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Yoga Vashishtha 3.17.41–57
(The past, present and future are simultaneous in the Infinite Space of Consciousness)
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच ।
सा तानालोक्य ललना चिन्तापरवशाभवत् ।
तस्मिन्नगरवास्तव्याः किं ते सर्वे मृता इति ॥ ४१ ॥
पुनः प्रज्ञप्तिबोधेन प्राक्तनान्तःपुरं गता।
क्षणेन च ददर्शात्र सार्धरात्रे तथैव तान् ॥ ४२ ॥
अथ सोत्थापयामास निद्राक्रान्तं सखीजनम् ।
आह चातीव मे दुःखमास्थानं दीयतामिति ॥ ४३ ॥
भर्तुः सिंहासनस्यास्य पार्श्वे तिष्ठाम्यहं यदि ।
पश्यामि स्वभ्यसंघातं तत्प्रजीवामि नान्यथा ॥ ४४ ॥
स राजपरिवारोऽथ तयेत्युक्ते यथाक्रमम् ।
आसीद्विनिद्रः संव्यग्रः सर्वः सर्वस्वकर्मणि ॥ ४५ ॥
पौरान्सभ्यात्समानेतुं ययुर्याष्टीकपङ्क्तयः ।
व्यवहारं कलयितुमुर्व्यामर्ककरा इव ॥ ४६ ॥
आस्थानभूमिं भृत्याश्च मार्जयामासुरादृताः ।
प्रावृट्पयोदमलिन खं शरद्वासरा इव ॥ ४७ ॥
अङ्गणं प्रति दीपौघास्तस्थुः पीततमोम्भसः ।
आश्चर्यदर्शनायेव संप्राप्ता ऋक्षपङ्क्तयः ॥ ४८ ॥
जनताः पूरयामासुः पूरैरजिरभूमिकाः।
अब्धीन्प्रलयसंशुष्कान्पुरासर्ग इवाम्भसा ॥ ४९ ॥
आजग्मुर्मन्त्रिसामन्ताः स्वंस्वं स्थानमनिन्दिताः ।
त्रैलोक्ये पुनरुत्पन्ने लोकपाला यथा दिशः ॥ ५० ॥
ववुराकीर्णकर्पूरसान्द्रावश्यायशीतलाः ।
उत्फुल्लकुसुमोद्वान्तमांसलामोदितानिलाः ॥ ५१ ॥
पर्यन्तेषु प्रतीहारास्तस्थुर्धवलवाससः ।
ऋष्यमूकार्कतापार्तमेघमाला इवाद्रिषु ॥ ५२ ॥
प्रभापीततमः पुञ्जाः पेतुः पुष्पोत्करा भुवि ।
चण्डमारुतविध्वस्तास्तारकानिकरा इव ॥ ५३ ॥
आस्थानं पूरयामासुर्महीपालानुयायिनः।
उत्फुल्लकमलोत्कीर्णं हंसा इव सरोवरम् ॥ ५४ ॥
सिंहासनसमीपस्थे हैमचित्रासने नवे।
उपाविशदसौ लीला लीलेव स्मरचेतसि ॥ ५५ ॥
ददर्श तान्नृपान्सर्वान्पूर्वानेव यथास्थितान् ।
गुरूनार्यान्सखीन्सभ्यान्सुहृत्संबन्धिबान्धवान् ॥ ५६ ॥
सकलमेव हि पूर्ववदेव सा समवलोक्य मुदं परमां ययौ ।
नृपतिराष्ट्रजनं खलु जीवनाभ्युदितया च बभौ शशिवच्छ्रिया ॥ ५७ ॥
Maharishi Vashishta said:
3.17.41
Seeing them, the lady (Leela) became filled with worry and thought, “Have all the people living in this city died?”
3.17.42
Again, with the awakening of Pure Knowledge, she instantly reached her former inner palace and at midnight saw all of them exactly as before.
3.17.43–44
Then she woke up her sleeping friends and said, “I am in great pain; please arrange a seat for me at once.” “Only if I sit beside my husband’s lion-throne and keep seeing the crowd of my own people will I stay alive; otherwise not.”
3.17.45–47
When she said this, the whole royal household immediately woke up and everyone became busy with their own duties in proper order; Rows of staff went out to bring the citizens and courtiers, just as sun-rays spread over the earth to start the day’s work; The servants respectfully cleaned the court area, like autumn days clearing the sky that was cloudy in the rainy season.
3.17.48–52
Countless lamps were placed all around the courtyard, as though rows of stars had come down to watch the wonder; People filled the courtyards completely, just as in an earlier creation oceans were filled again with water after the great deluge had dried them; Ministers and feudal lords, all faultless, arrived and took their own seats, like the guardians of the worlds returning to their directions after the three worlds are born anew; Cool, pleasant breezes blew, thick with particles of camphor and the sweet scent of blooming flowers; At the gates, white-robed doorkeepers stood in position, like rows of clouds on mountain peaks distressed by the heat of the Rishyamuka Sun.
3.17.53–57
Heaps of flowers, glowing brightly, fell on the ground, like clusters of stars blown down by a fierce wind; The king’s followers filled the assembly hall, just as swans fill a lake covered with blooming lotuses; Leela herself sat on a new golden painted seat near the lion-throne, like Goddess Lila seated in the heart of the god of love; She saw all the kings, elders, friends, courtiers, well-wishers, relatives and kinsmen exactly as they were before; Seeing everything exactly as it had been earlier, she became filled with supreme joy. The king, the kingdom and all the people shone with splendour, like the moon that has just risen to give new life to the night.
Summary of the Teachings:
These verses continue the story of Queen Leela to illustrate the supreme teaching of pure non-dual Advaita: the entire world is nothing but Consciousness (chit) and is created, sustained and dissolved solely by the power of mind and desire.
Leela, through the Grace of Goddess Saraswati and the instructions of Sage Vasishta, has realised that her husband Padma and his entire kingdom still exist in subtle form in the Infinite Space of Consciousness. Worried that everyone might have died in “this” world, she uses the same power of will (sankalpa) that previously took her to the subtle realm and instantly returns to her former palace at midnight. There she sees everything exactly as it was eight days earlier, proving that time, death and change are mere appearances within Consciousness.
When she asks to sit beside the king’s throne because only the sight of “her own people” keeps her alive, it shows the deep truth that the sense of individuality (ego) survives only by clinging to its objects—people, places and possessions. As long as the vasana (subtle desire) remains, the world appears; when even that is surrendered, everything dissolves into Pure Awareness.
The moment she expresses this wish, the whole palace wakes up, the city comes alive, ministers arrive, lamps are lit, flowers fall and the court fills exactly as before. This dramatic resurrection happens in an instant, without any physical process, demonstrating that the world arises fresh in every moment by the sole power of sankalpa (will or imagination) of the jiva. Just as in a dream an entire city can appear or vanish by a single thought, so does the waking world.
Thus the core teaching is: past, present and future are simultaneous in the Infinite Space of Consciousness; death does not end anything because nothing ever truly began outside Consciousness; whatever the mind strongly believes and desires instantly becomes its experienced Reality. The enlightened person who knows this remains unshaken in the Self, while the ignorant suffer the illusion of birth, death and time.
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