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Yoga Vashishtha 3.104.32~49
(The King and the magician)
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।
तां ददर्श महीपालस्तेजोरेणुविराजिताम्।
शक्रः सुरविमानस्थः स्वकार्मुकलतामिव ॥ ३२॥
सभां सैन्धवसामन्तो विवेशास्मिन्क्षणे तदा।
तारापरिकरापूर्णां व्योमवीथीमिवाम्बुदः ॥ ३३॥
तं चैवानुजगामाश्वः सौम्यः परमवेगवान्।
देवलोकोन्मुखं तुष्टं शक्रमुच्चैःश्रवा इव ॥ ३४॥
स तमश्वमुपादाय पार्थिवं समुवाच ह।
सोच्चैःश्रवा इव क्षीरसागरो मरुतां पतिम् ॥ ३५॥
इदमुच्चैःश्रवःप्रख्यं हयरत्नं महीपते।
जवोडुयनशीलेन मूर्तिमानिव मारुतः ॥ ३६॥
अश्वोऽयमस्मत्प्रभुणा प्रभो संप्रहितस्त्वयि।
राजते हि पदार्थश्रीर्महतामर्पणाच्छुभा ॥ ३७॥
(३.१०४.३८–४३)
बोधितः केनचिन्नासौ स्वप्रतापजितोर्जितः।
धिया कामप्ययं भूयश्चिन्तां चिन्तयतीति च ॥ ४४॥
बभूवुः केवलं तत्र निःस्पन्दसितचामराः।
चामरिण्यो हि शर्वर्यः स्तम्भितेन्दुकरा इव ॥ ४५॥
विरेजुर्विस्मयापूर्णा निःस्पन्दास्ते सभासदः।
निःस्पन्दकिञ्जल्कदलाः पद्माः पङ्ककृता इव ॥ ४६॥
प्रशशाम सभास्थाने जनकोलाहलः शनैः।
प्रशान्तप्रावृषि व्योमन्याम्भोदमिव गर्जितम् ॥ ४७॥
संदेहसागरे मग्ना जग्मुश्चिन्तां सुमन्त्रिणः।
विषीदति गदापाणावसुराजाविवामराः ॥ ४८॥
विततविस्मितजिह्नितया तया जनतया भयमोहविषण्णया।
स्तिमितचक्षुषि भूमिपतौ स्थिते मुकुलिताज्जवनस्य धृता द्युतिः ॥ ४९॥
Sage Vashishta continued:
3.104.32–37
> The King saw that bright staff circling and shining with sparkling particles of light, just as Indra sees his glowing rainbow in the sky.
> At that moment a chieftain from the Sindhu region entered the assembly, like a cloud appearing in the starry sky.
> A gentle yet extremely swift horse followed him at once, just as the celestial horse Uchchaihsravas follows Indra when he sets out toward the World of the gods.
> Taking hold of that horse, the chieftain spoke to the King, just as the milky ocean once presented Uchchaihsravas to the Lord of the winds.
> “O King of the Earth, this jewel among horses is equal to Uchchaihsravas. In its power to race and leap it is like the wind given bodily form.”
> “Our master has sent this horse to you, O Lord. The beauty of a fine object shines even more when it is offered by the great.”
3.104.38–43.
> After the chieftain finished speaking, the magician said in a sweet voice that the King should mount the horse and roam freely over the Earth, shining like the Sun as it circles the sky. Hearing this, the King looked at the horse and ordered it brought forward. He gazed at it steadily with unblinking eyes, as if he himself had become a painted picture. After looking for a long time he mounted and sat motionless with closed eyes, remaining for about two hours as if lost in deep meditation, completely unaware of the outer World.
3.104.44–49
> No one could awaken him. Overcome by the power of his own mind, he remained absorbed in some thought of his own.
> Only the motionless white fly-whisks remained there; the women holding them stood still like nights whose moonlight has been frozen.
> The assembled courtiers sat motionless and full of wonder, like lotuses whose filaments and petals have become fixed in mud.
> Little by little the noise of the crowd in the assembly hall died away, just as the thunder of rain-clouds fades when the rainy season ends.
> The wise ministers sank into doubt and anxiety, just as the gods grow distressed when Vishnu, mace in hand, battles the demon kings.
> While the King sat with closed eyes, the people—filled with wonder, fear, and confusion—lost their brightness, like lotuses whose petals have closed.
Detailed summary of the teachings:
These verses form part of the story of King Lavana and show how a single intense mental impression can seize the mind completely. The sudden appearance of the fine horse and the magician’s suggestion draw the king’s full attention; within moments he is no longer aware of the royal court around him. This illustrates that the outer world loses all force once the mind becomes absorbed in an inner scene of its own making.
The stillness that falls over the entire assembly—the motionless fly-whisks, the silent courtiers, the hushed noise—mirrors the king’s inner state. When the ruling Consciousness becomes fixed, every surrounding activity appears frozen. The text thereby teaches that outer events are secondary; they take their character from the condition of the mind that perceives them.
Verses 44–46 stress that the King is not overpowered by any external force but by the power of his own thought. Once a strong idea takes hold, even the strongest person remains as if bound. No outer call can interrupt the stream of imagination until the mind itself releases it. This points to the central teaching that the mind alone creates and sustains the experiences we call real.
The anxiety of the ministers and the fear of the people further reveal how quickly collective Consciousness is affected by the state of one dominant mind. When the king’s awareness withdraws, the whole court loses its usual vitality. The passage therefore shows the interdependence of individual and collective mental states and the ease with which confusion spreads when attention is misdirected.
Taken together, the verses prepare the larger lesson of the Lavana story: that the world we experience is a mental construction, as fleeting and changeable as a dream or a magician’s illusion. By watching the King pass in an instant from open-eyed alertness into complete absorption, the reader is invited to examine the power of his or her own mind and to recognize that liberation begins when that power is understood and mastered.
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