Chapter 3.103, Verses 1–9

Yoga Vashishtha 3.103.1–9

(The mind alone is the source of the entire World we experience)

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।

परस्मादुत्थितं चेतस्तत्कल्लोल इवार्णवात्।

स्फारतामेत्य भुवनं तनोतीदमितस्ततः ॥ १॥

ह्रस्वं दीर्घं करोत्याशु दीर्घं नयति खर्वताम्।

स्वतां नयत्यन्यदलं स्वं तथैवान्यतामपि ॥ २॥

प्रादेशमात्रमपि यद्वस्तुभावनयैव तत्।

स्वयं संपन्नयेवाशु करोत्यद्रीन्द्रभासुरम् ॥ ३॥

लब्धप्रतिष्ठं परमात्पदादुल्लसितं मनः।

निमेषेणैव संसारान्करोति न करोति च ॥ ४॥

यदिदं दृश्यते किंचिज्जगत्स्थास्नु चरिष्णु च।

सर्वं सर्वप्रकाराढ्यं चित्तादेतदुपागतम् ॥ ५॥

देशकालक्रियाद्रव्यशक्तिपर्याकुलीकृतम्।

भावाद्भावान्तरं याति लोलत्वान्नटवन्मनः ॥ ६॥

सदसत्तां नयत्याशु सत्तां वा सन्नयत्यलम्।

तादृशान्येव चादत्ते सुखदुःखानि भावितम् ॥ ७॥

यदाप्तं स्वयमादत्ते यथैव चञ्चलं मनः।

हस्तपादादिसंघातस्तदा प्रयतते तथा ॥ ८॥

ततः सैव क्रिया चित्तसमाहितफलाफलम्।

क्षणात्प्रयच्छति लता कालसिक्तेव तादृशम् ॥ ९॥

Sage Vashishta said:

3.103.1–9

> The mind rises from the Supreme like a wave rising from the Ocean. Expanding, it spreads this whole World in all directions.

> It quickly turns what is short into long and what is long into short. It makes another thing its own and its own into another.

> Even a thing only a span long, by mere thought of its nature, it quickly makes as bright and great as a mighty mountain, as if completed by itself.

> The mind, firmly established and risen from the Supreme State, in a single moment both creates and does not create the cycles of Worldly life.

> Whatever is seen in this World—whether still or moving—all of it, full of every kind of variety, has come only from the mind.

> Agitated by place, time, action, substance and power, the restless mind moves from one State to another like an actor.

> It quickly turns the Real into the unreal or the unreal into the Real. And it experiences only those joys and sorrows that it itself has imagined.

> When the restless mind itself accepts something, then the group of hands, feet and other body parts also strives to act in the same way.

> Then that very action, according to the fruit or lack of fruit held in the mind, quickly gives the result, just as a creeper watered at the right time yields its fruit.

Summary of the teachings:

These verses teach that the mind alone is the source of the entire World we experience. Just as a wave rises from the ocean yet remains of the same nature, the mind arises from the Supreme Reality and then expands to create the appearance of the Universe with all its forms and movements. Nothing outside the mind has independent existence; the World is the mind’s own projection.

The mind possesses unlimited power to reshape reality according to its thoughts. It can make the small appear large, the distant near, the short long, and the Real unreal. By pure imagination it turns a tiny object into something majestic. In an instant it can create countless worlds of experience or dissolve them again.

All that we see—moving or unmoving, of every variety—originates solely from the mind. The mind is never still; disturbed by ideas of place, time, action and objects, it constantly shifts from one state to another like an actor changing roles. Because of this restlessness it fabricates every experience of joy and sorrow.

The body simply follows the mind. When the mind decides or accepts something, the limbs move accordingly. Actions themselves produce results only according to the ideas the mind holds about success or failure, just as a plant yields fruit when properly nourished.

Therefore the root of bondage and suffering is the restless, projecting mind. Understanding that the world is nothing but the mind’s creation, and learning to quiet and master the mind, is the way to freedom from the endless cycle of experience.