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Yoga Vashishtha 3.43.35–47
(These verses vividly describe the horrors of a great battle and the devastating fire consuming everything, as narrated by Sage Vasishta)
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच ।
हा हा हागच्छ ते शीघ्रमेतदङ्गारमन्दिरम् ।
इतः प्रवृत्तं पतितुं सुमेरुः प्रलये यथा ॥ ३५ ॥
अहो शरशिलाशक्तिकुन्तप्रासासिहेतयः।
जालसंध्याभ्रपटलं विशन्ति शलभा इव ॥ ३६ ॥
हेतिप्रवाहा ज्वलनं नभस्यन्त्यां विशन्त्यहो ।
वडवानलमुज्वालमर्णःपूरा इवार्णवात् ॥ ३७ ॥
धूमायन्ति महाभ्राणि ज्वालाः शिखरिकोटिषु ।
सरसान्यपि शुष्यन्ति हृदयानीव रागिणाम् ॥ ३८ ॥
आलानत्वरुषेवैता दन्तिभिर्वृक्षपङ्क्तयः ।
स्फुरत्कटकटारावं पात्यन्ते कृतचीत्कृतैः ॥ ३९ ॥
पुष्टषुष्पफलस्कन्धा गतश्रीका गृहद्रुमाः।
गता निर्दग्धसर्वस्वा गृहस्था इव दीनताम् ॥ ४० ॥
मातापितृविनिर्मुक्ता बालकास्तिमिरावलीम् ।
मग्नन्तोऽङ्गेषुरथ्यासु कुड्यपातेन हा हताः ॥ ४१ ॥
वातविद्रावितात्त्रस्यन्कीरण्यो रणमूर्धनि ।
पतदङ्गारकागारभारिणः कटुकूजितम् ॥ ४२ ॥
हा कष्टमसिनिर्भिन्ने स्कन्धे सन्नदृढोल्मुके ।
पतितो यन्त्रपाषाणः पुरुष्स्याशनिर्यथा ॥ ४३ ॥
गवाश्वमहिषेभोष्ट्रश्वशृगालेडकैरहो ।
घोरै रणमिवारब्धं मार्गरोधकमाकुलैः ॥ ४४ ॥
पटैः पटपटाशब्दजलजालालिमालितैः।
आक्रन्दन्त्यः स्त्रियो यान्ति स्थलपद्माचिता इव ॥ ४५ ॥
स्त्रीणां ज्वालालवाः पश्य लिहन्त्यलकवल्लरीः ।
कुर्वन्तोऽशोकपुष्पाभां करभा इव पन्नगीः ॥ ४६ ॥
हा हा हरिणशावाक्ष्याः पक्षलक्षणपक्ष्मसु ।
कुमार्गेष्विव विश्रान्तिमेति कार्शानवी शिखा ॥ ४७ ॥
Maharishi Vashishta continued:
3.43.35–40
> Oh no! Come quickly to this house of glowing coals! Just as Mount Meru falls at the time of cosmic dissolution, everything here is rushing to destruction.
> Alas! Arrows, stones, spears, lances, darts, swords, and other weapons are entering the sky like moths rushing into a net of evening clouds.
> Streams of weapons are pouring into the burning sky. Oh wonder! They enter like floods of ocean waves rushing into the submarine fire.
> Huge clouds are smoking, flames rise on mountain peaks. Even watery places dry up, just like the hearts of passionate people.
> These rows of trees are uprooted like posts tied to angry elephants. They fall with loud cracking sounds and cries of distress.
> Trees in houses, once full of flowers, fruits, and leaves, have lost their beauty. They stand burnt and ruined, like householders reduced to poverty.
3.43.41–47
> Children abandoned by parents sink into the darkness of night. Alas! They are killed as walls collapse on them in the streets.
> Sparks fly in the wind at the battlefield's front. They carry burning coals with painful cries.
> Alas! When a shoulder is cut by a sword and the arm falls with a thud, a heavy millstone drops on a man like lightning striking him.
> Cows, horses, buffaloes, camels, dogs, jackals, and sheep create terror. The roads are blocked in chaos, as if a fierce battle has begun.
> Women run away crying, their clothes flapping with loud sounds like waves of water. They look like lotuses on land covered with petals.
> See how sparks of fire lick the curly hair of women. They make their faces glow red like ashoka flowers, as if young elephants tease snakes.
> Alas! Alas! The cruel flame rests on the long eyelashes of doe-eyed young women, like fire finding rest on forbidden paths.
Detailed summary of teachings:
These verses form part of a larger description in the Yoga Vasishta where Sage Vasishta illustrates the illusory and transient nature of the world through dramatic scenes of war and destruction. The intense imagery of fire, weapons, falling trees, crying children, and suffering women highlights how everything in the material world—beauty, life, possessions, and relationships—is fragile and destined to perish. This serves as a powerful reminder that clinging to worldly objects and pleasures leads only to sorrow.
The teachings emphasize the impermanence (anitya) of all phenomena. Just as a grand battle or cosmic fire can reduce everything to ashes in moments, human life and its attachments vanish quickly. The world appears real and attractive, but it is like a dream or mirage—full of apparent activity yet ultimately empty and destructive when seen clearly.
Vasishta uses this terrifying spectacle to awaken detachment (vairagya). By showing the horrors of destruction—innocent children dying, beautiful women suffering, nature ruined—the text urges the seeker to recognize the futility of ego-driven pursuits, desires, and identifications with the body or family. True peace cannot come from the unstable world but only from turning inward.
The verses point to the non-dual Reality (advaita) underlying appearances. The fire and chaos symbolize the burning away of ignorance through Knowledge. When the mind sees the world as unreal and transient, like these scenes of ruin, it ceases to be bound by it. Liberation arises from Realizing that the Self remains untouched by all this apparent destruction.
Ultimately, these verses teach dispassion and self-inquiry as the path to Freedom. They warn against the delusion of permanence in a world full of change and suffering, encouraging the aspirant to seek the Eternal Truth beyond birth, death, and worldly turmoil. This leads to the Highest Peace, untouched by the flames of samsara.
