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Yoga Vashishtha 3.44.26–40
(The core teaching in these verses revolves around the illusory nature of birth, death, and the entire creation, presented by the Goddess to Sriram as a profound insight)
श्रीदेव्युवाच ।
मृतिर्जन्मन्यसद्रूपा मृत्यां जन्माप्यसन्मयम् ।
विशरेद्विशरारुत्वादनुभूतेश्च राघव ॥ २६ ॥
एवं न सन्नासदिदं भ्रान्तिमात्रं विभासते ।
महाकल्पान्तसंपत्तावप्यद्याथ युगेऽनघ ॥ २७ ॥
न कदाचन यन्नास्ति तद्ब्रह्मैवास्ति तज्जगत् ।
तस्मिन्मध्ये कचन्तीमा भ्रान्तयः सृष्टिनामिकाः ॥ २८ ॥
व्योम्नि केशोण्ड्रकानीव न कचन्तीव वस्तुतः ।
यथा तरङ्गा जलधौ तथेमाः सृष्टयः परे ॥ २९ ॥
उत्पत्त्योत्पत्त्य लीयन्ते रजांसीव महानिले ।
तस्माद्भ्रान्तिमयाभासे मिथ्यात्वमहमात्मनि ॥ ३० ॥
मृगतृष्णाजलचये कैवास्था सर्गभस्मनि।
भ्रान्तयश्च न तत्रान्यास्तास्तदेव परं पदम् ॥ ३१ ॥
घने तमसि यक्षाभास्तम एव न यक्षकः।
तस्माज्जन्ममृतिर्मोहो व्यामोहत्वमिदं ततम् ॥ ३२ ॥
सर्वं तत्समहाकल्पं शान्तौ यदवशिष्यते ।
नातः सत्यमिदं दृश्यं न चासत्यं कदाचन ॥ ३३ ॥
द्वयमेवैतदथवा ब्रह्म तत्रैव संभवात्।
आकाशे परमाण्वन्तर्द्रव्यादेरणुकेऽपि च ॥३४॥
जीवाणुर्यत्र तत्रेदं जगद्वेत्ति निजं वपुः ।
अग्निरौष्ण्यं यथा वेत्ति निजभावक्रमोदितम् ॥ ३५ ॥
पश्यतीदं तथैवात्मा स्वात्मभूतं विशुद्धचित् ।
यथा सूर्योदये गेहे भ्रमन्ति त्रसरेणवः ॥ ३६ ॥
तथेमे परमाकाशे ब्रह्माण्डत्रसरेणवः।
यथा वायौ स्थितः स्पन्द आमोदः शून्यमम्बरे ॥ ३७ ॥
पिण्डग्रहविनिर्मुक्तं तथा विश्वं स्थितं परे ।
भावाभावग्रहोत्सर्गस्थूलसूक्ष्मचराचराः ॥ ३८ ॥
विवर्जितस्यावयवैर्भागा ब्रह्मण ईदृशाः।
साकारस्यावबोधाय विज्ञेया भवताधुना ॥ ३९ ॥
अनन्याः स्वात्मनस्तस्य तेनानवयवा इव ।
यथास्थितमिदं विश्वं निजभावक्रमोदितम् ॥ ४० ॥
Goddess Saraswati continued:
3.44.26–30
> Death takes an unreal form in birth, and birth becomes unreal in death. They vanish and appear like waves, O Rama, due to their illusory nature and past experiences.
> In this way, what is neither Real nor unreal shines only as a mistake of the mind. Even at the end of a great Cosmic cycle, it remains the same today, O Pure One.
> What never truly exists is Brahm itself—that alone is the world. In its midst, these errors called "Creations" arise.
> Just like imaginary hairs seen in the sky or waves on the ocean—these Creations are not real at all.
> They keep arising and dissolving, like particles of dust in a mighty wind. So, in this show of illusion, there is no truth in the Self or the soul.
3.44.31–36
> What lasting State is there in the gathered water of a desert mirage for the ashes of creation? No other errors exist there—that itself is the Highest Goal.
> In thick darkness, the seeming forms of spirits are just the darkness, not actual spirits. Thus, birth and death are pure confusion, and this whole world is steeped in that confusion.
> Everything in that vast Cosmic age dissolves into Peace, leaving only what remains. From here, this seen world is not real, nor has anything unreal ever existed.
> Or, both Real and unreal are the same—Brahm—because it alone exists everywhere. Even in the Space inside the tiniest atom, in a drop of liquid, or in the smallest particle.
> Wherever the soul-atom is, there the world knows itself as its own form. Just as fire knows its heat, prompted by its natural way of being.
> In the same way, the Pure Conscious Self sees this world as part of itself. Like flies buzzing around in a house at sunrise.
3.44.37–40
> So, these Universes are like flies in the supreme space of Brahm. Like a scent vibrating in the air, existing in the empty sky.
> Freed from the pull of planets and lumps of matter, the whole Universe rests in the Ultimate Reality. All gross and subtle things, moving and still, come from letting go of ideas of being and non-being.
> These are like parts of the part-less Brahm, meant to help understand the formed world. Know them now as tools for grasping the truth with form.
> They are nothing other than its own self, so they seem part-less like it. This world stands as it does, guided by its own natural flow.
Summary of the Teachings:
Birth and death are not opposite realities but mere appearances born from ignorance, vanishing like waves on water when scrutinized. They lack inherent existence, much like a mirage's water that promises but never delivers. This illusion persists across cosmic cycles, unchanged in its falsity, emphasizing that True Reality —Brahm—is Eternal and undivided. The world we perceive is not a separate entity but a fleeting error in Consciousness, urging the seeker to recognize this to transcend cyclic suffering.
Delving deeper, the verses illustrate how creation (srishti) is nothing but a series of mental errors or delusions arising within the One Unchanging Brahm. Just as one might imagine hairs floating in the vast sky or waves disturbing the calm ocean, these "Creations" have no substance; they are projections without foundation. They repeatedly emerge and dissolve, akin to dust whirled by wind, highlighting the transient and dream-like quality of all phenomena. The Self (atman) is Pure, partl-ess Consciousness, and any notion of division or multiplicity is a superimposition. By understanding this, the practitioner realizes that clinging to appearances only perpetuates bondage, while discernment reveals the underlying unity.
A key metaphor here is the desert mirage, symbolizing the instability of worldly pursuits and the "ashes" of Creation —remnants of what never truly burned. No real stability or other illusions exist beyond this grand delusion; the Supreme State is the dissolution of all such fictions into Pure Awareness. Darkness itself masquerades as forms (like spirits), teaching that birth-death cycles are not events but intensified layers of ignorance. The visible Universe, spanning eons, ultimately rests in tranquil void, neither truly existent nor non-existent from the absolute viewpoint. This invites a shift from dualistic seeing to non-dual Knowing, where the Seer and seen merge.
The teachings extend to the atomic level, affirming Brahm's omnipresence: even in the infinitesimal spaces within particles or drops, the soul-atom (jiva) perceives the macrocosm as its extension, much like fire inherently knows its warmth. The Self, as Pure chit (Consciousness), mirrors this by envisioning the world as its own reflection, not alien. Analogies of sunrise-flies in a room or airborne scents in emptiness portray universes as mere vibrations in Infinite Space —effortless, ungraspable movements without creator or created. This underscores liberation through non-grasping: releasing notions of entity and non-entity allows gross-subtle, mobile-immobile forms to reveal their groundless play.
Finally, these verses culminate in a call to intellectual comprehension for practical wisdom. The "parts" of the part-less Brahm serve as provisional forms to aid understanding, like maps to the formless. The world, in its apparent stance, is self-prompted by innate tendencies, yet inseparable from the Self. Nothing is other than this singular Reality; multiplicity is apparent, not actual. Thus, the teaching synthesizes inquiry and surrender: by knowing illusions as such, one abides in the supreme, free from the flux of samsara, embodying the peace that transcends all Cosmic dramas.
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