Yoga Vashishtha 1.26.23–32
(The illusion of Maya)
श्रीराम उवाच।
दिशोऽपि हि न दृश्यन्ते देशोऽप्यन्यापदेशभाक् ।
शैला अपि विशीर्यन्ते कैवास्था मादृशे जने ॥ २३ ॥
अद्यते सत्तयापि द्यौर्भुऽवन चापि ऊयते।
धरापि याति वैधुर्यं केवास्था मादृशे जने ॥ २४ ॥
शुष्यन्त्यपि समुद्राश्च शीर्यन्ते तारका अपि ।
सिद्धा अपि विनश्यन्ति कैवास्था मादृशे जने ॥ २५ ॥
दानवा अपि दीर्यन्ते ध्रुवोऽप्यध्रुवजीवितः ।
अमरा अपि मार्यन्ते कैवास्था मादृशे जने ॥ २६ ॥
शक्रोऽप्याक्रम्यते वक्रैर्यमोऽपि हि नियम्यते ।
वायुरप्येत्यवायुत्वं कैवास्था मादृशे जने ॥ २७ ॥
सोमोऽपि व्योमतां याति मार्तण्डोऽप्येति खण्डताम् ।
मग्नतामग्निरप्येति कैवास्था मादृशे जने ॥ २८ ॥
परमेष्ठ्यपि निष्ठावान्ह्रियते हीररप्यजः।
भवोऽप्यभावमायाति कैवास्था मादृशे जने ॥ २९ ॥
कालः संकाल्यते येन नियतिश्चापि नीयते ।
खमप्यालीयतेऽनन्तं कैवास्था मादृशे जने ॥ ३० ॥
अश्राव्यावाच्यदुर्दर्शतत्त्वेनाज्ञातमूर्तिना ।
भुवनानि विडम्ब्यन्ते केनचिद्भ्रमदायिना ॥ ३१ ॥
अहंकारकलामेत्य सर्वत्रान्तरवासिना।
न सोऽस्ति त्रिषु लोकेषु यस्तेनेह न बाध्यते ॥ ३२ ॥
Sriram said:
23. "Even the directions are no longer discernible, and regions appear to belong elsewhere. Mountains are crumbling—what stability can there be for someone like me?"
24. "Even the firm heavens are being consumed by Time, the sky is being torn, and the earth itself is losing its steadiness—what stability can there be for someone like me?"
25. "The oceans are drying up, stars are falling apart, even perfected beings (siddhas) are perishing—what stability can there be for someone like me?"
26. "Even the mighty demons are breaking apart, and the supposedly eternal Dhruva is of impermanent life. The gods themselves meet their end—what stability can there be for someone like me?"
27. "Even Indra (Śakra) is overcome by cunning forces, and Yama, the lord of law, is subdued. The wind itself loses its motion—what stability can there be for someone like me?"
28. "The moon (Soma) dissolves into the sky, the sun (Mārtaṇḍa) breaks into fragments, and fire itself is extinguished—what stability can there be for someone like me?"
29. "Even Brahmā (the creator), though steadfast, is undone; the unmanifest seed (Hiraṇyagarbha) is swept away, and Śiva too dissolves into non-being—what stability can there be for someone like me?"
30. "Time is consumed by that which transcends it, and even cosmic order (Niyati) is overruled. Space itself collapses into the Infinite —what stability can there be for someone like me?"
31. "The worlds are deluded and distorted by some unknowable, unseen, and indescribable power, taking a form we cannot grasp—something that causes them to appear and wander aimlessly."
32. "This illusion arises from a trace of ego, residing within all beings. There is no one in all the three worlds who is not disturbed or bound by it."
Summary of the Teachings:
Building on this Realization, the verses serve as a contemplative turning point for the seeker. Rāma, observing the crumbling of all things—from stars to gods—reaches a state of deep existential insight. This is not despair in the ordinary sense, but the dawning of Wisdom through disillusionment. The Yoga Vāsiṣṭha uses such reflections to invite the aspirant to question: if all that is seen is fleeting, what remains when all appearances vanish?
The answer, implied though not yet directly stated in these verses, is the Self— Pure Consciousness, untouched by Time, Space, or Causation.
Rāma’s growing detachment, expressed in repeated lines like “what stability can there be for someone like me?”, is an expression of viveka
(discriminative Wisdom) leading toward Self-Inquiry. The repetition isn't rhetorical despair but an intentional mantra-like emphasis to draw the mind away from externalities.
Furthermore, the mention of ego (ahaṁkāra) in the final verse shifts the focus inward. It highlights the ego as the subtle veil that enmeshes the Self in illusion. This sets the philosophical stage for later teachings in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha, where liberation (mokṣa) is shown to come not through escaping the world, but by discerning the unreality of the ego-bound world and resting in the Unchanging Awareness behind it.
The mystery power hinted in verse 31, which stages the Cosmos yet remains unknown and formless, is the force of māyā—a central concept in Vedānta. The text carefully avoids naming it directly, maintaining the subtlety that this power itself is not ultimately Real, but a projection upon the screen of Consciousness. The seeker is thus nudged to move beyond conceptualization into direct insight.
Altogether, these verses perform an essential purificatory function in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha. They cleanse the seeker of attachment to worldly grandeur and Cosmic structures, preparing the inner ground for the intuitive recognition of non-dual Reality. Rāma’s journey becomes a mirror for the reader’s own path—from disillusionment to Wisdom, from ego to Self, from impermanence to the unborn, undying Awareness.
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