Chapter 3.100, Verses 30–37

Yoga Vashishtha 3.100.30–37

(Everything we experience—action, the doer, birth, death and the World itself—is nothing other than Brahm, the Pure Self)

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।

करणं कर्म कर्ता च जननं मरणं स्थितिः।

सर्वं ब्रह्मैव नह्यस्ति तद्विना कल्पनेतरा ॥ ३०॥

न लोभोऽस्ति न मोहोऽस्ति न तृष्णास्ति न रञ्जना।

क आत्मन्यात्मनोलोभस्तृष्णा मोहोऽथवाकुतः ॥ ३१॥

आत्मैवेदं जगत्सर्वमात्मैव कलनाक्रमः।

हेमाङ्गदतयेवायमात्मोदेति मनस्तया ॥ ३२॥

अबुद्धं यत्परं धाम तच्चित्तं जीव उच्यते।

अपरिज्ञात एवाशु बन्धुरायात्यबन्धुताम् ॥ ३३॥

चिन्मयेनात्मनाऽज्ञेन स्वसंकल्पनया स्वयम्।

शून्यता गगनेनेव जीवता प्रकटीकृता ॥ ३४॥

आत्मैवानात्मवदिह जीवो जगति राजते।

द्वीन्दुत्वमिव दुर्दृष्टेः सच्चासच्च समुत्थितम् ॥ ३५॥

मोहार्थशब्दार्थदृशोरेतयोरत्यसंभवात्।

सत्यत्वादात्मनश्चैव क्वात्मा बद्धः क्व मुच्यते ॥ ३६॥

नित्यासंभवबन्धस्य बद्धोऽस्मीति कुकल्पना।

यस्य काल्पनिकस्तस्य मोक्षो मिथ्या न तत्त्वतः ॥ ३७॥

Sage Vashishtha continued:

3.100.30–37

> The means of action, the action itself, the doer, birth, death and the State of Being—all these are nothing but Brahm alone. There is nothing other than that which can be imagined.

> There is no greed, no delusion, no craving and no attachment. How can there be greed, craving or delusion in the Self for the Self, and from where would they arise?

> This entire World is the Self alone, and the sequence of mental creations is also the Self alone. Just as a golden bracelet appears as something separate, so the Self appears as the mind.

> That Supreme Abode which is not yet known is called the mind or the living Being. When it remains unrecognized, even a friend quickly becomes an enemy.

> Through its own imagination, the Pure Conscious Self that is still ignorant makes the State of individuality appear, just as emptiness appears through the sky.

> In this World the Self itself shines as if it were the non-Self—the living Being. Just as a person with defective sight sees two moons, both the Real and the unreal arise in the same way.

> Because the ideas of delusion and the meaning of words about them are completely impossible, and because the Self alone is Real, where is the Self bound and where is it liberated?

> For one who was never bound, the thought “I am bound” is a false imagination. For such a person whose bondage is only imaginary, liberation too is unreal and not true in Reality.

Summary of the Teachings:

These verses teach that everything we experience—action, the doer, birth, death and the World itself—is nothing other than Brahm, the Pure Self. There is no real second thing that exists apart from it; any idea of separation is only imagination.

They show that qualities such as greed, delusion, craving and attachment have no place in the True Self. These appear only when the Self is not known as it is. Once the Self is recognized, such limitations simply cannot arise.

The World and the mind are presented as appearances of the same Self, like a bracelet made of gold that seems different from the gold yet is gold alone. The mind and the individual soul are only the Pure Consciousness when it is not yet known in its true nature.

Ignorance causes the Self to imagine itself as a limited individual, just as empty Space seems to create emptiness. This limited sense of self is like seeing two moons because of defective vision; both the sense of Reality and unreality arise from the same imperfect seeing.

Finally the verses declare that bondage itself is impossible for the Eternal Self. The feeling “I am bound” is only a wrong idea. Therefore the idea of liberation is also imaginary. When the false notion of bondage is dropped, nothing remains to be freed, because the Self was never bound.