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Yoga Vashishtha 3.101.1~25
(The mind can create an entire world out of things that have no independent Reality)
श्रीराम उवाच।
किमुच्यते मुनिश्रेष्ठ बालकाख्यायिकाक्रमः।
क्रमेण कथयैतन्मे मनोवर्णनकारणम् ॥ १॥
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।
कोऽपि मुग्धमतिर्बालो धात्रीं पृच्छति राघव।
कांचिद्विनोदिनीं धात्रि वर्णयाख्यायिकामिति ॥ २॥
सा बालस्य विनोदाय धात्री तस्य महामते ।
आख्यायिकां कथयति प्रसन्नमधुराक्षरम् ॥ ३ ॥
क्वचित्सन्ति महात्मानो राजपुत्रास्त्रयः शुभाः ।
धार्मिकाः शौर्यमुदिता अत्यन्तासति पत्तने ॥ ४ ॥
विस्तीर्णे शून्यनगरे व्योम्नीव जलतारकाः ।
द्वौ न जातौ तथैकस्तु गर्भ एव न संस्थितः ॥ ५ ॥
अथात्युत्तमलाभार्थं कदाचित्समवायतः ।
विबन्धवः खिन्नमुखाः शोकोपहतचेतसः ॥ ६ ॥
(३.१०१.७–२०)
ददृशुस्तत्र रम्याणि त्रीणि सद्भवनानि ते ।
मणिकाञ्चनगेहानि श्रृङ्गाणीव महागिरेः ॥ २१ ॥
अनिर्मिते द्वे सदने एकं निर्भित्ति तत्र वै ।
अभित्तिमन्दिरं चारु प्रविष्टास्ते नरास्त्रयः ॥ २२ ॥
संप्रविश्योपविश्याशु विहरन्तो वराननाः ।
प्रापुः स्थालीत्रयं तत्र तप्तकाञ्चनकल्पितम् ॥ २३ ॥
तत्र कर्परतां याते द्वे एका चूर्णतां गता ।
जगृहुश्चूर्णरूपां तां स्थालीं ते दीर्घबुद्धयः ॥ २४ ॥
द्रोणैर्नवनवत्या तैस्तस्यां द्रोणेन चान्धसः ।
तत्र द्रोणशतं हीनं रन्धितं बहुभोजिभिः ॥ २५ ॥
Sriram asked:
3.101.1
> O greatest of Sages, what is this story that is being told as a children's tale? Please explain it to me step by step, and tell me how it is meant to describe the nature of the mind.
Sage Vasistha answered:
3.101.2–6
> O Rama, imagine a simple-minded child asking his nurse, “Dear nurse, please tell me some amusing story.”
> The nurse, wishing to entertain the child, tells him a pleasant and charming story in sweet and gentle words.
> She says: “Once, somewhere, there lived three noble and virtuous princes. They were righteous and delighted in courage and heroic deeds. Yet they lived in a city that did not exist at all.
> That city was vast, empty and unreal, like stars apparently reflected in water. Of the three princes, two had never been born, while the third had never even been conceived in a mother's womb.
> At some point, these three, their minds troubled and their faces filled with sorrow, set out together in search of some great and desirable gain.
(3.101.7–20)
> They left the nonexistent city and travelled onward, appearing like three planets together in the sky. Their bodies were extremely delicate, yet the blazing sun beat down upon them as they walked through the summer heat. The hot sand burned their feet, and they cried out in distress like deer separated from their herd. Their feet were pierced by sharp blades of grass; their bodies were exhausted by the heat; and they became covered with dust as they travelled a great distance. Eventually they came upon three beautiful trees covered with flowers, fruits and tender leaves, giving shelter to animals and birds. Yet of these three trees, two had never actually grown, while the third had no seed from which it could possibly have grown. Exhausted, they rested beneath one of them, just as the gods might rest beneath a heavenly tree. They ate its nectar-like fruits, drank its juice, made garlands from its blossoms or clusters, rested for a long time, and then continued their journey. As midday approached, they reached three rivers whose waves seemed to murmur and sing. One river was completely dry, while the other two contained not even a drop of water—like the sight of two blind people. Nevertheless, they eagerly bathed in the completely dry river, just as the gods might bathe in the Ganges when suffering from heat. They played in its water for a long time, drank water that seemed as pure as milk, and went on their way joyfully. At sunset they reached a magnificent city, still under construction, rising like a mountain. It was decorated with banners and lotus ponds, with blue, sky-like reservoirs, and the sounds of conversation and singing could be heard coming from its inhabitants.
3.101.21–25
> There they saw three magnificent palaces, made of jewels and gold and rising like the peaks of a great mountain.
> Two of these buildings were not yet constructed. One of them had no walls at all. The three men entered this beautiful, wall-less house.
> After entering, they sat down and relaxed. There they found three cooking vessels, beautifully made and shining like heated gold.
> Of the three vessels, two had already broken into pieces, while the third had been reduced entirely to powder. The three wise men nevertheless picked up the vessel that existed only as powder.
> They used that powdered vessel to cook an enormous quantity of food—ninety-nine measures in one part and another measure of grain—and prepared enough food for a very large number of people.
The Teachings in detailed summary:
The first and most important teaching is that the mind can create an entire world out of things that have no independent Reality. The three princes are never born, yet they live and act. Their city does not exist, yet they inhabit it. The trees have not grown, the rivers contain no water, the houses have no walls, and the cooking vessel is only powder—yet the story proceeds as though everything were perfectly real. Vasistha is deliberately constructing a world that is internally described as real while simultaneously revealing that every part of it is impossible. This is an image of ordinary mental experience: the mind gives solidity and reality to things that arise only through thought, imagination and identification.
The second teaching concerns desire and the search for fulfilment. The three nonexistent princes leave their nonexistent city because they want to obtain something desirable. Their journey is full of effort, exhaustion, suffering and hope. They encounter apparently attractive objects—a beautiful grove, delicious fruit, refreshing rivers, a magnificent city and golden palaces—yet closer examination reveals that none of these things possesses the reality we ordinarily attribute to them. The story therefore points to the way desire operates: the mind first imagines an object, then projects value onto it, then pursues it, suffers on the way, and finally finds temporary satisfaction in another projection of the same mind.
The third teaching is the extraordinary contrast between appearance and Reality. Every stage of the story is constructed from contradictions: people who were never born, trees that never grew, rivers that contain no water, bathing in a dry river, drinking nonexistent water, and entering a house without walls. These absurdities are not merely intended as humour. They make visible something that is normally hidden from us. What appears solid and objective to the ordinary mind may depend entirely upon mental construction. The dream analogy is implicit: while dreaming, the dream world is experienced as Real; only on awakening does its unreality become obvious. Vasistha is asking Rama to investigate waking experience with the same depth of discrimination.
The fourth teaching is that the mind does not require physical Reality in order to experience pleasure, pain, fear, hope or satisfaction. The princes suffer from heat, hunger and exhaustion, enjoy fruit and water, admire beautiful buildings and finally feel happy. Yet the objects responsible for these experiences are themselves impossible. This suggests that the experience belongs fundamentally to the mind, not to the external object. When the mind projects value onto something, that projection can produce genuine emotional experience even when the object has no independent existence. Therefore liberation cannot be achieved merely by rearranging external circumstances; one must understand and quiet the mind that creates the experience.
Finally, the entire story prepares the ground for the central teaching of Yoga Vasistha: Freedom comes through understanding and transcending mental projection. The mind creates distinctions, objects, desires, fears and narratives, and then becomes caught in the world it has created. The wise person does not merely replace an unpleasant mental construction with a pleasant one; he investigates the very mechanism of construction. When the compulsive movement of thought and imagination becomes quiet, the distinction between imagined bondage and imagined Freedom falls away. The purpose of the strange children's story is therefore profound: the World as experienced by the mind is comparable to the impossible city, impossible princes and impossible objects in the story. Knowing this deeply loosens attachment and opens the way to Inner Peace.
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