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Yoga Vashishtha 3.99.37–44
(Mind is the sole creator of its own bondage and suffering)
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।
स्ववासनोपतप्तानि सर्वाण्येव मनांसि हि।
स्वयमेव पलायन्ते गन्तुं युक्तानि तत्पदम् ॥ ३७॥
यदिदं विततं दुःखं तत्तनोति स्वयं मनः।
स्वयमेवातिखिन्नं तु पुनस्तस्मात्पलायते ॥ ३८॥
संकल्पवासनाजालैः स्वयमायाति बन्धनम्।
मनो लालामयैर्जालैः कोशकारकृमिर्यथा ॥ ३९॥
यथानर्थमवाप्नोति तथा क्रीडति चञ्चलम्।
भाविदुःखमपश्यन्स्वं दुर्लीलाभिरिवार्भकः ॥ ४०॥
अपश्यन्काष्ठरन्ध्रस्थवृषणाक्रमणं यथा।
कीलोत्पाटी कपिर्दुःखमेतीदं हि तथा मनः ॥ ४१॥
चिरपालनया चैव चिरभावनया तथा।
अभ्यासात्तुच्छतामेत्य न भूयः परिशोचति ॥ ४२॥
मनःप्रमादाद्वर्धन्ते दुःखानि गिरिकूटवत्।
तद्वशादेव नश्यन्ति सूर्यस्याग्रे हिमं यथा ॥ ४३॥
यावज्जीवमनिन्द्यया च रमते शास्त्रार्थसंजातया तुल्यं वासनया मनो हि मुनिवन्मौनेन रागादिषु।
पश्चात्पावनपावनं पदमजं तत्प्राप्य तच्छीतलं तत्संस्थेन न शोच्यते पुनरलं पुंसा महापत्स्वपि ॥ ४४॥
Sage Vasishta continued:
3.99.37–44
> All minds heated and distressed by their own latent desires themselves run away, being fit to reach that Supreme State.
> This widespread suffering is itself spread by the mind. Extremely distressed by itself, it then flees from that suffering again.
> By the nets of its own mental constructs and desires, the mind binds itself, just as a silkworm is trapped by the sticky threads of its own saliva.
> Just as it meets misfortune, so the restless mind plays about, not seeing the coming suffering, like a child lost in mischievous play.
> Not seeing how its testicles get crushed in the hole of the wood, the monkey that pulls out the peg suffers pain; in the same way this mind suffers.
> Through long nurturing and long contemplation, by steady practice the mind becomes insignificant and no longer grieves.
> From the mind’s carelessness, sufferings grow high like mountain peaks. By control of the mind alone they melt away, like snow before the sun.
> Throughout life the mind delights equally in the pure tendency born of scriptural understanding, remaining silent like a Sage toward attachments and the rest. Afterwards, attaining that purest, purifying, unborn, cool State and resting there, a person does not grieve again even in the greatest calamities.
Summary of the Teachings:
These verses teach that the mind is the sole creator of its own bondage and suffering. Every sorrow a person experiences is produced and expanded by the mind itself through its latent desires and restless mental activity. The mind first generates the pain, then feels overwhelmed by it and tries to escape, yet the escape remains incomplete because the root cause—its own tendencies—stays intact.
The mind traps itself in a web of its own making, exactly as a silkworm spins sticky threads that become its prison. Restless and playful, it pursues fleeting pleasures without noticing the future pain that follows, just as a child continues mischievous games without seeing the harm. In a still more vivid image, the mind acts like a foolish monkey that pulls a peg from a split log and thereby crushes its own sensitive parts, bringing needless agony upon itself through its own impulsive action.
Liberation does not come from flight or external change. Only long, steady practice of restraint, contemplation, and right understanding can make the troublesome tendencies of the mind grow weak and insignificant. When the mind is carefully governed, the mountains of accumulated sorrow dissolve as quickly as snow melts under the morning sun.
Therefore a person should train the mind, throughout the whole of life, to take delight only in pure tendencies that arise from the clear understanding of scriptural Truth. Remaining inwardly silent toward all attachments and aversions, like a Sage, the mind gradually settles into the Pure, cool, Unborn State that is free from disturbance. Established in that State, one remains unshaken and free from grief even when the greatest outward calamities arise.
In essence the teaching is simple and practical: the mind alone binds and the mind alone liberates. By recognizing its self-created suffering, refusing to feed its restless play, and patiently training it in pure understanding and silence, a person reaches lasting inner peace that no external event can destroy.
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