the Equinox - The Hermetic Library

154
THE EQUINOX
The next is as the plaint melodious of the ocean-sprite imprisoned in its shell.
And this is followed by the chant of vînâ.
The fifth like sound of bamboo-flute shrills in thine ear.
It changes next into a trumpet-blast.
The last vibrates like the dull rumbling of a thunder-cloud.
The seventh swallows all the other sounds. They die, and then are heard no
more.*
The Hatha Yoga Pradipika is a great deal more exact in
its description of these sounds than the famous Theosophist;
concerning them Swâtmârâm Swâmi writes:
In the beginning, the sounds resemble those of the ocean, the clouds, the
kettledrum, and Zarzara (a sort of drum cymbal); in the middle they resemble
those arising from the Mardala, the conch, the bell and the horn.
In the end they resemble those of the thinkling bells, the flutes, the vînâ, and
the bees. Thus are heard the various sounds from the middle of the body.
Even when the loud sounds of the clouds and the kettledrum are heard, he
should try to fix his attention on the subtler sounds.
He may change his attention from the lull to the subtle sounds, but should
never allow his attention to wander to other extraneous objects.
The mind fixes itself upon the Nâda to which it is first attracted until it
becomes one with it.†
Many other passages occur in this little text book on Yoga
dealing with these mystical sounds some of them of a combined
beauty and wisdom which is hard to rival. Such as:
When the mind, divested of its flighty nature, is bound by the cords of the
Nâda, it attains a state of extreme concentration and remains quiet as a bird that
has lost its wings.
Nâda is like a snare for catching a deer, i.e. the mind. It, like a hunter, kills the
deer.
The mind, having become unconsious, like a serpent, on hearing the musical
sounds, does not run away.
* “The Voice of the Silence,” pp. 24, 25.
† “Hath Yoga Pradipika,” iv, 96. For some of these sounds also see
Brahmavidyâ, 13, Dhyânabindu, 18, and the Hamsa Upanishad, 4.