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Yoga Vashishtha 3.16.36–50
(Sincere devotion and crying from the heart always attracts Divine Grace)
श्रीसरस्वत्युवाच ।
निरन्तरेण तपसा भर्तृभक्त्यतिशालिना।
परितुष्टास्मि ते वत्से गृहाण वरमीप्सितम् ॥ ३६ ॥
श्रीराज्ञ्युवाच ।
जय जन्मजराज्वालादाहदोषशशिप्रभे।
जय हार्दान्धकारौघनिवारणरविप्रभे ॥ ३७ ॥
अम्ब मातर्जगन्मातस्त्रायस्व कृपणामिमाम् ।
इदं वरद्वयं देहि यदहं प्रार्थये शुभे ॥ ३८ ॥
एकं तावद्विदेहस्य भर्तुर्जीवो ममाम्बिके।
अस्मादेव हि मा यासीन्निजान्तःपुरमण्डपात् ॥ ३९ ॥
द्वितीयं त्वां महादेवि प्रार्थयेऽहं यदा यदा ।
दर्शनाय वरार्थाय तदा मे देहि दर्शनम् ॥ ४० ॥
इत्याकर्ण्य जगन्माता तवास्त्वेवमिति स्वयम् ।
उक्त्वान्तर्धानमगमत्प्रोत्थायोर्मिरिवार्णवे ॥ ४१ ॥
अथ सा राजमहिषी परितुष्टेष्टदेवता ।
श्रुतगीतेव हरिणी बभूवानन्दधारिणी ॥ ४२ ॥
पक्षमासर्तुकटके दिनारे वर्षदण्डके ।
क्षणनाभौ स्पन्दमये कालचक्रे वहत्यथ ॥ ४३ ॥
अन्तर्धिमाजगामास्याः पत्युस्तच्चेतनं तनौ ।
संदृश्यमानमेवाशु शुष्कपत्ररसो यथा ॥ ४४ ॥
रणखण्डितदेहेऽस्मिन्मृतेऽन्तःपुरमण्डपे ।
निर्जला नलिनीवासौ परां म्लानिमुपाययौ ॥ ४५ ॥
विषोष्णश्वसनध्वस्तसकलाधरपल्लवा ।
प्राप सा मरणावस्थां सशल्येव मृगी यथा ॥ ४६ ॥
प्राप सा तमसान्धत्वं तस्मिन्मरणमागते ।
दीपज्वालालवे क्षीणे सद्मश्रीरिव भूषिता ॥ ४७ ॥
कार्श्यमाप क्षणेनासौ बाला विरसतां गता ।
यथा स्रोतस्विनी स्रोतक्षये क्षारविधूसरा ॥ ४८ ॥
क्षिप्रमाक्रन्दिनी क्षिप्रं मौनमूका वियोगिनी ।
बभूव चक्रवाकीव मानिनी मरणोन्मुखी ॥ ४९ ॥
अथ तामतिमात्रविह्वलां सकृपाकाशभवा सरस्वती ।
शफरीं ह्रदशोषविह्वलां प्रथमा वृष्टिरिवान्वकम्पत ॥ ५० ॥
3.16.36: Goddess Saraswati said:
Child, I am fully pleased with your unbroken penance and supreme devotion to your husband. Ask for whatever boon you desire.
3.16.37-38: Queen Chudala said:
Victory to you, O moon-like Goddess whose cool rays remove the burning pain of birth, old age and death!
Victory to you, O Sun-like Goddess whose bright rays remove the dense darkness in the heart! O Mother, O Mother of the universe, protect this helpless woman. O auspicious One, please grant me these two boons that I beg of you.
3.16.39: First, O Ambika, may the life-force of my husband, the King of Videha; never leave this inner palace as long as I am alive.
3.16.40: Second, O Great Goddess, whenever I call you for any important boon, please appear before me at that very moment.
3.16.41-42: Hearing this, the Mother of the world herself said, “So be it,” and then disappeared like a wave that rises and merges back into the ocean; Then the royal queen, whose chosen deity was now fully pleased, became filled with joy, like a female deer that has heard the song of Krishna.
3.16.43-45: Days, fortnights, months, seasons and years went rolling by on the ever-moving wheel of time; Suddenly, the Consciousness left her husband’s body and vanished, just as moisture quickly disappears from a dry leaf that is still visible; in that inner palace, with her husband’s body cut and dead from battle, she became like a waterless lotus pond and fell into deep sorrow.
46. Her breath became hot and dry, all the freshness of her lips withered away;
she reached the verge of death, like a doe pierced by an arrow.
3.16.47-49: When death came to him, she became completely blind with darkness, like a palace that has lost its last flicker of lamp-flame and all its glory; in a moment the young queen became thin and lifeless, like a river that has lost its current and turned salty and grey; The separated wife first cried loudly, then suddenly became silent and mute. She turned into a proud female chakravaka bird facing death.
3.16.50: Then Goddess Saraswati, who lives in the sky of pure compassion, felt deep pity and trembled with mercy for her, just as the first rain trembles with pity for a fish suffering in a dried-up lake.
Summary of the Teachings:
These verses teach the supreme power of single-minded devotion and purity of heart. Queen Chudala, through years of unbroken austerity and total devotion to her husband, wins the direct grace of Goddess Saraswati. The Goddess appears in person and offers any boon. This shows that true devotion (bhakti) combined with intense penance (tapas) can make even the highest divine powers pleased and ready to grant anything.
The second teaching is about what a truly wise and loving wife prays for. Chudala does not ask for wealth, long life for herself, beauty or kingdom. She asks only for two things: (1) that her husband’s soul never leaves the palace while she is alive, and (2) that the Goddess appears whenever she is called. This reveals the highest ideal of pativrata dharma (devotion to husband) where the wife sees her husband’s life and presence as her own life.
The third teaching is the inescapable nature of Time and death. Even though the Goddess granted the boon, the moment, years pass and the king’s body is destroyed in battle and his life-force departs. No boon can stop the law of time (kāla-chakra) forever. Everything in the world is subject to the turning wheel of time; nothing created lasts eternally.
The fourth teaching is the terrible pain of separation (viraha) that comes from attachment. When the husband dies, Chudala instantly loses all colour, beauty and will to live. She becomes thin, silent, blind with grief and ready to die. The verses compare her to a dried lotus pond, a river without water, a deer shot by an arrow, and a female bird separated from its mate. This shows how deep attachment, even if it is pure marital love, brings unbearable sorrow when separation comes.
The final teaching is the boundless compassion of the Divine Mother. Even though death could not be stopped forever, Goddess Saraswati immediately feels pity seeing Chudala’s extreme suffering and is moved to help her again. Just as the first rain rushes to save suffering fish in a dried lake, the Goddess rushes to save her devotee. This gives hope that sincere devotion and crying from the heart always attracts Divine Grace, even in the darkest moment.
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