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Yoga Vashishtha 3.114.31–40
(The True Self is completely distinct from the physical body)
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।
नाहं मांसं न चास्थीनि देहादन्यः परो ह्यहम्।
इति निश्चयवानन्तः क्षीणाविद्य इहोच्यते ॥ ३१॥
प्रोत्तुङ्गसुरशैलाग्रवैदूर्य शिखरप्रभा।
अथवार्कांशुदुर्भेदा तिमिरश्रीः स्थितोपरि ॥ ३२॥
कल्प्यते हि यथा व्योम्नः कालिमेति स्वभावतः।
पुंसा धरणिसंस्थेन स्वसंकल्पनयेद्धया ॥ ३३॥
कल्पितैवमविद्येयमनात्मन्यात्मभावना।
पुरुषेणाप्रबुद्धेन न प्रबुद्धेन राघव ॥ ३४॥
श्रीराम उवाच।
मेरुनीलमणिच्छाया नेयं नापि तमःप्रभा।
तदेतत्किंकृतं ब्रह्मन्नीलत्वं नभसो वद ॥ ३५॥
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।
न नाम नीलता व्योम्नः शून्यस्य गुणवत्स्थिता।
अन्यरत्नप्रभाभावान्न वाप्येषा च मैरवी ॥ ३६॥
तेजोमयत्वादण्डस्य स्फारत्वादिव तेजसः।
प्राकाश्यादण्डपारस्य तमसो नात्र संभवः ॥ ३७॥
केवलं शून्यतैवैषा बह्वी सुभग लक्ष्यते।
वयस्येवानुरूपा या अविद्याया असन्मयी ॥ ३८॥
स्वदृष्टिक्षयसंपत्तावक्ष्णोरेवोदितं तमः।
वस्तुस्वभावात्तद्व्योम्नः कार्ष्ण्यमित्यवलोक्यते ॥ ३९॥
एतद्बुद्ध्वा यथा व्योम्नि दृश्यमानोऽपि कालिमा।
न कालिमेति बुद्धिः स्यादविद्यातिमिरं तथा ॥ ४०॥
Sage Vashishta continued:
3.114.31–34
> I am not flesh and I am not bones. I am something other than the body—I am the Supreme Self. The one who holds this firm conviction within, whose ignorance has been destroyed, is said to be liberated here.
> It is like the radiance shining from the peak of a lofty mountain of the gods made of cat’s-eye gem, or like a mass of darkness that the rays of the sun cannot pierce, standing above.
> Just as a person standing on the earth imagines blackness in the empty sky through his own nature, by the power of his own imagination and resolve,
> in the same way this ignorance is merely imagined as the sense of “I” in what is not the Self by an unawakened person, O Raghava—not by one who is awakened.
Sriram said:
3.114.35
> This is not the blue shadow of the sapphire of Mount Meru, nor is it the glow of darkness. Then what is this blueness of the sky made of, O Brahman? Please tell me.
Sage Vasistha replied:
3.114.36–40
> There is in truth no blueness existing as a quality in the empty sky. It does not come from the radiance of other gems, nor is it the shadow of Meru.
> Because the cosmic egg (the Universe) is made of light, because light itself is expansive, and because brightness exists beyond the egg, darkness has no place here at all.
> It is only emptiness itself that appears vast and beautiful—exactly like the unreal nature of ignorance, O friend.
> When one’s own power of seeing is destroyed, darkness arises in the eyes themselves. From the nature of the object, the blackness of the sky is perceived that way.
> Once this is understood, just as the blackness that appears in the sky is not truly blackness, so should one understand the darkness of ignorance.
Summary of the Teachings:
These verses teach that the True Self is completely distinct from the physical body. The body is only flesh and bone, while the Real “I” is the Supreme Consciousness beyond form. One who firmly knows this and whose ignorance has ended is already free, even while living in the World.
The apparent darkness or blueness of the sky is used as a clear example. What looks like a real quality of the sky is only an appearance created by the mind. In the same way, the sense of being a limited individual is only an imagined covering over pure awareness.
Ignorance does not exist as a real substance. It is projected by the unawakened mind onto the Pure Self, just as blackness is projected onto empty space. The awakened person no longer creates or believes this projection.
Rama’s question about the sky’s colour shows the natural human tendency to treat appearances as real. Vasistha’s reply removes every possible external explanation and points only to emptiness itself appearing as something solid and coloured.
The final teaching is practical: once the mind sees that the sky’s darkness is unreal, it can apply the same insight to the darkness of ignorance. Both are only seeming, not actual. Realising this ends the power of ignorance and reveals the ever-present light of the Self.
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