Chapter 3.20, Verses 13–21

Yoga Vashishtha 3.20.13–21

(What we call “Reality” is only a new dream that has replaced the old one)

श्रीदेव्युवाच ।

नाहं मिथ्या वदामीदं यथावच्छृणु सुन्दरि ।

भेदनं नियतीनां हि क्रियते नास्मदादिभिः ॥ १३ ॥

विभिद्यमानामन्येन स्थापयाम्यहमेव याम् ।

मर्यादां तां मया भिन्नां कोऽपरः पालयिष्यति ॥ १४ ॥

सग्रामद्विजजीवात्मा तस्मिन्नेव स्वसद्मनि ।

व्योम्न्येवेदं महाराष्ट्रं व्योमात्मैव प्रपश्यति ॥ १५ ॥

प्राक्तनी सा स्मृतिर्लुप्ता युवयोरुदितान्यथा ।

स्वप्ने जाग्रत्स्मृतिर्यद्वदेतन्मरणमङ्गने ॥ १६ ॥

यथा स्वप्ने त्रिभुवनं संकल्पे त्रिजगद्यथा।

यथा कथार्थसंग्रामो मरुभूमौ जलं यथा ॥ १७ ॥

तस्य ब्राह्मणगेहस्य सशैलवनपत्तना ।

इयमन्तः स्थिता भूमिः संकल्पादर्शयोरिव ॥ १८ ॥

असत्यैवेयमाभाति सत्येव घनसर्गता ।

तस्मात्सत्यावभासस्य चिद्व्योम्नः कोशकोटरे ॥ १९ ॥

असत्याद्यत्समुत्पन्नं स्मृत्या नाम तदप्यसत् ।

मृगतृष्णातरङ्गिण्यां तरङ्गोऽपि न सद्यतः ॥ २० ॥

इदं त्वदीयं सदनं तद्गेहाकाशकोशगम्।

विद्धि मां त्वां च सर्वं च तच्चिद्व्योमैव केवलम् ॥ २१ ॥

3.20.13  

The Goddess said: O beautiful one, I am not speaking anything false. Listen carefully to the Truth. The boundaries of fate are not broken by me or anyone like me.

3.20.14  

I Myself am the one who, when another power tries to break the law of fate, re-establishes that very boundary. After I have broken and reset it, who else can protect it?

3.20.15  

That Brahmin soul, along with his village and all its people, remains in his own house and sees this whole region in the sky of Consciousness, just as everything appears in empty space.

3.20.16  

Your old memory has vanished and a new, different memory has arisen. O dear one, this is exactly like waking from a dream; what you now think happened is actually death (of the previous State).

3.20.17  

Just as the three worlds appear in a dream, just as the three worlds appear in mere imagination, just as a battle scene appears in a story, just as water appears in a desert mirage —

3.20.18  

In the same way, this entire earth with its mountains, forests, and cities exists only inside the imagination of that Brahmin’s house, like a reflection in a mirror.

3.20.19  

This world appears even though it is unreal, yet it shines as though it is Real and solid. Therefore, in the hollow of the sheath of the shining Consciousness-sky that appears Real,

3.20.20  

Whatever has arisen from the unreal is also unreal when remembered. Just as even a wave in a desert mirage-river has no reality at all.

3.20.21  

Know that your palace, the Inner Space of that Brahmin’s house, you yourself, me, and everything else — all of it is nothing but Pure Consciousness-space alone.

Summary of the Teachings:

The Goddess is teaching Queen Chudala and King Shikhidhvaja the highest Truth of non-duality (advaita). She explains that she never speaks falsehood and that even the laws of fate (niyati) are not truly broken by any power, including hers. Whenever something seems to violate destiny, she herself restores the boundary. This shows that everything happens within the Supreme Consciousness and nothing ever truly goes outside its control.

She then reveals the illusory nature of the entire world. The Brahmin, his village, the kingdom, mountains, forests, cities, and even the palace where the king and queen now stand — all of it exists only within the Consciousness of a single Brahmin who once lived long ago. Just as cities and countries appear in a dream or in a mirror, this whole world is merely a projection inside Pure Awareness.

Past memories disappear and new memories arise, exactly like waking from one dream and entering another. What we call “reality” is only a new dream that has replaced the old one. The three worlds, battles in stories, or water in a mirage are perfect examples: they seem Real while they last, but have no True Existence.

Ultimately everything — Real or unreal, remembered or forgotten — arises from and dissolves back into the One Infinite Consciousness (chid-akash). Even things that seem solid and lasting are like waves in a mirage river: completely non-existent. The Goddess tells them to recognise themselves, their palace, each other, and the entire creation as nothing but that one Pure Consciousness alone.

This teaching removes the last trace of duality. There is no Real world, no Real fate, no separate persons — only the shining empty sky of Awareness appearing as all these forms, like countless reflections in a single mirror.