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Yoga Vashishtha 3.89.31–40
(These verses show that physical suffering has no power over a mind completely absorbed in a single intense thought)
भानुरुवाच।
ततो भ्राष्ट्रे परिक्षिप्तावखिन्नावेवमेव तौ।
ऊचतुर्मुदितात्मानावन्योन्यस्मृतिहर्षितौ ॥ ३१॥
ग्रथितौ गजपादेषु न खिन्नावेव संस्थितौ।
एवमेवोचतुर्भूपमन्योन्यस्मृतिहर्षितौ ॥ ३२॥
कशाहतावखिन्नौ तावेवमेव किलोचतुः।
अन्यस्माच्छासनाद्राज्ञा कल्पिताच्च पुनः पुनः ॥ ३३॥
उद्धृतावूचतुः पृष्टौ तमेवार्थं पुनः पुनः।
उवाचेन्द्रो महीपालं जगन्मे दयितामयम् ॥ ३४॥
न शातनानि दुःखानि बाधन्ते किंचिदेव मे।
अस्याश्चैव जगद्राजन्सर्वं मन्मयमेव च ॥ ३५॥
तेनान्यशासनाद्दुःखं किंचिदेव न विद्यते।
मनोमात्रमहं राजन् मनो हि पुरुषः स्मृतः ॥ ३६॥
प्रपञ्चमात्रमेवायं देहो दृश्यत एव हि।
समकालप्रयुक्तेन सहसा दण्डराशिना ॥ ३७॥
वीरं मनो भेदयितुं मनागपि न शक्यते।
का नाम ता महाराज कीदृश्यः कस्य शक्तयः ॥ ३८॥
याभिर्मनांक्त भिद्यन्ते दृष्टनिश्चयवन्त्यपि।
वृद्धिमायातु वा देहो यातु वा विशरारुताम् ॥ ३९॥
भावितार्थाभिपतितं मनस्तिष्ठति पूर्ववत्।
इष्टेऽर्थे चिरमाविष्टं दधानं तत्स्थितं मनः ॥ ४०॥
Suryadev continued:
3.89.31–40
> Then the two were thrown into a frying pan, yet they remained unhurt and spoke the same words, their souls filled with joy from remembering each other.
> Tied to the feet of elephants, they still stood uninjured and said the same to the king, delighted by mutual remembrance.
> Beaten with whips, the two remained unhurt and spoke in the same way, even under other punishments the King devised again and again.
> When pulled out and questioned, they repeated the same meaning again and again. Indra said to the King: This whole world is filled with my beloved.
> No cutting pains or sufferings trouble me in the least. For her too, O King, the entire world is nothing but me.
> Therefore no pain at all arises from any other punishment. I am only mind, O King; for the mind is known as the true person.
> This body is merely an appearance that is seen. Even when suddenly struck by a mass of punishments all at once,
> the brave mind cannot be broken even a little. What are those great powers, O great King, of what kind and belonging to whom,
> by which minds that hold firm resolves are broken? Let the body grow or let it fall to pieces;
> the mind fixed on the object it contemplates remains just as before. The mind long absorbed in the desired object stays established in that State.
Summary of the teachings:
The lovers are subjected to frying, trampling by elephants, whipping and many other torments, yet they feel no pain and keep repeating the same joyful words. Their attention is fixed only on each other, so the body becomes like an empty shadow that can be struck without affecting the inner experience.
The teaching is that the True Self is closer to the mind, not the body. Indra declares that he himself is nothing but mind and that the mind is what is called the person. The body is only a fleeting appearance; any pain inflicted on it is like hitting a shadow with a stick. Because the mind is wholly occupied with the beloved, the world itself appears filled with that form, and therefore nothing external can disturb either of them.
A mind that is firmly established in one object cannot be shaken by any external force. No amount of punishment, no sudden mass of blows, can break even a little of a resolute mind. The verses ask rhetorically what powers could possibly split such a mind, implying that none exist once the mind has taken firm hold of its chosen object.
Whether the body thrives or falls apart makes no difference. The mind that has long dwelt on its desired object continues in the same State. Growth or decay of the physical form leaves the inner absorption untouched. The mind simply remains as it was, fixed and steady.
Taken together, the verses illustrate the supreme power of concentrated thought. When the mind is completely filled with one idea, external conditions lose their hold. Pain, danger and even the threat of death become irrelevant. The body may be treated in any way, yet the mind that has merged with its object stays free, joyful and unchanged. This is the practical demonstration that Consciousness, not matter, is the real seat of experience.
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