The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki
The only complete English translation is
by Vihari Lala Mitra (1891).
CHAPTER CCXIV.
DESCRIPTION OF THE GREAT JUBILEE OF THE
ASSEMBLY.
Argument:--Demonstration of the exceeding
exultation of the audience
at the close of the long winded lengthy
lecture.
Valmiki[**Válmíki] related:--As the sage had
finished saying these
things, or so far, the celestials sounded
their trumpets
from heaven, as the clouds resounded in the
rainy skies, with
showers of nectarious rain drops (on the
earth below). The
face of the sky was whitened on all sides, as
by drifts of snowfalls
in hoary winter, and the surface of the earth
was covered
by rain drops, dropping like showers of
flowers. (The sound of
celestial trumpets, is ever accompanied with
or followed by a
shower refreshing rain).
2. The earth appeared to be blessed with
prosperity in the
beauty of the flowers, stretching their
pistils and peduncles[**ok/SOED]
like
beauties in their evening decorations, and
sending afar the
fragrance of their farinacious[**farinaceous]
dust, like the perfumery on
the
persons of fairies, their outer
garniture[**ok/SOED] and inner cool
sweetness
are verily the gifts of the Gods.
3. The falling flowers of heavenly arbors,
dropped down
from their dried boughs, by the rampant and
apish hurricane
of heaven, are now vying with the glittering
stars, scattered
all over the face of the firmament, and
deriding at their grin
laughter with their bashful and blushing
smiles.
4. The lowering clouds accompanied with
sounds of trumpets,
and dizzling[**drizzling] rain drops and
falling of flowers, (which bore
resemblance to one another); next lighted
upon the court
hall, like the shadewy[**shadowy] snow fall
on Himálaya's head, and
filled
the assembly with wonder, and gaping mouths
and staring
eyes.
5. The assembly seated in their order, took
hold of handfuls
of these heavenly flowers; and poured them
upon Vasishtha
with their obeisance, and cast away all their
earthly cares and
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woes with those celestial offerings to the
sage. (Every offering
confers and recurs, with an equivalent
blessing to the
offerer).
6. The King Dasaratha said:--O
wander[**wonder]! that we are so
lightly released of our cares and woes, in
this wide extended
vale of miseries of the world; and that our
souls are now lightened
of their throws by your grace, like the heavy
clouds lightened
of their weight, and floating lightly at last
on Himálayas.
7. We have reached to the goal of our acts,
and seen the
end of our miseries of this life; we have
fully known the knowable
One (that is only to be known), and have
found our entire
rest in that supreme state (by your good
grace alone).
8. We have known to rest in the ultimate void
in our meditation,
and to get rid of our erroneous thoughts of
bodies, by
means of our intense application to the
abstract (or Platonic
abstraction).
9. It is by our riddance from the coinage and
vagaries of
our imagination, and by our escape from the
feverish fervour
for the sights of the dreaming world; as also
by our ceasing to mistake
the shells and cockles for silver, and by our
deliverance
from misdeeming ourselves as dead either in
our sleep or dream,
(that we may be enabled to the true knowledge
of ourselves &c[**.]).
10. It is by our knowledge of the identity of
the wind and
its oscillation, and of the sameness of the
water with its fluidity;
as also by our distrust in this talismanic
world, and in this fairy
land of our fancy, (that we can attain to the
knowledge of
truth &c[**.]).
11. It must be by our discredit in the
magical scenes of this
world, and in the aerial castles of fairies;
as also by our mistrust
in the limpid currents of the mirage, and in
the aerial
groves and double moons of heaven, (that we
can come to know
the truth).
12. It is no earthquake, if our tottering
foot steps should
shake and slip in our drunkenness; nor can we
view a ghost
in a shadow as boys do, nor see the braids of
hair hanging down
from the clouds in heaven.
13. From these and other instances; which you
have given
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for our instruction; you have sir, at once
effaced our credit in
the visible sights of this world.
14. Ráma added:--My ignorance is dispelled,
and I have
come to the knowledge of truth by your good
grace; and O
thou chief of sages, I acknowledge thee to
have brought me to
light from my impervious darkness.
15. I am freed from my doubts, and set to the
light of the
true nature of God; and I will now act as
thou sayst, in acknowledging
the transpicuous[**ok/SOED] truth (or viewing
God as manifest
in nature, and not as hidden under her veil).
16. Remembering and reconsidering thy words,
that are
so fraught with ambrosial sweetness and full
of delightsome
taste; I am filled with fresh delight,
thou[**though] already satisfied and
refreshed by their sense (i. e. the more I
think of them, the
happies[**happier] I seem to feel
myself[**hyphen removed]).
17. I have nothing to do for myself at
present, nor is there
any[**anything] left undone or remaining to
be done by me. I am as I am
and have ever been, and always without any
craving for me.
(This state of self-satisfaction and
self-sufficiency, is the highest
bliss for man).
18. What other way to our true felicity can
there be, than
this that has been shown by thee? or else I
find this wide-extended
field of the earth, to be so full of our woe
and misery.
19. I have no foe to annoy me nor a friend to
give any joy
to me; I have no field to work in, nor an
enemy to fear nor a
good soul to rely in. It is our
misunderstanding that makes
this world appear so troublesome to
ourselves, while our good
sense makes it all agreeable to us. (If the
world will not suit
thee, suit thyself to it).
20. How could we know all this (for our
happiness) without
thy good grace unto us; as it is never
possible for a boy, to
ford and cross over a river, without the
assistance of a boat or
bridge.
21. Lakshmana said:--It is by reason of your
removing
the doubts, that had been inherent in and
inherited by me in
my repeated births; and it is by virtue of
the merit, that I
had acquired in my former births; that I have
come to know
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the truth this day, by the divine sermon of
the holy sage; and
to feel the radiance of a holy light in me,
shining as brightly
as the cooling beams of moonlight.
22. It is strange that in disregard of this
heavenly bright
and vivid light, that[**delete 'that'] men
should be entangled in a thousand
errors, and be burnt at last as dried wood or
fuel, by their foul
mistake and great misfortune,[**.]
23. Viswamitra said:--O! it is by our great
merit, that we
have come this day, to hear this holy lecture
from the mouth of
the sage; and which has at once expurgated
our inner souls,
as a thousand lavations in the clear stream
of Ganges.
24. Ráma rejoined:--We have seen the highest
pitch of
all prosperity, and the best of all that is
to be seen; we have
known the end of all learning, and the last
extremity of adversity;
we have seen many countries and heard many
speeches;
but never have we heard, nor seen nor known
anything better
than the discourse on the beauty of the soul,
which the sage
has shown to us to-day.
25. Nárada added:--Our ears are purified
to-day, by the
hearing of what we have never heard
heretofore; to be preached
by Brahma or the Gods above or men below.
26. Lakshmana rejoined:--Sir, you have entirely
dissipated
all our inner and outer darkness also; and
have shewn us the
transcendent light, of the bright sun of the
Divine soul.
27. Satrughna said:--I am satisfied and
tranquilized, and
uncomposed in the supreme soul; I am for ever
full and perfect
in myself, and sit quite content with my
soleity[**solity].
28. Dasaratha repeated:--It is by the merit
of our deeds,
done and acquired in our repeated lives, that
we have been,
O thou chief of sages, sanctified this day by
thy sacred and
sanctifying speech.
29. Válmíki related:--As the king and his
courtiers, were
speaking in this manner, the sage oped his
mouth again, and
thus bespoke his words fraught with pure and
purifying knowledge.
30. Vasishtha said:--Hear me, O thou moon
like king of
Raghu's race, and do as I bid you to do; Rise
now and honour
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the assembled Brahmans, who deserve their due
honour at the
close of a discourse.
31. Rise therefore, and satisfy their desires
with thy ample[**=print]
gifts; and thou will obtain thereby, the
merit that attends on
the learning of the vedas, and doing thy
duties according to
their dictates.
32. It is incumbent on even a mean
worm-like[**hyphen added] man, to
honor
the Brahmans to their utmost at the
termination of a sermon
on salvation; how much more important must it
then be on
the part of a monarch to acquit himself of
this necessary duty.
33. Hearing this behest of the sage, the king
held his
reverential silence; and beckoned to his
heralds to proceed to all
the ten sides of his dominions, and invite
thousands of Brahmans,
that are acquainted with the vedas forthwith
(to the
royal court).
34. He bade them to go to Mathura, Suráshtra and Gauda,
and to bring with them with due respect all
the Brahmans,
that are born of Vedic families, and are
abiding in those districts
and lands.
35. There then assembled more than ten
thousands of
Brahmans to the royal palace, and the king
fed them all alike
and paying particular regard to the more learned
among them.
36. He treated them with the best sorts of
food and rice,
honoured them with their honorariums, and
gave them a good
many gifts; and after honouring them in this
manner; he
offered his oblations to the manes of his
ancestors, and gave
his offerings to the tutelar gods of his
house. (A Brahman has
his precidence[**presidence] in a feast to
the Gods and patres; but the
merit of giving a feast is lost unless it is
followed by other
gifts[**)].
37. The king next treated his friends and
relatives with
proper repast, and then fed his companions
and servants and the
citizens all on the same day. His attention
was at last directed
to the feeding of the poor and needy, and of
the lame and
blind and lunatics.
38. Having discharged to his utmost the duties
of the festival,
he commanded a great festivity to be held in
his hall, all
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over decorated with silk and embroidery, and
with gold, gems
and pearls.
39. The city then being adorned and lighted,
like the ever
bright mount of Meru, there went on a merry
dance and ball of
giddy girls and players in every house: (as a
sign of general
joy).
40. There was a ringing of bells and sounding
of cymbols[**cymbals]
all about, with the beating of drums and
trimbrels[**timbrels] at every
door; flutes and wind instruments were
blowing on every side,
and guitars and wired instrument were playing
with loud
gingling[**ok/SOED],
and vying with each other.
41. The markets were closed, and the marketers
stopped
in their course; the air appeared as an
arbour of plants, shaking
with the uplifted and quavering and waving
arms of the
merry dancers in the streets; and it seemed
as the starry
heaven, by the glittering light of the teeth
of strolling players,
displayed in their comic dance and loud
laughter.
42. There was the heroic dance attended by
the loud shouts
of the players, and melodramas accompanied
with the soft and
sweet strains of the performers, there was
also a staggering and
strutting dance on one foot and leg, and
thumping the ground
with the other.
43. Here they flung wreaths of flowers
glittering like stars
and falling down in showers; and there the
scattered flowers,
which were strewn over the ground as rain
drops, were indiscriminately
trodding[**trodden] down under the feet of
passers.
44. Here the actresses dance[**danced] about
with their loose ornaments
and gestures of love; and there the bards
chanted their
hymns with clearness, as the Brahmans recited
them and the
songstresses sang.
45. Here the sots and topers drank their fill
of wine; and
the food mongers fed upon their eatables of
various kinds (i. e.
some were seen to be indulging [**[in]] their
drink and others in their
eating).
46. The insides of houses were daubed with
wine, as the
outer bodies of the princes with ointment of
moon light hue.
47. The attendent[**attendant] servants and
waiting maids on the king,
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sauntered about trimmed in gaudy attires of
various colours;
and graced the royal festival with their
decorations of necklaces
and sweet perfumes on their persons.
48. The sprightly ballet girls, being
besmeared with a paste
of all perfumeries (called the yaxa[**yaksha]
dust), and decorated with
glittering ornaments, repaired to the ball at
the royal hall with
all alacrity.
49. Thus the king Dasaratha held his
entertainment for a
whole week, and passed full seven nights in
festive mirth and
rejoicing; while he distributed his gifts and
food for as many
days, which redounded to exhaustless
prosperity on earth.
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CHAPTER CCXV.
EULOGY ON THIS WORK AND THE MODE OF ITS
RECITAL.
Argument:--Válmíki speaks in praise of this
work to this pupil
Bharadwája,
and blesst[**blesses] him to be as blessed as
the divine Ráma with the
hearing of it.
Válmíki said:--O most intelligent Bharadwája,
and
the chief of my pupils, you have now heard
how the
great Ráma and others, came to the knowledge
of the
knowable One, (that is only to be known), and
passed across
this vale of misery and sorrow, by their
attention to these
lectures.
2. Do you thus fix your sight to the light of
Brahma, and
conduct yourself gladly, by abandoning all
your affections and
cares of this world, and by remaining
dauntless with your living
liberation and tranquility of mind.
3. Know, O thou sinless one, that the learned
and the meek,
that do not mix with the society of worldly
men, but remain
steady as Ráma and others in their right
principles, are never
liable to be deluded although they are beset
by temptations
on all sides.
4. Thus these men of great natures, as the
king Dasaratha
and the prince Ráma and his brothers,
together with companions,
have attended to the state of the living
liberated (even in their
life time).
5. Thou my son Bharadwája! that art naturally
of a liberal
mind, hast now become more liberated at
present, by thy hearing
of these sermons on the salvation of our
souls.
6. It is possible even for boys to obtain their
liberation, by
their attention to those holy lectures, as
the most evident and
surest means to salvation; and cannot
therefore fail to convince
thee of the truth thereof.
7. As the high minded and sinless and
sorrowless sons of
Raghu's race, have attained to their holy
state of perfection
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and self-liberation; so do thou also obtain
that best and highest
state, by your attending to the lectures of
the divine sage
Vasishtha.
8. It is by advice of the good and service
under the great,
as also by means of humble inquiries to and
explications of the
learned;[** semi-colon not needed] that
week[**weak] men of good
understandings, can know the
knowable, as the Rághavas and others did under
Vasishtha.
9. The ties of avarice and affection that
have fast bound the
hearts of the ignorant (to this world); do
all tend to debar
them like playful boys from inquiring into
the means of their
liberation, until they become too old to
benefit by their knowledge.
10. Those that can discern the minds of high
minded men,
can only come to their knowledge of truth;
and such men only
have no more to return to this world of woe;
and this is the
substance of all that I can speak to thee.
(i. e. know and have
the minds of the great, in order to become as
great thyself,
so says Gay in his Fables. (Hast thou
fathomed Tully's mind,
and the vast sense of plato's[**Plato's]
head)[**)].
11. Having first received your instruction
from the preceptor,
you must weigh well and digest its meaning in
yourself;
and then communicate its sense, to the most
sensible and intelligent
student. This is said by sages and saints, as
the trivium
of science; know this and you need no more,
to become wise
when your boyhood is over.
12. Whoso will read this book, not without
understanding
its sense and whoever will manuscript it
without the expectation
of getting its fee; as also anybody who will
recite or cause
it to be recited (to a public audience),
either with or without any
desire of reward, shall have his ample
recompense in the land
of Áryas, (both in his present and future
lives). (So it is with
the public preaching of its doctrine).
13. These men receive the reward, awaiting on
the performance
of the Rájasuya sacrifice, and are entitled
to their
heavenly seats in their pure essence; as
often as they ascend
to it after their demise on earth, and until
they attain their
final liberation, which attains on them as
prosperity does on the
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meritorious, (after the third transmigration
of their expurged
souls).
14. It was at first that the God Brahma of
unknowable
form, had composed this work in his excellent
diction; and
then considering it as the only means to the
liberation of mankind,
had revealed it to the assemblage of saints,
(of which
Vasishtha or Válmíki has made this version).
Let nobody
therefore take the truthfulness of this
saying for an untruth.
15. At the close of the recital of these
lectures, on the
means of human salvation, it becomes every
sensible man[**space added]
of
good sense, to honour the Brahmans with
diligence; and to
serve them with their desireable[**desirable]
gifts of food and drink, and
furnish them with goodly houses for their
lodging.
16. They should also be rewarded with their
honorariums,
and supplied with monies to their
hearts[**hearts'] desire, and to the
utmost capacity of the donor; and then the
giver or master of
the ceremony should rest himself assured, of
having acquitted
his duty to and reaped its merit to the
intent of the sástras.
17. I have thus rehearsed to you the great
sástra, in elucidation
of divine knowledge and its pure truth; with
addition
of a great many tales and stories, serving as
example and
illustrations of the abstruce[**abstruse]
doctrines for your clear
understanding
of them. May your hearing of these, serve to
lead you to
your utter indifference of this world, and to
the desire of your
liberation in it, while you are alive herein.
May this tend
also to your continued prosperity, in order
to engage your attention
towards the perfection of your knowledge and
devotion,
and to the discharge of the duties of your
station without
failing.
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CHAPTER CCXVI.
CONCLUSION OF THE CELESTIAL MESSENGER'S
MESSAGE OF
LIBERATION.
Argument:--Acknowledgment of the obligation
of Arishtanemi and
others, to their preceptors and preachers.
Válmíki continued to say:--I have thus
related to you,
prince, whatever the pot born Vasishtha had
taught
and preached to the princes; and it is
certain that you will
attain the same elevated state, as they did
by the hearing of
these lectures on sacred knowledge.
2. The Prince Arishtanemi replied:--O
Venerable sir, your
kind look is enough to extricate us from
bondage in this world;
and it is hence that I am not only brought to
light, but saved
from the ocean of this world by your favour.
3. The Heavenly Messenger said:--After saying
so, the
said prince seemed to look amazed in his
look; and then he
began to speak these words to me with a
graceful voice.
4. The Prince said:--I bow down to thee, O
Messenger
divine, and wish all safety to attend on
thee; it is said that the
friendship of the good is attended with seven
benefits, all [**[of]] which
hast thou[**thou hast] conferred upon me.
5. Now return in safety to your seat in the
heaven of Indra,
and well know that, I am both gladdened as
well as grown
insouciant of worldly concerns, by hearing
this discourse of
thine.
6. I shall continue to remain here for ever
more, and without
feeling any anxiety, to think well and ponder
deeply into the
sense of all that I have heard from thee. Now
I tell thee, O
Lady! that I was quite surprised (to see so
much civility on the
part of a prince).
7. He said:--I have never heard before, such
words and
fraught with so much knowledge, as I have
come now to hear
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from thee; It has filled my inward spirit
with as much joy,
as if I have drunk my fill of an ambrosial
draught just now.
8. I then repaired to thee, O thou sinless
fairy, at the
bidding of Válmíki; in order to relate unto
thee all that thou
hast asked of me. And now I shall[**space
added] bend my course,
towards the
celestial city of Sakra.
9. The fairy said:--I must thank thee now, O
thou very
fortunate emissary of the Gods! for all that
thou hast related to
me; and my knowledge whereof, has entirely
composed my
spirit, by its benign influence.
10. I am now quite satisfied in myself, and
will ever remain [**[free]]
from sorrow and all the sickening cares of
life; and you may
now [**[go]] to your destination at Indras,
with all speed attending on
your journey thither.
11. So saying Suruchi-[**--]the best of
fairies, continued to keep
her seat on the slope of the Himálayas, and
contiguous to the
Gandhamádana mount of fragrance, and reflect
on the sense of
what she had heard (of divine knowledge).
12. Now as you have fully heard, my son, all
the precepts
of Vasishtha, you are at liberty to do as you
like, by your
weighing well their purport. (For the
effecting of your liberation
which is the main object of man, both in this
life as well
as in the next).
13. Káranya said:--The remembrance of the
past, the sight
of the present, and the talk of future
events, together with the
existence of the world; are all as false as
the sights in our
dreams or of water in mirage, or as the birth
of a boy of a barren
woman.
14. I gain nothing from my deeds, nor lose
aught by what
is left undone; I live to do as it happens,
or at the impulse
of the occasion and without any assiduity on
my part.
15. Agasti said:--Kárunya--The worthy son of
Agnibesya[**Agnivesya],
said in the aforesaid manner, and continued
to pass his time
in the discharge of his duties, as they
occured[**occurred] to him from
time
to time.
16. And you O Sutikshana[**Sutíkshna]! should
never entertain any
doubts regarding the acts, that you shall
have to perform after
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your attainment of divine knowledge, (Lest
they entail their
retribution on you afterwards). Because
dubitation[**ok/SOED] destroys
the virtue of the deed, as selfishness takes
away its merit.
17. Upon hearing this speech of the sage,
which reconciles
the duplicity of action and reflection, into
the unity of their
combination; he bowed to his preceptor and
uttered as follows
with due submission to him.
18. Sutíkshana[**Sutíkshna] said:--Any action
done in ignorance of the
actor, is reckoned as no act of his, unless
it is done in his full
knowledge to be taken into account. (So the
brute activities
of the giddy mob, bear no value or blame in
them before the
wise). But actions done with reason and
reasonable men, are
invaluable in their nature. All our acts are
best seen by the
light of the intellect as the actions of
stage-players are seen
only in the candle light. (So are all our
mental and corporeal
acts, actuated by the essence of the great
soul in us).
19. It is the presence of the supreme soul in
us, that the
action of our hearts, directs the motions of
our bodies; as it
is the malleability of gold, that moulds it
to the many forms
of jewelleries. (Hence we should never reject
the one for the
other).
20. As it is the great body of waters, that
gives rise to the
boisterous waves, as well as the little
playful billows, that heave
and move in our sight; so it is the
inbeing[**in-being] of the great soul,
that fills all the great and small alike.
21. I submit to and bear with all that
befals[**befalls?] to me, because
there is no escape from destiny, nor
slighting of the
sound sayings of sages; and I acknowledge O
Venerable sir, to
owe my knowledge of the knowable One to thy
good grace only.
22. I own[**owe?] myself to be quite
felicitous to thy favour, and
bow down prostrate to thee on the ground, for
thy lifting me
up from the doleful pit of the world; because
there is no other
way to repay my gratitude to my venerable
preceptor.
23. Nay there is no other act, whereby one
may give expression
to his obligation to his tutor, for his
salvation in this world,
save by means of offering himself to his
services; with his
whole body and mind and the words of his
mouth.
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24. It is by thy good grace, O my good sir,
that I have
passed over the Rubican[**Rubicon] of this
world; I am filled with infinite
joy amidst all these worlds, and am set free
from all my doubts.
25. I bow down to that Brahma, who is sung
[**[of]] in the Sáma-veda,
as filling all this universe, as the waters
of the ocean fill
the boundless deep; and whose remembrance
fills our soul
with ecstasy.
26. I bow down also to the sage Vasishtha,
who is of the
form of incarnate knowledge alone, and who is
immerged in the
joyous bliss of divine felicity; who is
beyond all duality and
sees the only One in the unity of infinite
vacuity. Who is ever
alike the pure and immaculate One, and
witnesseth the inmost
of all minds; who is beyond all states and
conditions (of so and
so or of such and such); and who is quite
devoid of the three
qualities (which belong to all bodies) i. e.
There is no known
quality or property that can be predicated to
the Deity. The
qualities of the unknown One, as unknown,
peculiar and unique
as own nature.
27. Here ends the Mahárámáyana of the sage
Vasishtha,
with its continuation by his recorder
Válmíki, and the speech
of the celestial messenger at the latter end
of the Book on
Nirvána or the ultimate Extinction of the
living soul.
[End of Yoga Vasishtha]
An old painting of people
talking in houses
A painting from the Yoga
Vasistha manuscript, 1602
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Yoga Vasistha
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Yoga Vasistha
(Sanskrit: ___-_____ )
(also known as
Vasistha's Yoga) is
a Hindu spiritual text
traditionally attributed
to Valmiki. It recounts a discourse of the
sage
Vasistha to a young Prince Rama, during a
period
when the latter is in a dejected state. The
contents of
Vasistha's teaching to Rama is associated
with
Advaita Vedanta, the illusory nature of the
manifest
world[1] and the principle of non-duality.
The book
has been dated between the 11th and 14th
century
AD)[2] and is generally regarded as one of
the longest
texts in Sanskrit (after the Mahabharata) and an
important text of Yoga. The book consists of
about
32,000 shlokas (lines), including numerous
short
stories and anecdotes used to help illustrate
its
content. In terms of Hindu mythology, the
conversation in the Yoga Vasishta takes place
chronologically before the Ramayana.
Other names of this text are Maha-Ramayana, arsha
Ramayana, Vasi__ha Ramayana,[3] Yogavasistha-
Ramayana and Jnanavasistha.[1]
The Yoga Vasistha is a syncretic
work, containing
elements of Vedanta, Jainism, Yoga, Samkhya,
Saiva
Siddhanta and Mahayana Buddhism.[4] The
oldest
available manuscript (the Moksopaya or Moksopaya
Shastra) is a philosophical text on salvation (moksaupaya:
"means to release"), written on the
Pradyumna hill in Srinagar in the 10th century AD.[5]
[6][7][8] This text was [2] expanded and
Vedanticized
from the 11th to the 14th century AD –
resulting in
the present text, which was influenced by the
Saivite
Trika school.[9] This version contains about
32,000
verses; an abridged version by Abhinanda of
Kashmir
(son of Jayanta Bhatta) is known as the Laghu
("Little") Yogavasistha and contains 6,000 verses.[10]
Recent research has shown that in this
version frame
stories have been introduced, emphasis on
Rama
Bhakti has been added, the meaning of certain
passages is reversed, all Buddhist
terminology is
deleted and the "public sermon"
mode has been
changed to Vasistha's instructions to
Rama.[8]
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Since 1999, the Moksopaya Project (supervised
by
professor Walter Slaje at the Martin Luther
University
of Halle-Wittenberg in Germany) has
been working on
a critical edition of the Moksopaya.[2][11]
Context
Prince Rama returns from touring the country,
and
becomes utterly disillusioned after
experiencing the
apparent reality of the world. This worries his father,
King Dasaratha, who expresses his concern to
Sage
Vasistha upon Rama's arrival. Sage Vasistha
consoles
the king by telling him that Rama's
dis-passion
(vairagya) is a sign
that the prince is now ready for
spiritual enlightenment. He says that Rama
has begun
understanding profound spiritual truths,
which is the
cause of his confusion; he needs
confirmation. Sage
Vasistha asks the king to summon Rama. Then,
in
King Dasaratha's court, the sage begins his
discourse
to Rama (which lasts several days). The
answer to
Rama's questions forms the entire scripture
that is
Yoga Vasistha.
Content
The traditional belief is that reading this
book leads to
spiritual liberation. The conversation
between
Vasistha and Prince Rama is that between a
great,
enlightened sage and a seeker who is about to
reach
wholeness. This is said to be among those
rare
conversations which directly leads to Truth.
The scripture provides understanding,
scientific ideas
and philosophy; it explains consciousness,
the
creation of the world, the multiple universes
in this
world, our perception of the world, its
ultimate
dissolution, the liberation of the soul and
the non-dual
approach to creation.
An oft-repeated verse in the text is that
relating to
Kakathaliya, ("coincidence"). The story is that a crow
alights on a palm tree, and that very moment
the ripe
palm fruit falls on the ground. The two
events are
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apparently related, yet the crow never
intended the
palm fruit to fall; nor did the palm fruit
fall because
the crow sat on the tree. The intellect
mistakes the
two events as causally related, though in
reality they
are not.
Structure
Yoga Vasistha is divided into six parts: dis-passion,
qualifications of the seeker, creation,
existence,
dissolution and liberation. It sums up the
spiritual
process in the seven Bhoomikas:
Subheccha (longing for the Truth): The yogi (or
sadhaka) rightly distinguishes between
permanent and impermanent; cultivates dislike
for worldly pleasures; acquires mastery over
his
physical and mental organism; and feels a
deep
yearning to be free from Sa_sara.
1.
Vicara_a (right inquiry): The yogi has pondered
over what he or she has read and heard, and
has
realized it in his or her life.
2.
Tanumanasa (attenuation – or thinning out – of
mental activities): The mind abandons the
many,
and remains fixed on the One.
3.
Sattvapatti (attainment of sattva, "reality"): The
Yogi, at this stage, is called Brahmavid ("knower
of Brahman"). In the previous four
stages, the
yogi is subject to sañcita, Prarabdha and Agami
forms of karma. He or she has been practicing
Samprajñata Samadhi (contemplation), in which
the consciousness of duality still exists.
4.
Asa_sakti (unaffected by anything): The yogi
(now called Brahmavidvara) performs his or her
necessary duties, without a sense of
involvement.
5.
Pararthabhavani (sees Brahman everywhere):
External things do not appear to exist to the
yogi
(now called Brahmavidvariyas), and tasks are
performed only at the prompting of others.
Sañcita and Agami karma are now destroyed;
only a small amount of Prarabdha karma
remains.
6.
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Turiya (perpetual samadhi): The yogi is known as
Brahmavidvari__ha and does not perform
activities, either by his will or the
promptings of
others. The body drops off approximately
three
days after entering this stage.
7.
Influence
Yoga Vasistha is considered one of the most
important scriptures of the Vedantic
philosophy.[12]
Commentaries
The following traditional Sanskrit
commentaries on
the Yoga Vasistha are extent
Vasi__ha-ramaya_a-candrika by Advayara_ya
(son of Narahari)
Tatparya prakasa by ananda Bodhendra
Sarasvati
Bha_ya by Ga_gadharendra
Pada candrika by Madhava Sarasvati
Translations
Originally written in Sanskrit, the Yoga Vasistha has
been translated into most Indian languages,
and the
stories are told to children in various
forms.[10]
During the Moghul Dynasty the text was
translated
into Persian several times, as ordered by
Akbar,
Jahangir and Darah Shikuh.[1] One of these
translations was undertaken by Nizam al-Din
Panipati
in the late sixteenth century AD. The
translation,
known as the Jug-Basisht, has since became popular
in Persia among intellectuals
interested in
Indo-Persian culture.[13][14]
Yoga Vasistha was translated into English by Swami
Jyotirmayananda, Swami Venkatesananda, Vidvan
Bulusu Venkateswaraulu and Vihari Lal Mitra.
K.
Naryanaswami Aiyer translated the well-known
abridged version, Laghu-Yoga-Vasistha. In 2009,
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Swami Tejomayananda's Yoga Vasistha Sara Sangrah
was published by the Central Chinmaya Mission
Trust.
In this version the Laghu-Yoga-Vasistha has been
condensed to 86 verses, arranged into seven
chapters.
Om Tat Sat
(End of The
Yoga Vasishtha
Maharamayana
of Valmiki)
( My
humble salutations to Brahmasri Sreemaan Vihari Lala Mitra ji for the
collection)
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