Chapter 3.40, Verses 55–64

Yoga Vashishtha 3.40.55–64

(These verses emphasize the infinite and transient nature of manifested beings and worlds within the vast expanse of consciousness. Innumerable creators, Gods, and perceivers of Cosmic structures arise, exist briefly, and dissolve, like fleeting visions)

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच ।

कोटयो ब्रह्मरुद्रेन्द्रमरुद्विष्णुविवस्वताम् ।

गिर्यब्धिमण्डलद्वीपलोकान्तरदृशां गताः ॥ ५५ ॥

याता यास्यन्ति यान्त्येता दृष्टयो नष्टरूपिणीः ।

या ब्रह्मण्युपबृंहाढ्यास्ताः के गणयितुं क्षमाः ॥ ५६ ॥

एवं कुड्यमयं विश्वं नास्त्येव मननादृते।

मनने चलमेवान्तस्तदिदानीं विचारय ॥ ५७ ॥

यदेव तच्चिदाकाशं तदेव मननं स्मृतम्।

यदेव च चिदाकाशं तदेव परमं पदम् ॥ ५८ ॥

यदेवाम्बु स आवर्तो नत्वस्यावर्त वस्तु सन् ।

द्रष्टैवास्ते दृश्यमिव दृश्यं नत्वस्ति वस्तु सत् ॥ ५९ ॥

चिद्व्योम्नो भूतनभसि कचनं यन्मणेरिव।

तज्जगद्भाविनानासत्तत्त्वं श्वभ्रमिवाम्बरे ॥ ६० ॥

मद्बुद्धार्थो जगच्छब्दो विद्यते परमामृतम् ।

त्वद्बुद्धारर्थस्तु नास्त्येव त्वमहंशब्दकादपि ॥ ६१ ॥

तस्माल्लीलासरस्वत्यावाकाशवपुषौ स्थिते ।

सर्वगे परमात्माच्छे सर्वत्राप्रतिघेऽनघे ॥ ६२ ॥

यत्र यत्र सदा व्योम्नि यथाकामं यथेप्सितम् ।

उदयं कुरुतस्तेन तद्गेहेऽस्ति गतिस्तयोः ॥ ६३ ॥

सर्वत्र संभवति चिद्गगनं तदत्र सद्वेदनं कलनमामननं विसारि ।

तच्चातिवाहिकमिहाहुरकुड्यमेव देहं कथं क इव तं वद किं रुणद्धि ॥ ६४ ॥

Maharishi Vasishta said:

3.40.55–60

> Countless Brahmas, Rudras, Indras, Maruts, Vishnus, suns, and beings who perceive mountains, oceans, continents, islands, and other worlds have come and gone. 

> These perceptions come, go, and pass away, losing their forms. Those that are nourished and expanded in Brahman—who can count them? 

> Thus, this world, which seems solid like a wall, does not exist at all except through thought. It moves only in thought within. Reflect on this now. 

> What is called Pure Consciousness-Space is itself known as thought. And that very Consciousness-Space is the Supreme State. 

> Just as water is real but the whirlpool in it is not a separate real thing, the seer alone exists, appearing as if seeing an object; but the seen object has no real existence. 

> The appearance of the world in the Space of Consciousness, like a shine in a gem, or like the notion of many things in empty sky, is the unreal imagination of future existence. 

3.40.61–64

> The word "world" exists only in my understanding as supreme nectar (bliss); but in your understanding, it does not exist at all—not even from words like "I" and "you." 

> Therefore, Lila and Sarasvati, having bodies of space, exist in the supreme Self, which is all-pervading, clear, unobstructed everywhere, and sinless.

> Wherever in Space they always arise as they wish and desire, there is their abode and movement.

> Consciousness-sky is everywhere possible; here it is True Knowledge, imagination, and pervasive thought. It is called the subtle body here, without walls. How or who blocks it—what can stop it? 

Detailed Summary of the Teachings:

No one can enumerate these endless appearances because they are mere modifications or expansions within the one unchanging Brahm. The teaching points to the illusory brevity of individual existences against the backdrop of Eternal Reality, urging recognition that multiplicity is not Ultimate.

The world appears solid and objective, yet it has no independent existence apart from mental activity or thought (manana). Without thought, there is no world—everything perceived as external is internal vibration of the mind. Vasishta instructs direct inquiry into this: the Universe is "wall-like" only due to habitual thinking, and true insight reveals its non-substantiality. This forms a core Advaitic principle that phenomena depend entirely on Consciousness for their seeming Reality.

Consciousness (cid-akasha) is equated with thought and also with the Highest State (paramam padam). There is no distinction between Pure Awareness, the process of conceptualization, and Ultimate Reality. The verse uses the analogy of water and its temporary whirlpool to illustrate that the perceiver (drashta) alone is real, while the perceived (drishya) lacks independent substance. The world is like an unreal appearance projected onto consciousness, without any true "thingness."

The world exists only as a notion in individual minds—beautiful and blissful in one perspective (as supreme nectar), yet utterly nonexistent in enlightened understanding, including even basic dualistic notions like "I" and "you." This highlights how reality shifts with Realization: ignorance gives rise to perceived multiplicity and solidity, while Knowledge dissolves it completely into non-dual Awareness.

Finally, enlightened beings like Lila and Sarasvati, embodied as Pure Space, abide freely in the all-pervading, pure, and flawless Supreme Self. 

Consciousness can manifest anywhere as desired, without obstruction, as it is inherently subtle, wall-less, and limitless. Nothing can hinder it, as it is the very substratum of all experience. The teaching culminates in the freedom of the Self, where knowledge, imagination, and subtle existence expand boundlessly, affirming liberation as unrestricted Being.