Yoga Vashishtha 1.23.23–34
(Time, an expression of the Self)
श्रीराम उवाच।
अस्योड्डामरवृत्तस्य कल्पान्तेऽङ्गविनिर्गतैः ।
प्रस्फुरत्यम्बरे मेरुर्भूर्जत्वगिव वायुभिः ॥ २३ ॥
रुद्रो भूत्वा भवत्येष महेन्द्रोऽथ पितामहः।
शक्रो वैश्रवणश्चापि पुनरेव न किंचन ॥ २४ ॥
धत्तेऽजस्रोत्थितोद्ध्वस्तान्सर्गानमितभास्वरान् ।
अन्यान्दधद्दिवानक्तं वीचीरब्धिरिवात्मनि ॥ २५ ॥
महाकल्पाभिधानेभ्यो वृक्षेभ्यः परिशातयन् ।
देवासुरगणान्पक्वान्फलभारानिव स्थितः ॥ २६ ॥
कालोऽयं भूतमशकघुंघुमानां प्रपातिनाम् ।
ब्रह्माण्डोदुम्बरौघानां बृहत्पादपतां गतः ॥ २७ ॥
सत्तामात्रकुमुद्वत्या चिज्ज्योत्स्नापरिफुल्लया ।
वपुर्विनोदयत्येकं क्रियाप्रियतमान्वितः ॥ २८ ॥
अनन्तापारपर्यन्तबद्धपीठं निजं वपुः ।
महाशैलवदुत्तुङ्गमवलम्ब्य व्यवस्थितः ॥ २९ ॥
क्वचिच्छयामतमःश्यामं क्वचित्कान्तियुतं ततम् ।
द्वयेनापि क्वचिद्रिक्तं स्वभावं भावयन् स्थितः ॥ ३० ॥
संलीनासंख्यसंसारसारया स्वात्मसत्तया ।
उर्व्येव भारघनया निबद्धपदतां गतः ॥ ३१॥
न खिद्यते नाद्रियते नायाति न च गच्छति ।
नास्तमेति न चोदेति महाकल्पशतैरपि ॥ ३२ ॥
केवलं जगदारम्भलीलया घनहेलया ।
पालयत्यात्मनात्मानमनहंकारमाततम् ॥ ३३ ॥
यामिनीपङ्ककलितां दिनकोकनदावलीम् ।
मेघभ्रमरिकामात्मसरस्यारोपयन्स्थितः ॥ ३४ ॥
Sriram said:
23. "At the end of the kalpa (cosmic cycle), this vast universe is tossed about by winds emerging from the dismembered cosmic body, and Mount Meru quivers in the sky like birch bark fluttering in the breeze."
24. "That same being becomes Rudra (Śiva), then Indra, then Brahmā. He becomes Kubera (Vaiśravaṇa), and then again reverts to Absolute Nothingness."
25. "He bears the radiant worlds that rise and fall from the unborn stream (of Consciousness), sustaining day and night within himself like waves in the ocean."
26. "Standing firm like a tree heavy with ripened fruits, he shakes down the Divine and demonic hosts from the Cosmic trees named the Great Kalpas."
27. "This time-force, resonant with the cries of perishing beings, marches on like a massive tree of death, uprooting multitudes of Cosmic clusters (brahmāṇḍas) like fig fruits falling from a banyan tree."
28. "His form alone gleams, adorned with the moonlight of Consciousness and blossomed by the water-lilies of Pure Being, filled with love for action."
29. "He upholds his own immense form, vast and boundless, as if seated upon a throne stretching beyond limits—like a towering mountain supporting itself."
30. "At times his form is darkened with ignorance like the night, at times radiant with light, and at other times devoid of both—he abides in Awareness of his own nature."
31. "Countless worlds have merged into the essence of his own being—just as the earth bears the weight of dense mountain masses, he upholds them all in his Existence."
32. "He neither grieves nor esteems anything, neither arrives nor departs; he neither sets nor rises, not even over the course of hundreds of great aeons (mahākalpas)."
33. "Solely through the playful gesture of beginning this world-drama, he sustains himself within himself—devoid of all ego."
34. "He stands as the sun within the self-lake, adorning it with day-lotuses despite the mud of night and the swarm of clouds and bees— Pure, unwavering, and serene."
Summary of the Teachings:
These verses from the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha explore the subtle and majestic presence of the Cosmic Self (Ātman or Pure Consciousness) as it manifests, sustains, and dissolves the Universe. The Cosmic process is depicted as a grand play of transformation—where the formless Self adopts various Divine roles such as Rudra, Indra, Brahmā, and Kubera, only to return to its original, untouched nature. The imagery of Mount Meru trembling, worlds emerging like waves, and beings falling like fruit suggests the ephemeral nature of existence within the infinite expanse of Consciousness.
Time (Kāla) is presented as an impersonal force, devouring worlds while remaining itself unborn and indestructible. Yet it too is only an expression of the Self. The Self supports all creation effortlessly, likened to a vast mountain or a Cosmic ocean, with worlds rising and falling like waves or blossoms. This Grand Cosmic process arises without any personal motivation, ego, or need—simply as an expression of the Self’s inherent capacity.
The Self is unchanging, unmoving, beyond sorrow or delight. It does not come or go, does not rise or set like celestial bodies, and is not subject to the cyclic laws of creation or destruction. Even through countless mahākalpas, the Self remains beyond time and space, untouched by the movements it gives rise to. This teaches the yogic view that true being is not affected by the flux of creation.
Despite its Transcendence, the Self creates and sustains the Universe as a kind of Divine sport—līlā—without ego or attachment. It upholds the world within itself effortlessly, just as the ocean bears the rising and falling of its waves. The metaphor of the lotus blooming in a muddy pond, under the sunlight of the Self, reveals the possibility of spiritual awakening even within the apparent darkness of worldly life.
Ultimately, these verses urge the seeker to recognize the Self as the only true substratum— Pure Awareness that manifests all forms yet remains beyond all forms. Understanding this helps dissolve identification with transient phenomena and awakens one to the serene, unbounded Reality of one's own Nature, which is ever-free, ever-present, and all-encompassing.
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