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Yoga Vashishtha 3.96.1–15
(The mind)
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।
मनो हि भावनामात्रं भावना स्पन्दधर्मिणी।
क्रिया तद्भावितारूपं फलं सर्वोऽनुधावति ॥ १॥
श्रीराम उवाच।
विस्तरेण मम ब्रह्मन् जडस्याप्यजडाकृतेः।
रूपमारूढसंकल्पं मनसो वक्तुमर्हसि ॥ २॥
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।
अनन्तस्यात्मतत्त्वस्य सर्वशक्तेर्महात्मनः।
संकल्पशक्ति रचितं यद्रूपं तन्मनो विदुः ॥ ३॥
भावः सदसतोर्मध्ये नृणां चलति यश्चलः।
कलनोन्मुखतां यातस्तद्रूपं मनसो विदुः ॥ ४॥
नाहं वेदावभासात्मा कुर्वाणोऽस्मीति निश्चयः।
तस्मादेकान्तकलनस्तद्रूपं मनसो विदुः ॥ ५॥
कल्पनात्मिकया कर्मशक्त्या विरहितं मनः।
न संभवति लोकेऽस्मिन्गुणहीनो गुणी यथा ॥ ६॥
यथा वह्न्यौष्ण्ययोः सत्ता न संभवति भिन्नयोः।
तथैव कर्ममनसोस्तथात्ममनसोरपि ॥ ७॥
स्वेनैव चित्तरूपेण कर्मणा फलधर्मिणा।
संकल्पैकशरीरेण नानाविस्तरशालिना ॥ ८॥
इदं ततमनेकात्म मायामयमकारणम् ।
विश्वं विगतविन्यासं वासनाकल्पनाकुलम् ॥ ९॥
या येन वासना यत्र सतेवारोपिता यथा।
सा तेन फलसूस्तत्र तदेव प्राप्यते तथा ॥ १०॥
कर्म बीजं मनःस्पन्दः कथ्यतेऽथानुभूयते।
क्रियास्तु विविधास्तस्य शाखाश्चित्रफलास्तरोः ॥ ११ ॥
मनो यदनुसंधत्ते तत्कर्मेन्द्रियवृत्तयः।
सर्वाः संपादयन्त्येतास्तस्मात्कर्म मनः स्मृतम् ॥ १२॥
मनो बुद्धिरहंकारश्चित्तं कर्माथ कल्पना।
संसृतिर्वासना विद्या प्रयत्नः स्मृतिरेव च ॥ १३॥
मनो बुद्धिरहंकारश्चित्तं कर्माथ कल्पना।
संसृतिर्वासना विद्या प्रयत्नः स्मृतिरेव च ॥ १३॥
इन्द्रियं प्रकृतिर्माया क्रिया चेतीतरा अपि।
चित्राः शब्दोक्तयो ब्रह्मन्संसारभ्रमहेतवः ॥ १४॥
काकतालीययोगेन त्यक्तस्फारदृगाकृतेः।
चितेश्चेत्यानुपातिन्याः कृताः पर्यायवृत्तयः ॥ १५॥
Sage Vashishta said:
3.96.1
> The mind is nothing but imagination. Imagination has the nature of movement. Action takes the form shaped by that imagination, and everyone runs after the results.
Sriram asked:
3.96.2
> O Brahman, please explain to me in detail the nature of the mind, which though dull appears as if Conscious and is filled with strong resolve.
Sage Vashishta said:
3.96.3–8
> Know that the form created by the power of resolve of the Infinite, all-powerful Supreme Self is called the mind.
> That restless State which moves among people between the Real and the unreal, and turns toward calculation and thought, is known as the form of the mind.
> The firm idea “I am not the Self shown by the Vedas; I am the doer” – this exclusive thinking is known as the form of the mind.
> The mind without the imaginative power of action cannot exist in this world, just as a person with qualities cannot exist without those qualities.
> Just as fire and its heat cannot exist separately, so action and mind cannot be separate, nor can the Self and the mind.
> By its own Nature as mind, action bears fruits; it has resolve as its single body and spreads out in many forms.
3.96.9–15
> This Universe, spread out in many forms, is made of illusion, without Real Cause, without fixed order, and is full of latent desires and imaginings.
> Whatever latent desire is projected by someone in any place as if Real, that same desire yields its fruit there, and that alone is obtained.
> The seed of action is the movement of the mind; this is said and then experienced. Its many actions are like the branches of a tree that bear varied fruits.
> Whatever the mind thinks of, all the functions of the organs of action accomplish it. Therefore the mind itself is called action.
> Mind, intellect, ego, thought, action, imagination, the cycle of birth and death, latent desire, knowledge, effort, and memory – these are all the same.
> Sense organs, nature, illusion, action, and other such varied names, O Brahman, are the causes of the delusion of Worldly Existence.
> By pure chance, like a crow landing on a palm tree and a fruit falling, when Infinite Consciousness loses its wide vision and follows objects, these alternative names and functions are created.
Summary of the Teachings:
These verses teach that the mind is not a solid thing but pure imagination or feeling. This imagination is always moving, and from it arise all actions and their results. People chase the fruits of their actions because those fruits are shaped by the mind’s own ideas. The mind appears active and conscious even though it is essentially dull matter, because it is filled with strong resolve and thought.
The mind arises from the power of resolve of the Infinite Supreme Self. It is the restless movement of thought that swings between what is real and what is not real. The key error of the mind is the firm belief “I am the doer and not the Pure Self taught in the scriptures.” Without the power of imaginative action the mind cannot exist, just as fire cannot exist without heat. Action, mind, and the Self are inseparable.
The whole Universe is an expansion of this mind. It is made of illusion, has no real independent Cause, and is driven by latent desires and mental pictures. Whatever desire a person plants in the mind as if it were Real, that desire alone produces the matching result in that person’s experience. The movement of the mind is the seed of all action; the many kinds of deeds are only its branches that bear different fruits.
Whatever the mind decides, the organs of action carry out. Therefore the mind itself is action. Names such as mind, intellect, ego, thought, action, imagination, the cycle of rebirth, desire, knowledge, effort, memory, senses, nature, and illusion are only different words for the same mental process. All these names create the confusion of worldly life.
These many names and functions arise by pure accident when Pure Consciousness momentarily forgets its own nature and begins to follow objects. The teaching is that the world and all its activities are only the play of mind. By understanding this, one can stop identifying with the restless mind and rest in the True Self.
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