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Yoga Vashishtha 3.19.10–28
(Everything magnificent that people see and touch is nothing but the projection of one man’s imagination)
श्रीदेव्युवाच ।
तमालोक्य महीपालमिदं चिन्तितवानसौ ।
अहो नु रम्या नृपता सर्वसौभाग्यभासिता ॥ १० ॥
पदातिरथहस्त्यश्वपताकाच्छत्रचामरैः ।
कदा स्यां दशदिक्कुञ्जपूरकोऽहं महीपतिः ॥ ११ ॥
कदा मे वायवः कुन्दमकरन्दसुगन्धयः ।
पास्यन्त्यन्तःपुरस्त्रीणां सुरतश्रमसीकरान् ॥ १२ ॥
कर्पूरेण पुरन्ध्रीणां पूर्णेन यशसा दिशाम् ।
इन्दूदयावदातानि कदा कुर्यां मुखान्यहम् ॥ १३ ॥
इत्थं ततःप्रभृत्येष विप्रः संकल्पवानभूत्।
स्वधर्मनिरतो नित्यं यावज्जीवमतन्द्रितः ॥ १४ ॥
हिमाशनिरिवाम्भोजं जर्जरीकर्तुमादृता।
जले जर्जरितेवाथ जरा द्विजमुपाययौ ॥ १५ ॥
आसन्नमरणस्याथ भार्या म्लानिमुपाययौ ।
तस्य शाम्यति पुष्पर्तौ लतेव ग्रीष्मभीतितः ॥ १६ ॥
मामथाराधितवती सा ततस्त्वमिवाङ्गना ।
अमरत्वं सुदुष्प्रापं बुद्ध्वेमं सावृणोद्वरम् ॥ १७ ॥
देवि स्वमण्डपादेव जीवो भर्तुर्मृतस्य मे।
मायासीदित्यतस्तस्याः स एवाङ्गीकृतो मया ॥ १८ ॥
अथ कालवशाद्विप्रः स पञ्चत्वमुपाययौ ।
तस्मिन्नेव गृहाकाशे जीवाकाशतया स्थितः ॥ १९ ॥
संपन्नः प्राक्तनानल्पसंकल्पवशतः स्वयम् ।
आकाशवपुरेवैष पतिः परमशक्तिमान् ॥ २० ॥
प्रभावजितभूपीठः प्रतापाक्रान्तविष्टपः।
कृपापालितपातालस्त्रिलोकविजयी नृपः ॥ २१ ॥
कल्पाग्निररिवृक्षाणां स्त्रीणां मकरकेतनः ।
मेरुर्विषयवायूनां साध्वब्जानां दिवाकरः ॥ २२ ॥
आदर्शः सर्वशास्त्राणामर्थिनां कल्पपादपः ।
पादपीठं द्विजाग्र्याणां राकाधर्मामृतत्विषः ॥ २३ ॥
स्वगृहाभ्यन्तराकाशे चित्ताकाशमयात्मनि ।
तस्मिन्द्विजे शवीभूते भूताकाशशरीरिणि ॥ २४ ॥
सा तस्य ब्राह्मणी भार्या शोकेनात्यन्तकर्शिता ।
शुष्केव माषशिम्बीका हृदयेन द्विधाभवत् ॥ २५ ॥
भर्त्रा सह शवीभूता देहमुत्सृज्य दूरतः ।
आतिवाहिकदेहेन भर्तारं समुपाययौ ॥ २६ ॥
नदीनिखातमिव तं भर्तारमनुसृत्य सा ।
आजगाम विशोकत्वं सा वासन्तीव मञ्जरी ॥ २७ ॥
तत्रास्य विप्रस्य गृहाणि सन्ति भूस्थावरादीनि धनानि सन्ति ।
अद्याष्टमं वासरमाप्तमृत्योर्जीवो गिरिग्रामककन्दरस्थः ॥ २८ ॥
3.19.10-13
The Goddess said: Seeing that King, the brahmin thought, “Oh, how wonderful is kingship! It shines with every kind of good fortune.” “When will I become a king who fills all ten directions with foot-soldiers, chariots, elephants, horses, flags, umbrellas and yak-tail fans?” “When will the breezes, fragrant with the pollen of kunda flowers, drink the drops of sweat from the love-play of the women in my inner apartments?” “When will I make the faces of women shine white like the rising moon with camphor and with my fame that fills all directions?”
3.19.14–17
From that moment the brahmin became full of strong desire. Yet he remained devoted to his own dharma every day, without laziness, until the end of his life; Just as frost destroys a lotus or water rots something slowly, old age came and made the brahmin frail; When death was near, his wife became pale and withered, like a creeper that loses its flowers in summer out of fear of the heat; That wife worshipped me (Goddess) and, knowing that immortality is almost impossible to get, she asked for this boon just as you once did.
3.19.18
“O Goddess, after my husband dies, let his soul remain in our house itself.” I granted her exactly that wish.
3.19.19–23
In the course of time the brahmin died. His soul stayed in the very same house, in the form of sky (invisible); Because of his earlier intense wish, he himself became a mighty king with a body made only of sky (subtle body); He became a king whose throne conquered all others by glory, whose heat conquered the heavens, whose kindness protected the underworld, a conqueror of the three worlds; He was like world-destroying fire to enemy kings, like the god of love to women, like Mount Meru to the winds of pleasures, like the sun to the lotuses of virtuous women; He became the mirror of all scriptures, a wish-fulfilling tree to those who asked for anything, a foot-stool for the best brahmins, and the full-moon light of dharma that gives nectar-like joy.
3.19.24–27
In the space inside his own house, in his mind-made sky-self, while the brahmin’s physical body had become a corpse with an elemental body, his brahmin wife became completely withered with grief. She became like a dry bean-pod and her heart broke in two. She gave up her gross body along with her husband and, in her subtle (ātivāhika) body, went far away and reached her husband. Following her husband like a river flowing into a trench, she reached him and became free from sorrow, like a blossom in spring.
3.19.28
That brahmin now has palaces, immovable properties and wealth on earth. Today is the eighth day since he died, and his soul is staying in a mountain cave village.
Summary of the Teachings:
These verses teach the immense power of saṅkalpa (strong mental resolve or imagination). A poor brahmin, simply by seeing a king and intensely imagining royal life, plants a Seed in his Consciousness that completely changes his next birth. Even though he continues his ordinary duties, the wish remains alive inside him. The story shows that whatever we strongly and repeatedly think about with feeling shapes our future reality.
The second teaching is that death is not the end. When the brahmin dies, his strong desire does not die with the body; it instantly creates a subtle sky-like body and he becomes the King he dreamed of. This proves that the mind and its desires are more Real and lasting than the physical body. The gross body falls away, but the mind-made body continues and can immediately enjoy or suffer the fruits of past thoughts.
Third, the wife’s love and grief are so strong that she too discards her physical body and joins her husband in the subtle realm. Her single-pointed wish to remain with her husband is granted by the Goddess. This illustrates that pure love and devotion have the same creative power as any other intense desire. Where the mind goes with full feeling, the life-force follows.
Fourth, the outer world we see is created by the King (palaces, wealth, kingdom) is actually produced by the dead brahmin’s mind alone while his corpse lies in the hut.
Everything magnificent that people see and touch is nothing but the projection of one man’s imagination.
Therefore the whole universe is nothing but mind-stuff; there is no solid matter independent of Consciousness.
Finally, the story reminds us to be extremely careful about what we desire and imagine, because every strong thought will certainly bear fruit, either in this life or immediately after death. A single intense daydream can create an entire kingdom or an entire hell. Real Freedom lies not in fulfilling desires but in dropping all identification with desire itself.
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