Chapter 3.109, Verses 1~19

Yoga Vashishtha 3.109.1~19

(The depth of human suffering under extreme misfortune)

राजोवाच।

तस्मिंस्तदा वर्तमाने कष्टे विधिविपर्यये।

अकालोल्वणकल्पान्ते नितान्तं तापदायिनि ॥ १॥

जनाः केचन निष्क्रम्य सकलत्रसुहृज्जनाः।

गता देशान्तरं व्योम्नः शरदीव पयोधराः ॥ २॥

देहावयवसंलीनपुत्रदाराग्र्यबन्धवः।

शीर्णाः केचन तत्रैव च्छिन्ना इव वने द्रुमाः ॥ ३॥

भक्ताः केचन च व्याघ्रैर्निर्गतास्तु स्वमन्दिरात्।

अजातपक्षकाः श्येनैः खगा नीडोद्गता इव ॥ ४॥

प्रविष्टाः केचिदनलं ज्वलितं शलभा इव।

केचिच्श्वभ्रेषु पतिताः शिला शैलच्युता इव ॥ ५॥

(3.109.6–14)

अथ वात्सल्यमूढेन मया दुःखातिभारिणा।

तस्योक्तं पुत्र मन्मांसं पक्वं संभुज्यतामिति ॥ १५॥

तदप्यङ्गीकृतं तेन देहीति वदता पुनः।

मन्मांसभक्षणं क्षीणवृत्तिनाऽऽश्लेषवृत्तिना ॥ १६॥

सर्वदुःखापनोदाय स्नेहकारुण्यमोहिना।

तस्य तामार्तिमालोक्य मया दुःखातिभारिणा ॥ १७॥

सोढुं तामापदं तीव्रामशक्तेन हतात्मना।

मरणायातिमित्राय कृतोऽन्तर्निश्चयो मया ॥ १८॥

तत्र काष्ठानि संचित्य चितां रचितवानहम्।

चिता चटचटास्फोटैः स्थिता मदभिकाङ्क्षिणी ॥ १९॥

The King continued: 

3.109.1–5

> At that time, while that severe misfortune of reversed destiny was going on—like an untimely and fierce end of the World, causing extreme suffering—

> Some people, taking their wives and friends, left and went to other lands, just as clouds disappear from the sky in autumn.

> Some stayed right there, with their sons, wives and close relatives clinging to their bodies, withering away like trees cut down in the forest.

> Some who went out of their homes were eaten by tigers, like young birds without feathers taken by hawks as they leave the nest.

> Some entered the blazing fire like moths. Some fell into pits like rocks broken from a mountain.

3.109.6–14

> The King escaped from that ruined land with his wife and children after parting from his in-laws; they crossed dangers of pits, storms, wild animals and snakes and reached the edge of the forest. There, under the shade of palm trees, he set down his children, rested from the long hardship as if free from hell, and his wife and two sons slept. Then the younger son woke, stood before him weeping and begged again and again for meat and drink, saying he was dying of hunger. The father had nothing to give, yet the boy kept pleading in his extreme need.

3.109.15–19

> Then, overcome by fatherly love and crushed by heavy sorrow, I told him, “Son, cook and eat my own flesh.”

> He accepted even that, saying “Give it,” for his means of living were gone and he clung only to the hope of food.

> To remove all suffering, and moved by affection and pity at seeing his pain, I, already burdened with sorrow,

> Unable to bear that sharp distress and with my spirit broken, made an inner resolve to die, regarding death as my closest friend.

> There I gathered sticks and built a funeral pyre. The pyre stood ready with its crackling flames, waiting for me.

Summary of the teachings:

These verses show the depth of human suffering under extreme misfortune. When destiny turns against people, some flee to new lands while others remain and perish, some are killed by wild beasts, and some choose fire or fall to their deaths. The scenes of drought, famine and death reveal how fragile ordinary life is when outer supports fail.

The king’s personal story continues with his narrow escape and the final crisis of a starving child. Parental love drives him to offer his own flesh, showing how deep attachment can push a person beyond all normal limits. This extreme act arises from compassion mixed with helplessness.

Unable to watch his son’s pain any longer, the King decides on suicide. He builds a pyre, ready to end his life. The decision marks the complete collapse of hope under unbearable sorrow.

The whole narrative illustrates the power of the mind. What the King experiences as years of tribal life, famine and despair is later revealed as a short magical illusion. The mind can create an entire lifetime of joy and suffering in a brief span.

The deeper teaching is that the World of experience is shaped by thought and imagination. Seeing this clearly helps one understand the illusory nature of both pleasure and pain and points toward freedom from the restless creations of the mind.

Chapter 3.108, Verses 1~30

Yoga Vashishtha 3.108.1~30

(The King’s experience of old age and the passage of time)

राजोवाच।

अथ गच्छति कालेऽत्र जराजर्जरितायुषि।

तुषारपूर्णशष्पौघसमश्मश्रुभृते मयि ॥ १॥

कर्मवातापनुन्नेषु सरसेष्वरसेष्वपि।

पतत्सु वासरौघेषु शीर्णपर्णगणेष्विव ॥ २॥

आजाविव शरौघेषु सुखदुःखेष्वनारतम्।

कलहेष्वप्यकार्येषु चागच्छत्सु पतत्सु च ॥ ३॥

विकल्पकल्पनावर्तवर्तिनि द्विजगे जडे।

समुद्र इव कल्लोलभरे भ्रमितचेतसि ॥ ४॥

चलच्चिन्ताचितं चक्रमारूढे भ्रान्त आत्मनि।

प्रोह्यमाने तृण इव सावर्तं कालसागरे ॥ ५॥

(३.१०८.६–२५)

नीलपत्रलताशङ्कापीत धूमघनच्छवि।

भ्रमद्गृध्रनिगीर्णोग्रनभोभ्रान्तोल्मुकामिषम् ॥ २६॥

इतरेतरभिन्नाङ्गलोक विद्रवणाकुलम्।

ज्वलिताग्निटणत्कारविदीर्णहृदयोदरम् ॥ २७॥

गर्तमारुतक्राङ्कारभीमदावाग्निवल्गनम्।

भीताजगरफूत्कारपतदङ्गारपादपम् ॥ २८॥

सदकाण्डस्फुटद्देशं प्राप्य तच्छुष्ककोटरम्।

द्वादशार्काग्निदग्धस्य जगतोऽनुकृतिं ययौ ॥ २९॥

ज्वलदनलजटालवृक्षखण्ड प्रसरमरुत्प्रसरावनुन्नलोकः।

ज्वलनतपनभास्करात्मजानां रमणगृहानुकृतिं जगाम देशः ॥ ३०॥

The King said: 

3.108.1–5

> Then as time passed here, with my life worn out by old age, and with me having a beard like a mass of grass covered with frost.

> As the multitudes of days, driven by the wind of karma, passed by—whether full of juice or without essence—falling like groups of withered leaves.

> Constantly in joys and sorrows, like a ram in showers of arrows, and also in quarrels and improper deeds that came and fell.

> In the dull mind of the twice-born, revolving in the whirlpool of doubts and imaginations, with Consciousness bewildered like an Ocean full of waves.

> With the deluded self mounted on the wheel filled with restless thoughts, being swept away like a blade of grass with its whirlpool in the ocean of time.

3.108.6–25

> In the omitted verses the King continues that over the years he wasted away like a forest worm or a two-legged beast whose only concern was finding food; he completely forgot his former kingship and came to regard himself as a fixed outcast of the Vindhya hills. The land then suffered a sudden and total drought: no rain fell, hot winds carried sparks of fire, every tree and blade of grass withered, and fierce wildfires swept through the empty forests, reducing everything to ash. Starving people and animals wandered in desperation, some tearing at bark or stones, others attacking one another; the air filled with smoke, the cries of the dying, and the crackle of burning wood, until the whole region became a picture of utter desolation and suffering.

3.108.26–30

> It was a place with dense yellow smoke looking like blue-leafed creepers, and where fierce whirling vultures swallowed firebrands as if they were pieces of meat spinning in the sky.

> Agitated by people whose limbs were torn from one another and who fled in panic, with hearts and bellies split by the crackling of blazing fire.

> With the roaring of winds in pits, the leaping of terrible forest fires, the hissing of frightened snakes, and trees falling as burning embers.

> Reaching that dry hollow where the land suddenly cracked open, it became a likeness of the world burned by the fire of the twelve suns.

> The region, from which people were driven by the spreading winds from blazing tangled pieces of trees, became like a pleasure-house for the children of blazing fire, the scorching sun, and the shining sun.

Summary of the teachings:

These verses describe the king’s experience of old age and the passage of time. Life is shown as fragile and quickly fading. The body grows weak, the days slip away under the force of past actions, and the mind is tossed about by changing joys, sorrows, and conflicts. Everything feels temporary and driven by forces beyond personal control.

The mind itself is pictured as restless and confused. It spins in endless doubts and imaginations like waves in a stormy sea or a blade of grass caught in a whirlpool. This restless thinking keeps a person trapped in the flow of time and unable to find lasting peace.

Later verses paint a vivid picture of a land ruined by drought and wildfire. Smoke, burning trees, fleeing people, and animals in panic create a scene of total destruction. The land becomes dry, cracked, and lifeless, resembling a world scorched by many suns.

This outer devastation mirrors the inner suffering caused by attachment and ignorance. Just as the forest is reduced to ash, human life filled with desire and fear ends in emptiness and pain. The images of fire and chaos serve as a reminder of how fragile and painful the world of appearances can be.

Overall the passage teaches that worldly life is marked by change, suffering, and delusion. By clearly seeing this nature of existence—through the examples of aging, restless thoughts, and natural disaster—one is encouraged to seek a deeper understanding beyond the temporary and the painful.

Chapter 3.107, Verses 25~48

Yoga Vashishtha 3.107.25~48

(These verses deepen the picture of the King’s total immersion in a savage, forest existence)

राजोवाच।

रौरवापतितेनेव तत्कालस्निग्धतां गतः।

विन्ध्यकन्दरगुल्मानां बन्धुत्वमिव गच्छता ॥ २५॥

पुलिन्दवपुषा यत्र युक्तयोगैः समर्पिताः।

तर्पिता लगुडाघातजितकौलेयरंहसा ॥ २६॥

पुत्रदाराः कदन्नेन ग्रामकान्धोचितेन च।

धारासाररणत्पत्रशुष्कतालतले निशाः ॥ २७॥

नीता रणितदन्तेन सार्धं विपिनवानरैः।

रोमभिः कोटिमुद्रोद्यैः शीतेनाध्युषितस्य मे ॥ २८॥

वर्षासु मुक्ताकणवद्धृता वानलविन्दवः।

अजाजीमूतखण्डार्थं क्षुत्क्षुण्णक्षीणकुक्षिणा ॥ २९॥

कलत्रेण सहाटव्यां कृतः कलह आकुलः।

वने रणितदन्तेन शीतकेकरचक्षुषा ॥ ३०॥

(३.१०७.३१–४४)

ग्रीष्मे सोढा चलद्भूता वराहेण यथोर्वरा।

बहुशोऽहं वनोत्थाग्निनिर्दग्धप्राणिमण्डलः ॥ ४५॥

कल्पाग्निभुक्तजगतः कालस्यानुगतिं गतः ।

लोभिलिङ्गो यथा रोगमनर्थानिव दुर्ग्रहः।

प्रसूतास्तत्र मे दारा दुःखान्यथ सुखान्यपि ॥ ४६॥

नृपालपुत्रकेनैकतनयेन तदा मया।

नीता नीरन्ध्रदोषेण षष्टिः कल्पसमाः समाः ॥ ४७॥

आक्रुष्टमुद्धुरतरं रुदितं विपत्सु भुक्तं कदन्नमुषितं हतपक्कणेषु।

कालान्तरं बहु मयोपहतेन तत्र दुर्वासनानिगडबन्धगतेन सभ्याः ॥ ४८॥

The King continued: 

3.107.25–30

> As if fallen into the Raurava hell, I then became sticky and unclean, growing almost into a relative of the thickets in the Vindhya caves.

> There, with the body of a forest tribesman, offerings were made according to tribal rites, and hunger was satisfied by the force of club-blows that overcame the speed of dogs.

> Sons and wife lived on coarse food fit only for blind village folk; nights were spent under dry palm trees whose leaves rattled in the pouring rain.

> Those nights passed with chattering teeth in the company of forest monkeys, while cold made the hairs of my body stand on end in countless pores.

> In the rainy season, water-drops were held like pearls; for the sake of a mere scrap of food I, whose belly was crushed and thin with hunger, wandered on.

> In the forest I quarrelled in confusion with my wife, teeth chattering and eyes rolling from the cold.

3.107.31–44

> In these intervening verses the King continues to describe the endless hardships of his tribal life: further struggles for food, exposure to every kind of weather, deepening family discord, the gradual loss of all remaining softness of heart, and the complete acceptance of a brutal, animal-like existence in the wilds.

3.107.45–48

> In the summer I endured the trembling Earth as a boar endures the fertile field; many times the circle of living beings around me was burnt by forest fires.

> I followed the path of Time that has already consumed the World in the fire of Cosmic dissolution. Like a greedy mark or an evil planet that brings misfortunes as diseases, my wives there gave birth both to sorrows and to fleeting pleasures.

> I, who was once the single son of a King’s son, spent sixty years that felt equal to Cosmic ages, filled with unbroken faults.

> I cried out loudly, wept in calamities, ate coarse food, and slept in ruined outcaste settlements. For a long time, O noble ones, I remained there, ruined and bound in the iron chains of evil tendencies.

Detailed Summary of the Teachings:

These verses deepen the picture of the king’s total immersion in a savage, forest existence. Living like a relative of the Vindhya thickets, eating what is obtained by club and force, and spending nights under rattling palm leaves, he shows how completely the royal identity has been erased. The teaching is that once the mind accepts degradation, even the most brutal surroundings become the only reality it knows.

Family life continues, yet it brings no comfort. Coarse food, constant cold, chattering teeth, and confused quarrels with the wife turn every day into a struggle. The verses illustrate that attachment to wife and children, when rooted in delusion, multiplies suffering instead of relieving it. What should have been sources of support become additional sources of friction and pain.

Exposure to every season—rain, cold, and the scorching summer that sets the forest ablaze—reveals the body’s complete subjection to nature’s harshness. The King endures the trembling Earth like a boar and watches living beings perish in fire. This shows how the loss of discrimination leaves a person defenceless against both outer elements and inner impulses.

The comparison of his life to the path of Time that has already burned the world, and of his own nature to an evil planet bringing disease, teaches that prolonged evil tendencies act like a chronic illness. Even the birth of children is described as the birth of both sorrow and fleeting pleasure, underscoring that nothing arising from a deluded state can bring lasting good.

Finally, the King confesses that sixty years felt like Cosmic ages spent in unbroken fault, bound by the iron chains of wrong tendencies. The passage as a whole warns that a single fall, if not arrested, hardens into a complete way of life. Only the recovery of true discrimination can break those chains; otherwise the soul remains imprisoned in the very existence it has created for itself.

Chapter 3.107, Verses 1~24

Yoga Vashishtha 3.107.1–12

(Continuing the King’s account of his complete descent into the life of an outcaste)

राजोवाच।

बहुनात्र किमुक्तेन सोत्सवावर्जिताशयः।

तदाप्रभृति तत्राहं संपन्नः पुष्टपुल्कसः ॥ १॥

सप्तरात्रोत्सवस्यान्ते क्रमान्मासाष्टके गते।

पुष्पिता सास्य संपन्ना स्थिता गर्भवती ततः ॥ २॥

प्रसूता दुःखदां कन्यां विपद्दुःखक्रियामिव।

सा कन्या ववृधे शीघ्रं मूर्खचिन्तेव पीवरी ॥ ३॥

पुनः प्रसूता सा वर्षैस्त्रिभिः पुत्रमशोभनम्।

अनर्थमिव दुर्बुद्धिराशापाशविधायकम् ॥ ४॥

(३.१०७.५–२०)

अस्पृष्टेन जनैर्भुक्तं कुकलत्रवता मया।

गृहीततेजःक्षतये बहुवक्रविकारिणा ॥ २१॥

मार्गाविकमिवात्मीयं विक्रीतं पण्यमन्यतः।

प्राण्यङ्गवपुषस्तस्य प्रोत्कृत्त्योत्कृत्त्य पेशलः ॥ २२॥

आयसंपरि विक्रीता विन्ध्यपक्कणभूमिषु।

जन्मान्तरसहस्रोत्थं स्वपापमिव वृद्धये ॥ २३॥

अविकीर्णमसत्कीर्णं चण्डालारामभूमिषु।

दृष्टः कुद्दालको दृष्ट्या संध्यास्नेहविमुक्तया ॥ २४॥

The King said: 

3.107.1–4

> What more need be said here? From that time onward, my mind drawn by the festivities, I became a well-nourished Pulkasa (outcaste) there.

> At the end of the seven-night festival, after eight months had passed in due course, she became pregnant and remained with a swollen belly.

> She gave birth to a daughter who brings sorrow, like the very deeds that cause calamity and pain. That girl grew quickly, like the fattening thought of a fool.

> Again, after three years, she gave birth to an ugly son, like a misfortune produced by a dull mind that creates the noose of hope.

3.107.5–20

> In these intervening verses the King continues to describe his prolonged life among the outcastes: the daily hardships, the further birth of children, the gradual hardening of his mind to that degraded existence, the loss of his former royal dignity, the acceptance of menial work and impure food, and the deepening of delusion that made the lowly life seem normal to him.

3.107.21–24

> Food untouched by others was eaten by me, who now possessed a lowly wife—food that damaged my former radiance, eaten by one whose face had become distorted in many ways.

> Like goods sold on the roadside, what was my own was sold elsewhere; the soft flesh of that living body was cut off piece by piece.

> Iron tools were sold in the Vindhya outcaste settlements, like my own sins accumulated over thousands of past births, sold only to increase them further.

> Scattered and mixed with the impure, in the garden grounds of the Chandalas, Kuddalaka was seen with a gaze free from the affection of twilight (or evening attachment).

Detailed Summary of the Teachings:

These verses continue the king’s account of his complete descent into the life of an outcaste. After the initial marriage and festivities, he reports that he fully became one of them—well-fed yet degraded. The teaching here is that once a person crosses the boundary of social and moral order under the sway of desire or circumstance, the mind quickly adapts and begins to identify with the new, lower condition. What was once unthinkable becomes ordinary.

The birth of children—first a daughter described as a source of sorrow, then an ugly son compared to a misfortune—illustrates how actions performed in delusion produce further bonds. Offspring that arise from an impure union are portrayed not as blessings but as extensions of suffering and attachment. The rapid growth of the daughter is likened to the swelling of foolish thoughts, showing how ignorance multiplies itself when left unchecked.

The omitted middle section, together with the later verses, deepens the picture of progressive degradation. The King eats food that others avoid, loses his former bodily radiance, and engages in the buying and selling of iron tools and even the cutting of flesh. These acts symbolize the piecemeal destruction of his Higher Nature. The text teaches that repeated association with impurity does not remain external; it enters the body, the mind, and the sense of self, steadily eroding discrimination.

A further lesson concerns the accumulation of karma. The sale of iron implements in the outcaste settlements is compared to the increase of sins carried from thousands of previous births. Every action performed in this degraded state is shown to strengthen the very chains that bind the soul. The verses warn that once one has entered a path of impurity, even ordinary livelihood activities become means of further entanglement rather than neutral work.

Finally, the closing image of Kuddalaka seen with a gaze free from soft evening attachment suggests a moment of stark clarity amid the surrounding impurity. The overall teaching of the passage is that delusion, once accepted, leads step by step from a single transgression to a complete transformation of identity, family, livelihood, and inner vision. Only the recovery of true discrimination can reverse this descent; otherwise the soul continues to multiply its own suffering through the very life it has chosen.

Chapter 3.106, Verses 52~72

Yoga Vashishtha 3.106.52~72

(Under the pressure of extreme circumstances, all considerations of family tradition and social duty are abandoned)

राजोवाच।

अथोक्ता सा मया भर्ता भवामि तव सुव्रते।

केनापदि विचार्यन्ते वर्णधर्मकुलक्रमाः ॥ ५२॥

ततस्तयौदनादर्धं मह्यमेकं समर्पितम्।

माधव्येवामृतादर्धमिन्द्रायार्तिमहत्पुरा ॥ ५३॥

जम्बूफलरसः पीतः स भुक्तः पक्कणौदनः।

विश्रान्तं च मया तत्र मोहापहृतचेतसा ॥ ५४॥

मां तत्रार्कमिवापूर्य सा प्रावृट् श्यामला गता।

हस्तेन समुपादाय प्राणं बहिरिव स्थितम् ॥ ५५॥

दुराकृतिं दुरारम्भमाससाद भयप्रदम्।

पितरं पीवराकारमवीचिमिव यातना ॥ ५६॥

तया मदनुषङ्गिण्या स्वार्थस्तस्मै निवेदितः।

मातङ्गाय भ्रमर्येव निःस्वनेनालिलग्नया ॥ ५७॥

(३.१०६.५८–६७)

अथ विश्रम्य चण्डालभोजनान्यजिनासने।

संचितान्युपभुक्तानि दुष्कृतानीव भूरिशः ॥ ६८॥

अनन्तदुःखबीजानि न मनोज्ञतराण्यपि।

तानि प्रणयवाक्यानि श्रुतान्यसुभगान्यलम् ॥ ६९॥

निरभ्राम्बरनक्षत्रे कस्मिंश्चिद्दिवसे ततः।

तैस्तैरारम्भसंरम्भैस्तैर्वस्त्रविभवार्पणैः ॥ ७०॥

दत्ताप्यनेन सा मह्यं कुमारी भयदायिनी।

सुकृष्णा कृष्णवर्णेन दुष्कृतेनेव यातना ॥ ७१॥

सरभसमभितो विनेदुरत्र प्रसृतमहामदिरासवाः श्वपाकाः।

हतपटुपटहा विलासवन्तः स्वयमिव दुष्कृतराशयो महान्तः ॥ ७२॥

The King said: 

3.106.52–57

> Then I told her, “O virtuous one, I shall become your husband. In times of crisis, who bothers about caste rules, family customs or social order?”

> Then she offered me half of her cooked rice, just as Madhavi once offered half of the nectar to Indra when he was in great distress.

> I drank the juice of the jambu fruit and ate the rice of the outcaste settlement. There I rested, my mind overcome by delusion.

> Like a dark monsoon cloud that fills the sky around the sun, she took hold of me as if seizing my very life-breath that stood outside, and then left.

> She went to her father—a frightful, ill-formed man of massive body who looked like the torments of the lowest hell—and approached that terrifying figure of evil deeds.

> Accompanied by me, she announced her personal wish to that Chandala, just as a female bee clinging with a soft hum announces itself to an elephant.

3.106.58–67

> In these intervening verses the narrative continues with the king’s further experiences in the Chandala settlement: the father’s response, the arrangements made for the union, the living conditions among the outcastes, the food and daily life, the gradual acceptance of that degraded existence, and the growing sense of degradation and delusion that settled upon the king’s mind as he remained there.

3.106.68–72

> After resting, I partook of the Chandala meals served on animal-skin seats—meals that had been collected in abundance, like heaps of sinful deeds.

> Those words of affection I heard were seeds of endless sorrow; they were not at all pleasing, and they were thoroughly unpleasant.

> Then, on a certain day when the sky was clear and the stars were visible, amid all those excited preparations and the offerings of clothes and wealth,

> That girl, who inspired fear, was given to me by him. She was very dark, black in complexion, like the torment that follows an evil deed.

> All around, the dog-eaters shouted loudly in great excitement, reeking of strong liquor; with beaten drums and joyful display they seemed like great heaps of sin themselves.

Detailed Summary of the Teachings:

These verses form part of a larger story in which a king recounts how, under the pressure of extreme circumstances, he abandoned all consideration of caste, family tradition and social duty. The teaching begins by showing that when survival or intense desire is at stake, the ordinary rules of varna and kula are quickly set aside. The king’s ready agreement to marry an outcaste woman illustrates how fragile social conventions become once personal need overrides them.

The episode next describes the king’s complete immersion in a life he would normally regard as impure and degrading. He accepts food from a Chandala household, rests in that environment, and allows his mind to be overtaken by delusion. The text thereby demonstrates how quickly the discriminating intellect can be clouded when one repeatedly associates with what is considered low or impure. The senses and the mind gradually accept what was once repulsive.

A further teaching concerns the power of attachment and the company one keeps. The woman, described as dark and fearful, draws the king deeper into that world; her words of affection become seeds of endless sorrow. The verses warn that even pleasant-sounding expressions of love, when rooted in a base or deluded context, plant the causes of future suffering. Attachment born of ignorance does not liberate; it binds more tightly.

The narrative then moves to the formalization of the union amid the noisy celebrations of the Chandala community. The atmosphere of liquor, drums and wild excitement is presented as the outer reflection of inner disorder. The king’s participation in this scene underscores that once one has crossed certain moral and social boundaries, the surrounding environment itself reinforces and multiplies the original error. Sinful associations tend to grow into larger heaps of misconduct.

Finally, the entire passage serves as a cautionary illustration within the larger philosophical framework of Yoga Vasistha. It shows how a single decision made under delusion can lead a person of high status into progressive degradation, how the mind loses its clarity step by step, and how the consequences of such choices appear as both inner torment and outer chaos. The teaching is that true discrimination must be maintained even in crisis; otherwise the soul sinks into conditions that multiply sorrow rather than remove it.

Chapter 3.106, Verses 25~51

Yoga Vashishtha 3.106.25~51

(King Lavana’s account of the long dream-illusion created by a magician)

राजोवाच।

शनैः श्यामिकया ग्रस्ते समस्ते भुवनोदरे।

रात्रिसंव्यवहारेषु संप्रवृत्तेषु जङ्गले ॥ २५॥

अहं तरुतृणे तस्मिन्पेलवे खण्डकोटरे।

निलीनश्चिरलीनास्यः स्वनीडे विहगो यथा ॥ २६॥

विषदष्टविवेकस्य कीनाशस्य गलत्स्मृतेः।

विक्रीतस्येव दीनस्य मग्नस्येवान्धकूपके ॥ २७॥

तत्र कल्पसमा रात्रिर्मोहमग्नस्य मे गता।

एकार्णवोह्यमानस्य मार्कण्डेयमुनेरिव ॥ २८॥

न स्नातवान्नार्चितवान्न तदा भुक्तवानहम्।

केवलं मे गता रात्रिः सापदां धुरि तिष्ठतः ॥ २९॥

विनिद्रस्य विधैर्यस्य स्फुरतः सह पल्लवैः।

समं दुष्टातिदैर्घ्येण सा व्यतीयाय शर्वरी ॥ ३०॥

(३.१०६.३१–४५)

तयोक्तं हारकेयूरिंश्चण्डालीं विद्धि मामिति।

राक्षसीमिव सुक्रूरा पुरुषाश्वगजाशनाम् ॥ ४६॥

राजन्यार्चनमात्रेण मत्तो नाप्नोषि भोजनम्।

ग्राम्यादनभिजातेहात्सौजन्यमिव सुन्दरम् ॥ ४७॥

इत्युक्तवत्या गच्छन्त्या खेलया च पदेपदे।

कुञ्जकेषु निमज्जन्त्या लीलावनतयोदितम् ॥ ४८॥

ददामि भोजनमिदं भर्ता भवसि चेन्मम।

लोको नोपकरोत्यर्थैः सामान्यः स्निग्धतां विना ॥ ४९॥

वाहयत्यत्र मे दान्तान्केदारे पुल्कसः पिता।

श्मशान इव वेतालः क्षुधितो धूलिधूसरः ॥ ५०॥

तस्येदमन्नं भवति भर्तृत्वे दीयते स्थिते।

प्राणैरपि हि संपूज्या वल्लभाः पुरुषा यतः ॥ ५१॥

The King said: 

3.106.25–30

> Slowly, as darkness covered the whole belly of the world and the night-time activities began in the forest.

> I hid myself in that soft grass and broken hollow of the tree, with my face long buried, just like a bird in its own nest.

> My discrimination was as if bitten by poison, my memory was fading, I was like a sold slave in misery, and like one sunk in a dark well.

> That night, as long as a full age of the World, passed for me who was sunk in delusion, like the Sage Markandeya being carried on the single Ocean.

> I did not bathe, did not worship, and did not eat then. That night simply passed for me who stood at the head of all troubles.

> Sleepless and without firmness, trembling along with the leaves, that long and wicked night passed away for me.

3.106.31–45

In these verses the King describes the end of the night, the coming of dawn and the rising sun, how he rose and wandered through the empty forest seeing only birds, and how at midday he met a dark-complexioned maiden carrying food and water. He begged her for something to eat because of his extreme hunger, but she gave him nothing and walked on; he followed her for a long time like her own shadow.

3.106.46–51

> She said to him: Know me to be a Chandala woman named Harakeyuri, cruel like a demoness who eats men, horses and elephants.

> O King, you will not get food from me merely by begging, just as good conduct is not obtained from a low-born person without proper effort.

> Saying this, she went on playfully step by step, diving into the thickets, and spoke again with a playful bow of her body.

> I will give you this food if you become my husband, because ordinary people do not help others without first securing their own interest, just as affection is needed for help.

> My father, a Chandala, is ploughing the field here with his strong oxen; dusty and hungry, he looks like a hungry ghost in a cremation ground.

> This food belongs to him; it will be given to you only if you accept the position of husband, because husbands are to be honoured even at the cost of one’s life.

Detailed Summary of the Teachings:

These verses form part of King Lavana’s account of the long dream-illusion created by a magician. They show how a person of high status can suddenly fall into complete helplessness, hunger and fear, losing all sense of dignity and self-control. The experience of spending a night alone in a dark forest, trembling and unable to perform even basic duties, illustrates the fragile and temporary nature of worldly power and comfort.

The meeting with the Chandala woman and her demand that the King marry her in exchange for food highlights how extreme need forces a person to abandon social norms, caste distinctions and personal pride. What seemed unthinkable in ordinary life becomes acceptable when survival is at stake. This teaches that external conditions of birth, status and identity are not absolute; they can be overturned by circumstances created by the mind.

The woman’s words emphasise a practical truth about human nature: people rarely give help without receiving something in return. Ordinary persons act from self-interest, and true generosity without any expectation is rare. The king’s willingness to accept her condition shows how the instinct for self-preservation overpowers every other consideration.

Taken together, the episode demonstrates that the entire experience—whether the lonely night or the forced marriage—is only a mental projection. Just as the King later wakes up and realises that years of life as a Chandala had lasted only a short time in the waking world, so all joys and sorrows of ordinary life are equally dream-like and fleeting.

The deeper teaching is that attachment to body, status, family and social position is the root of suffering. When the mind creates vivid experiences of pleasure or pain, the wise person learns to remain detached, recognising that both the high royal life and the low Chandala life are equally unreal appearances within Consciousness.

Chapter 3.106, Verses 12–24

Yoga Vashishtha 3.106.12–24

(A hard outer journey that mirrors an inner one)

राजोवाच।

ज्ञस्येव विततं चेतो मूर्खस्येव रुषाऽजवम्।

अदृष्टजनसंसर्गमजाततृणपल्लवम् ॥ १२॥

अरण्यमिदमासाद्य मतिर्मे खेदमागता।

ललनेवैत्य दारिद्र्यं निरन्नफलबान्धवम् ॥ १३॥

कचन्मरुमरीच्यम्बुपुरःप्लुतककुम्मुखम्।

आसूर्यास्तं दिनं तत्र प्रक्रान्तं सीदता मया ॥ १४॥

तदरण्यं मयातीतमतिकृच्छ्रेण खेदिना।

विवेकिनेव संसारो मध्यशून्यतताकृति ॥ १५॥

यदेतेनातिवाह्याहं प्राप्तवाञ्जङ्गलं क्रमात्।

अस्ताद्रिसानुं खिन्नाश्वः शून्यभ्रान्त्येवभास्करः ॥ १६॥

जम्बूकदम्बप्रायेषु कलालापाः पतत्रिणः।

यत्र स्फुरन्ति खण्डेषु पान्थानामिव बान्धवाः ॥ १७॥

यत्र शष्पशिखाश्रेण्यो दृश्यन्ते विरलाः स्थले।

कदर्थलक्ष्म्या जिह्मस्य हृदीवानन्दवृत्तयः ॥ १८॥

पूर्वादरण्यादरसात्तद्धि किंचित्सुखावहम्।

अत्यन्तदुःखान्मरणाद्वरं व्याधिर्हि जन्तुषु ॥ १९॥

तत्र जम्बीरखण्डस्य तलं संप्राप्तवानहम्।

मार्कण्डेय इवागेन्द्रमेकार्णवविहारतः ॥ २०॥

आलम्बिता मया तत्र स्कन्धसंसर्गिणी लता।

नीला जलदमालेव तापतप्तेन भूभृता ॥ २१॥

मयि प्रलम्बमानेऽस्यां प्रयातः स तुरङ्गमः।

गङ्गावलम्बिनि नरे यथा दुष्कृतसंचयः ॥ २२॥

चिरं दीर्घाध्वगः खिन्नस्तत्र विश्रान्तवानहम्।

भानुरस्ताचलोत्सङ्गे तले कल्पतरोरिव ॥ २३॥

यावत्समस्तसंसारव्यवहारभरैः समम्।

रविर्विश्रमणायेव निविष्टोऽस्ताचलाङ्गणे ॥ २४॥

The King said: 

3.106.12–24

> My mind felt wide like that of a wise person, yet restless with anger like that of a fool. I had come to a forest never seen by people, without human contact, and without even grass or young leaves.

> Reaching this forest, my mind grew weary and sad. It felt like a woman falling into poverty, with no food, no fruit, and no relatives.

> The directions ahead shimmered with the water of desert mirages. Suffering there, I spent the whole day until the Sun set.

> With great hardship and exhaustion I crossed that forest. It was like the world crossed by a person of discrimination: empty and hollow in the middle.

> After passing that place I gradually reached a wilderness. I was like the Sun arriving at the peak of the western mountain with tired horses, wandering as if in emptiness.

> In groves of jambu and kadamba trees, birds with sweet calls shone in the patches of forest, like companions appearing to weary travelers.

> Sparse rows of grass tips were seen on the ground, like rare moments of joy in the heart of a crooked person whose fortune is wretched.

> Compared with the earlier tasteless forest, this place brought a little comfort. For living Beings, even illness is better than the extreme pain of death.

> There I reached the ground beneath a cluster of jambu trees, like Markandeya reaching a great mountain after wandering across the single Ocean.

> I clung to a creeper growing from the trunk of a tree, as a heat-scorched mountain clings to a dark garland of clouds.

> While I hung there, the horse went away, just as a heap of sins leaves a person who clings to the Ganga.

> Tired after a long road, I rested there for a while, like the Sun resting in the lap of the western mountain at the base of a wish-fulfilling tree.

> Meanwhile the Sun, as if to rest from the full burden of all worldly activity, settled in the courtyard of the western mountain.

Summary of the verses: 

The verses show a hard outer journey that mirrors an inner one. A barren, waterless forest stands for a mind and a world that look wide yet give no real support. Anger, loneliness, hunger, and mirage-water describe how restlessness and false hopes keep a person moving without rest. Crossing that waste with difficulty points to viveka: seeing that ordinary life is hollow in the middle even while it appears solid at the edges.

A slightly greener wilderness then appears. Sparse grass, a few trees, and the calls of birds are only small reliefs, yet they feel better than the earlier emptiness. The teaching is practical: even limited ease is preferable to total despair, just as illness can be better than death. The traveler does not stop at the first comfort; he still seeks a firmer place to rest.

Reaching the shade of jambu trees and holding a creeper is an image of taking support that is itself unstable. The horse that leaves while the traveler hangs on the vine shows how outer supports and past actions drop away once a person turns toward a higher refuge. The comparison with sins leaving a person who holds the Ganga suggests that genuine rest begins when clinging to the world is replaced by clinging to something that can actually hold.

Rest under the tree at sunset is the first true pause. The Sun itself, carrying the whole day’s work, also settles. The picture teaches that both the individual mind and the apparent activity of the world share the same rhythm of effort and needed stillness. Rest is not escape; it is the natural close of a cycle of strain.

Taken together the verses quietly point to the larger Yoga-Vasistha view: the forest of samsara can be crossed, small comforts are real but temporary, and lasting ease comes only when the traveler stops running after mirages and sits still. Discrimination, endurance, and the willingness to let go of what cannot stay are the inner counterparts of the outer march from waste land to shade.