Posts
Yoga Vashishtha 3.25.1–14
(Modern science views Earth as a globe with Jambudvipa as Eurasia or the Eurasian landmass and Meru as the Himalayas)
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच ।
नभःस्थलाद्गिरिग्रामं गच्छन्त्यौ कंचिदेव ते ।
ज्ञप्तिचित्तस्थितं भूमितलं ददृशतुः स्त्रियौ ॥ १ ॥
ब्रह्माण्डनरहृत्पद्मं दिगष्टकदलं बृहत्।
गिरिकेसरसंबाधं स्वामोदभरसुन्दरम् ॥ २ ॥
सरित्केसरिकानालमध्येऽवश्यायबिन्दुकम् ।
शर्वरिभ्रमरीभ्रान्तं भूतौघमशकाकुलम् ॥ ३ ॥
अन्तर्गुणगणाकीर्णं सुरन्ध्रैः सुषिरैर्वृतम्।
उह्यमानपयःपूरैर्दिवसालोककान्तिमत् ॥ ४ ॥
रसार्द्रं खे भ्रमद्धंसं रात्रिसंकोचभाजनम्।
पातालपङ्कनिर्मग्ननागनाथमृणालकम् ॥ ५ ॥
कदाचिदास्पदाम्भोधिकम्पकम्पितदिग्दलम् ।
अधोनालगतानन्तदैत्यदानवकण्टकम् ॥ ६ ॥
असुरस्त्रैणवल्लर्या संभोगसुकुमारया ।
प्राप्यभूभृन्महाबीजहृदयं भूतबीजया ॥ ७ ॥
जम्बूद्वीप इति ख्यातां विपुलां तत्र कर्णिकाम् ।
सरित्केसरिकानाला नगरग्रामकेसराम् ॥ ८ ॥
कुलशैलेश्वरोत्तुङ्गबीजसप्तकसुन्दरीम् ।
मध्यस्थोच्चमहामेरुबीजाक्रान्तनभस्थलीम् ॥ ९ ॥
सरःप्रालेयकणिकां वनजङ्गलधूलिकाम् ।
स्थलेष्वामण्डलान्तस्थजनजालालिमण्डलाम् ॥ १० ॥
तां योजनशताकारैः प्रतिराकं प्रबोधिभिः ।
सागरैर्भ्रमरैर्व्याप्ता दिक्वतुष्टयशालिभिः ॥ ११ ॥
दिग्दलाष्टकविश्रान्तससुराम्भोधिषट्पदाम् ।
भ्रातृभिर्नवभिर्भूपैर्नवधा परिकल्पिताम् ॥ १२ ॥
लक्षयोजनविस्तीर्णामाकीर्णां च रजोलवैः ।
नानाजनपदव्यूहस्थिरावश्यायसीकराम् ॥ १३ ॥
द्वीपात्तु द्विगुणं मानं लवणार्णवलेखया।
दधत्या वलितां बाह्ये प्रकोष्ठमिव कम्बुना ॥ १४ ॥
Maharishi Vashishta continued:
3.25.1
The two women, traveling from the sky to a mountain village somewhere, saw the earth situated in Pure Consciousness.
3.25.2
A vast lotus-like structure in the heart of the earth-lord, with eight directional petals, crowded with mountain filaments, beautiful with its own fragrance.
3.25.3
With rivers as filament tubes, a drop of dew in the center, buzzing with the bee-like destroyer, full of multitudes of beings like insects.
3.25.4
Filled inside with groups of qualities, covered with pores as openings, carried by floods of water, shining with the light of days.
3.25.5
Moist with essence in the sky, with wandering swan-like days, container of night contraction, lotus stalk sunk in the mud of netherworlds with lord of serpents.
3.25.6
Sometimes shaken by the trembling of oceanic petals, with endless demons and asuras as thorns in the lower stalk.
3.25.7
Reaching the heart of the great seed of the earth-lord through tender enjoyment with the creeper-like asura women, by the living seed.
3.25.8
The large pericarp there, known as Jambudvipa (the central island-continent named after the rose-apple tree), with rivers as filament tubes, cities and villages as filaments.
3.25.9
Beautiful with seven high island-continents as mountain lords' seeds, with the central high Meru conquering the sky region.
3.25.10
With lake snow particles, forest and jungle dust, surrounded by circles of people in the plains within the orb.
3.25.11
Covered with oceans as bees in four directions, awakened by hundreds of yojanas in each direction.
3.25.12
Resting on eight directional petals, with gods and oceans as bees, imagined in nine ways by nine brother kings.
3.25.13
Spread over a lakh yojanas, scattered with dust particles, with steady showers in various countries and arrays.
3.25.14
Outside, encircled by the salty ocean line, twice the measure of the island, like an armlet coiled with a conch.
Summary of the Teachings:
These verses from Yoga Vasistha chapter 3.25 describe the earth (Bhu-mandala or the earthly plane) as a gigantic lotus flower, drawing from traditional Puranic cosmology.
The central pericarp is Jambudvipa, the innermost island-continent where humans live, surrounded by the salty ocean (Lavana Samudra). Jambudvipa often corresponds to Asia or the known ancient world centered on India, with Bharata-varsha (one of its nine divisions) representing the Indian subcontinent.
The lotus has seven prominent "seeds" or high continents (dvipas) likened to mountain lords, referring to the seven concentric island-continents in Puranic geography: Jambudvipa (central), Plakshadvipa, Shalmalidvipa, Kushadvipa, Kraunchadvipa, Shakadvipa, and Pushkaradvipa. These are separated by seven oceans of increasing size: salty water, sugarcane juice, wine, ghee, curd, milk, and fresh water. In modern terms, these are symbolic or mythical; no direct geographical matches exist beyond the innermost salty ocean possibly evoking the world's oceans surrounding landmasses.
Mount Meru stands as the tall central filament dominating the sky, the cosmic axis at the heart of Jambudvipa. Rivers act as tubes, mountains as filaments, days as swans, oceans as buzzing bees, and netherworlds (patala) as the submerged stalk with demons as thorns. This organic imagery connects natural and cosmic elements, showing the earth's interconnected structure.
The description extends to a vast scale: Jambudvipa spans 100,000 yojanas (ancient units), with the full structure reaching a lakh yojanas or more, encircled by the double-sized salty ocean. The "nine ways imagined by nine brother kings" may allude to Jambudvipa's nine varshas (regions). Modern science views Earth as a globe without concentric continents, but some interpretations map Jambudvipa to Eurasia or the Eurasian landmass with Meru as the Pamirs or Himalayas.
Ultimately, this metaphorical lotus teaches Advaita Vedanta: the seemingly vast, diverse earth—with its islands, oceans, mountains, and beings—is illusory, a projection arising in Pure Consciousness (chitta). Like a transient lotus in a pond, the world lacks independent Reality; Realizing this non-dual Truth liberates one from identification with the ephemeral forms, leading to abiding in Eternal Brahm.
No comments:
Post a Comment