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Yoga Vashishtha 3.11.1–10
(The world is not an independent entity arising in the Supreme Reality; it is the intellect alone that fabricates this duality)
श्रीराम उवाच ।
इदं रूपमिदं दृश्यं जगन्नास्तीति भासुरम् ।
महाप्रलयसंप्राप्तौ भो ब्रह्मन्क्वेव तिष्ठति ॥ १ ॥
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच ।
कुत आयाति कीदृग्वा वन्ध्यापुत्रः क्व गच्छति ।
क्व याति कुत आयाति वद वा व्योमकाननम् ॥ २ ॥
श्रीराम उवाच ।
वन्ध्यापुत्रो व्योमवनं नैवास्ति न भविष्यति ।
कीदृशी दृश्यता तस्य कीदृशी तस्य नास्तिता ॥ ३ ॥
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच ।
वन्ध्यापुत्रव्योमवने यथा न स्तः कदाचन ।
जगदाद्यखिलं दृश्यं तथा नास्ति कदाचन ॥ ४ ॥
न चोत्पन्ने न च ध्वंसि यत्किलादौ न विद्यते ।
उत्पत्तिः कीदृशी तस्य नाशशब्दस्य का कथा ॥ ५ ॥
श्रीराम उवाच ।
वन्ध्यापुत्रनभोवृक्षकल्पना तावदस्ति हि ।
सा यथा नाशजन्माढ्या तथैवेदं न किं भवेत् ॥ ६ ॥
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच ।
तुल्यस्यातुलदुःस्थस्य भावकैः किल तोलनम् ।
निरन्वया यथैवोक्तिर्जगत्सत्ता तथैव हि ॥ ७ ॥
यथा सौवर्णकटके दृश्यमानमिदं स्फुटम् ।
कटकत्वं तु नैवास्ति जगत्त्वं न तथा परे ॥ ८ ॥
आकाशे च यथा नास्तिशून्यत्वं व्यतिरेकवत् ।
जगत्त्वं ब्रह्मणि तथा नास्त्येवाप्युपलब्धिमत् ॥ ९ ॥
कज्जलान्न यथा कार्ष्ण्यं शैत्यं च न यथा हिमात् ।
पृथगेवं भवेद्बुद्धं जगन्नास्ति परे पदे ॥ १० ॥
3.11.1: Śrī Rāma said - This form, this visible world—when the great dissolution arrives, O Brahman, and it is Realized that the world does not exist at all, where then does it abide?
3.11.2: Śrī Vasiṣṭha said - From where does the son of a barren woman come, and of what nature is he? Where does he go? Tell me, or from where does a forest in the sky come, and where does it go?
3.11.3: Śrī Rāma said - The son of a barren woman and a forest in the sky neither exist nor will ever exist. What is the nature of their apparent visibility? What is the nature of their non-existence?
3.11.4: Śrī Vasiṣṭha said - Just as the son of a barren woman and a forest in the sky never exist at any time, so too the entire visible world, from beginning to end, never exists at any time.
3.11.5: That which does not exist in the beginning and is neither born nor destroyed— what kind of arising can it have? And what need is there to speak of the word "destruction" for it?
3.11.6: Śrī Rāma said - The mere imagination of the son of a barren woman or a tree in the sky does indeed exist for a moment. Just as that imagination is endowed with neither birth nor destruction, why should this world not be the same?
3.11.7: Śrī Vasiṣṭha said - The weighing of incomparable and sorrow-laden things by those who fancy themselves measurers is indeed without basis. The assertion of the world's existence is exactly like that.
3.11.8: Just as in a golden bracelet that is clearly seen, the quality of being a bracelet does not truly exist, so too the quality of being the world does not exist in the Supreme Reality.
3.11.9: Just as emptiness or voidness does not exist in Space, even though it is distinguished by negation, so too the quality of being the world does not exist in Brahm, even though it appears perceptible.
3.11.10: Just as blackness does not arise separately from collyrium, and coldness does not arise separately from snow, so too the world does not arise as something separate in the Supreme State; the intellect alone perceives it as such.
Summary of the Teachings:
These verses from Yoga Vāsiṣṭha 3.11 form a profound dialectical exchange between Śrī Rāma and Sage Vasiṣṭha, employing logical analogies to dismantle the apparent reality of the world and affirm the non-dual nature of Brahm. The dialogue begins with Rāma questioning the whereabouts of the visible world during the great dissolution (mahāpralaya), implying its ultimate unreality. Vasiṣṭha responds by drawing parallels to impossible entities like the son of a barren woman (vandhyāputra) or a forest in the sky (vyomakanana), which neither originate, exist, nor perish. These metaphors illustrate that the world, like these fictions, has no substantial being at any point in time—past, present, or future. The teaching emphasizes that true non-existence precludes any attribution of arising (utpatti) or destruction (nāśa), rendering discussions of the world's creation or dissolution meaningless.
Rāma counters by acknowledging that while such impossible objects do not exist objectively, their mental imaginings (kalpanā) momentarily appear in Consciousness. He probes whether the world, too, might be a similar baseless projection endowed with neither birth nor death. Vasiṣṭha refutes this by likening attempts to affirm the world's existence to the futile weighing of incomparable sorrows by deluded perceivers, highlighting the absence of any foundational basis (anvaya) for such claims. The core insight is that the world's apparent solidity is an illusion superimposed by Ignorance, comparable to mistaking a rope for a snake; it lacks independent Reality and cannot be logically sustained.
Further analogies deepen the non-dual perspective: just as a golden bracelet is perceived, yet its "bracelet-ness" (kaṭakatva) is not separate from gold, the world's "world-ness" (jagattva) is not distinct from Brahm. Vasiṣṭha clarifies that even perceptual experience (upalabdhi) does not confer true existence, akin to how voidness is negated in Infinite Space despite conceptual distinctions. The world appears due to mental conditioning but has no ontological separation from the Absolute.
The verses culminate in illustrating inseparability through natural examples: blackness is inherent to collyrium without being a separate entity, and coldness to snow similarly. Likewise, the world is not an independent arising in the Supreme Reality (pare pade); it is the intellect (buddhi) alone that fabricates this duality. The teaching underscores ajāta-vāda (the doctrine of non-origination), where Brahm alone is Real, Eternal, and Unchanging, free from all modifications.
Overall, these ten verses systematically guide the seeker from empirical doubt to metaphysical certainty, using negation (neti neti) and analogy to dissolve the ego's attachment to multiplicity. They teach that True Freedom arises from recognizing the world's non-existence as anything other than Brahm, transcending birth, death, and all dualistic notions through direct intuitive Realization (jñāna).
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