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Yoga Vashishtha 3.91.9–22
(These verses present Brahmadev's response after hearing the Sun’s counsel about the expansive nature of Space, Mind, and Consciousness)
ब्रह्मोवाच।
मया संचिन्त्य सुचिरमिदमुक्तं महामुने।
युक्तमुक्तं त्वया भानो विततं हि किलाम्बरम् ॥ ९॥
मनश्च विततं वापि चिदाकाशश्च विस्तृतः।
तद्यथाभिमतं सर्गं नित्यकर्म करोम्यहम् ॥ १०॥
कल्पयामि बहून्याशु भूतजालानि भास्कर।
तत्त्वमेवाशु भगवन्प्रथमो मे मनुर्भव ॥ ११॥
कुरु सर्गं यथाकामं मया समभिचोदितः।
अथैतत्स महातेजा मम वाक्यं प्रभाकरः ॥ १२॥
अङ्गीकृत्य द्विधात्मानं चकार तपतांवर।
एकेन प्राक्तनेनास्मिन्वपुषा सूर्यतां गतः ॥ १३॥
व्योमाध्वगतया सर्गे ततान दिवसावलिम्।
मन्मनुत्वं द्वितीयेन कृत्वा स्ववपुषा क्षणात् ॥ १४॥
ससर्ज सकलां सृष्टिं तां तामभिमतां मम ॥ १५॥
एतत्ते कथितं सर्वं वसिष्ठमनसो मुने।
स्वरूपं सर्वकृत्त्वं च शक्तत्वं च महात्मनः ॥ १६॥
प्रतिभासमुपायाति यद्यदस्य हि चेतसः।
तत्तत्प्रकटतामेति स्थैर्यं सफलतामपि ॥ १७॥
सामान्यब्राह्मणा भूत्वा प्रतिभासवशात्किल ।
ऐन्दवा ब्रह्मतां याता मनसः पश्य शक्तताम् ॥ १८॥
यथा चैन्दवजीवास्ते चित्रत्वाद्ब्रह्मतां गताः।
वयं तथैव चिद्भावाच्चित्तत्वाद्ब्रह्मतां गताः ॥ १९॥
चित्तं हि प्रतिभासात्म यच्च तत्प्रतिभासनम्।
तदिदं भाति देहादि स्वान्तं नान्यास्ति देहदृक् ॥ २०॥
चित्तमात्मचमत्कारं तच्च तत्कुरुते स्वतः।
यथावत्संभवं स्वात्मन्येवान्तर्मरिचादिवत् ॥ २१॥
तदेतच्चित्तवद्भातमातिवाहिकनामकम्।
तदेवोदाहरन्त्येवं देहनाम्ना घनभ्रमम् ॥ २२॥
Brahmdev said:
3.91.9–15
> After long reflection, O great Sage, I said this: You have spoken rightly, O Sun, for the sky is indeed vast and expansive.
> The mind too is expansive, and the Space of Consciousness is also vast. Therefore I continually perform Creation according to my Will.
> O Sun, I quickly form many groups of Beings. Therefore, O Lord, become at once my first Manu.
> Create the World as you wish, being urged by me. Then that highly radiant Sun accepted my words.
> O foremost among the shining ones, having agreed, he divided his own self into two. With one former body he became the Sun in this Creation.
> Moving along the path of the sky in creation, he stretched out the succession of days. Instantly, with his second body, he assumed the role of my Manu.
> He created the entire Creation, each part according to my desire.
3.91.16–22
> O Sage of the mind of Vasistha, all this has been told to you: the True Nature, the all-creating power, and the potency of the Great Self.
> Whatever reflection arises in this mind becomes manifest, firm, and successful.
> Ordinary brahmins, under the power of mental reflection, became the Aindavas and attained the State of Brahma. Behold the power of the mind.
> Just as those Aindava Beings, through the vividness of their imagination, attained Brahma-hood, so we too, through our Nature as Consciousness and mind, have attained Brahma-hood.
> The mind is of the nature of reflection. Whatever that reflection is, that appears as this body and so on. There is no other perception of the body apart from one’s own inner Self.
> The mind is the wonder of the Self, and it produces that by itself. As far as possible, it does so within its own Self, like the pungency inherent in pepper.
> That which appears like the mind is called the subtle (ativahika) body. The same, under dense delusion, is spoken of by the name of the (gross) body.
Summary of the Teachings:
Brahmadev acknowledges the vastness of the sky, the mind, and the Space of Pure Awareness, and therefore resolves to continue his eternal work of Creation without hindrance. He appoints the Sun as his first Manu, empowering him to bring forth all Beings according to desire. The Sun divides himself into two aspects: one remains as the visible sun traversing the heavens and marking the succession of days, while the other instantly assumes the role of Manu and produces the entire manifold Creation exactly as Brahmadev wished. This narrative illustrates the seamless cooperation between Divine Will and its executive power in bringing Worlds into being.
The teaching then turns to the fundamental nature and power of the mind. Whatever image or idea arises as a reflection in the mind promptly becomes visible, stable, and effective in outward experience. The mind is shown to be the creative instrument through which the Infinite Self expresses itself. Ordinary human Beings, by the sheer force of sustained mental conception, can rise to the status of Brahma himself, as demonstrated by the Aindava brothers who, through intense imaginative identification, attained that exalted State. In the same way, all Beings who function through Consciousness and mind share in that same potential.
The verses emphasize that the mind is essentially of the nature of reflection or appearance. The body and the entire world of forms are nothing other than projections of this reflective mind; there is no independent material substance existing apart from it. The mind is described as the wondrous play or self-display of the Pure Self. Just as the sharp taste of pepper is inherent within the pepper itself and needs no external addition, so the creative power resides spontaneously within the mind and operates from within its own Being.
This creative appearance of the mind is first known as the subtle or astral body (ativahika). When the same subtle appearance becomes densified through ignorance and firm belief in solidity, it is conventionally called the gross physical body. Thus the distinction between subtle and gross is only a difference in the degree of densification of mental projection, not a difference in essential substance. The entire teaching points to the mind as the sole apparent creator and sustainer of all experience, while the underlying Reality remains the undivided Self whose power the mind merely reflects.
Taken together, these verses reveal that Creation is an unbroken expression of Consciousness through the instrument of mind. Individual identity, bodily form, and the multiplicity of Worlds are all mental constructions that appear Real only through sustained attention and belief. By recognizing the mind’s reflective and projective nature, one gains insight into the non-dual Truth that all apparent diversity is a play within the single expanse of Awareness.
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