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Yoga Vashishtha 3.105.10–20
(Mind is easily pulled toward things that look pleasant only for a moment and later prove empty)
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।
आपातरमणीयेषु पर्यन्तविरसेषु च।
भोगेष्विव विकल्पेषु केषु ते लुलितं मनः ॥ १०॥
सततोदारवृत्तासु कथासु परिशीतलम्।
मनस्ते निर्मलं कस्मात्संभ्रमेषु निमज्जति ॥ ११॥
तुच्छालम्बनमालूनविशीर्णं लोकवृत्तिषु।
मनो मोहमुपादत्ते न महत्त्वविजृम्भितम् ॥ १२॥
सातत्येन हि यैवास्य मनसो वृत्तिरुत्थिता।
शरीरमदमत्तासु तामेवैतद्विधावति ॥ १३॥
अतुच्छालम्बनं धीरं प्रबुद्धं गुणहारि च।
तवापि हि मनश्चित्रमालूनमिव लक्ष्यते ॥ १४॥
अनभ्यस्तविवेकं हि देशकालवशानुगम्।
मन्त्रौषधिवशं याति मनो नोदारवृत्तिमत् ॥ १५॥
नित्यमात्तविवेकस्य कथमालूनशीर्णता।
धुनोति विततं चेतो वात्येव विबुधाचलम् ॥ १६॥
इति जातानुगीर्णस्य भूपतेः कान्तिराननम्।
भूषयामास शीतांशुं मासान्त इव पूर्णता ॥ १७॥
रराज राजा सौम्यास्यमुन्मीलितविलोचनः।
गते हिमर्तावुल्लासिपुष्पौघ इव माधवः ॥ १८॥
अथातिसंभ्रमाश्चर्यखिन्नास्मृतिमुखो बभौ।
आसन्नमृत्युरालोक्य राहुमिन्दुरिवाम्बरे ॥ १९॥
ऐन्द्रजालिकमालोक्य प्रोवाचाथ हसन्निव।
बभुं हिंसात्मकं दृष्ट्वा सर्परूपीव तक्षकः ॥ २०॥
Sage Vashishta continued:
3.105.10–14
> In which of those choices—like sense-pleasures that seem delightful at first but turn tasteless at the end—has your mind become confused and entangled?
> Your mind stays cool and pure when listening to stories of always-noble conduct. Why then does it sink into confusion and turmoil?
> A mind that rests on worthless supports, withered and broken amid ordinary worldly ways, takes hold of delusion. It does not expand into greatness.
> Whatever tendency keeps arising again and again in a mind that is drunk with bodily pride—that is the very path this mind races after.
> Even your mind, which rests on solid ground, is steady, awake, and full of good qualities, still appears strangely withered and disturbed.
3.105.15–20
> A mind that has never practised discrimination, that simply follows place and time, falls under the power of spells and drugs. A mind of noble tendency does not.
> How can withering and decay shake the wide Consciousness of one who constantly holds discrimination? A storm cannot shake the mountain of the gods.
> After the King was spoken to in this way, radiance adorned his face, just as the full moon’s completeness adorns the cool-rayed orb at the month’s end.
> The King shone with a calm face and open eyes, like the spring season that bursts into a mass of blooming flowers once winter has gone.
> Then his face showed extreme agitation, wonder, distress and loss of memory, looking like the moon in the sky that sees approaching death in the form of Rahu.
> Seeing the magician, he then spoke as if smiling—like the serpent Takshaka in snake-form when he sees a violent ape.
Summary of the teachings:
These verses teach that the mind is easily pulled toward things that look pleasant only for a moment and later prove empty. Sense-pleasures and restless choices have exactly this nature: they attract at the start and leave dryness at the end. A mind that has been trained by noble stories and clear thinking should remain cool and pure, yet even such a mind can temporarily sink into confusion when it loses its firm hold on discrimination.
The root of the problem is the support the mind chooses. When it leans on trivial, worldly props and is swollen with bodily pride, it races after the same restless tendencies again and again and falls into delusion. Greatness cannot grow from such weak supports. In contrast, a mind that rests on solid, non-trivial ground, stays steady, awake and full of good qualities is hard to shake—yet even that mind can appear momentarily withered if vigilance slips.
Discrimination is the decisive protection. A mind that has never practised it simply drifts with place, time and circumstance and therefore becomes easy prey to outer spells, drugs or inner illusions. A mind of noble tendency, constantly practising discrimination, cannot be permanently unsettled. Storms of confusion may blow, but they cannot uproot a Consciousness that is wide and firmly established, any more than a gale can move the mountain of the gods.
The outer story shows the recovery of the King. Kind and wise words restore the natural radiance to his face, like the full moon recovering its light or spring returning after winter. Yet the memory of the recent illusion still leaves a trace of agitation, wonder and fear—exactly as the moon looks pale when it remembers Rahu. This mixture of restored calm and residual disturbance is natural when a strong mind has just emerged from a powerful temporary delusion.
Finally the verses point to the larger truth: even a powerful, knowledgeable mind dwelling in a body can, for a moment, fall under illusion. The episode with the magician is therefore not merely an external trick; it is a living demonstration of how the mind itself creates and dissolves entire worlds of experience in a short span of time. Recognition of this power, followed by steady discrimination, is the way to keep the mind from being repeatedly entangled.
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