Jaigishavya replied, "Sir, I don't know, how many karmas I've stored in dormant shape or when I've performed my first action. Nor do I know how or when I've produced these impressions.
"Tell me then" asked sage Avatya, "can you identify your latent karmas?" "Yes dormant karmas are either painful or fun, unwelcome or attractive, difficult to handle or easy to handle"
"Tell me now what category of dormant karmas are in bigger. The painful or the pleasant?
"The Painful," Jaigishavya responded. "Even the good memories are tainted with pain. Also a good memory makes me emotional, because there is a urge to recapture the pleasant moments-but the past is past, and it is always painful."
Sage Avatya smiled and said,”This answer is the result of your deep analysis and introspection. When I arrived, you were simply recounting your dormant karmas. Now you have gained some experience. Reinforce it by contemplating on this truth: all impressions are painful. All beings caught up in the karmic whirlpool are bound to experience pain. Discount your karmas.'
"You reinforced the idea that you were doing your actions. Your anxiety about the fruit of your actions made you miserable as you did your actions. If you did not achieve the desired result, your disappointment made you miserable; your anxiety about retaining the fruits of your actions also made you miserable.
Avatya continued his advice for some time. "If a recollection either grieves you or thrills you," the sage said, "it is your attachment that gives energy to the associated latent karma. Instantly neutralize karma with the power of non-attachment.""Connection," he explained, "is like the nutrients a seed requires to sprout. If you no longer have these nutrients, the seed of dormant karma will lose its ability to develop into destiny. But some of the dormant karmas are so powerful that even though you have no conscious connection to them, they will find a way to manifest as destiny.
"In order to neutralize the effect of such powerful dormant karmas," the sage continued, "you must commit yourself to a methodical practice, and that practice must be intense. In such a practice you must summon all your sankalpa sakti (power of will and determination) to complete it regardless of how many obstacles you may face.
Upon imparting this knowledge, the uncertainty and discouragement of Avatya vanished. Jaigishavya had been dispelled, and he increased his devotion to spiritual practices. He maintained until one day he became the Yogishwara-lord of the yogis.