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Yoga Vashishtha 3.13.18–25
(Freedom comes from knowing the soul was never trapped – it only dreamed it was a Star inside a body)
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच ।
जीवाकाशस्त्विमं देहं यथा विन्दति तच्छ्रुणु ।
जीवाकाशः स्वमेवासौ तस्मिंस्तु परमेश्वरे ॥ १८ ॥
अणुतेजःकणोऽस्मीति स्वयं चेतति चिन्तया ।
यत्तदेवोच्छूनमिव भावयत्यात्मनाम्बरे ॥ १९ ॥
असदेव सदाकारं संकल्पेन्दुर्यथा न सन्।
तमेव भावयन् द्रष्ट्रदृश्यरूपतया स्थितः ॥ २० ॥
एक एव द्वितामेति स्वप्ने स्वमृतिबोधवत् ।
किंचित्स्थौल्यमिवादत्ते ततस्तारकतां विदन् ॥ २१ ॥
यथाभावितमात्रार्थभाविताद्विश्वरूपतः ।
स एव स्वात्मा सततोप्ययं सोहमिति स्वयम् ॥ २२ ॥
चित्तात्प्रत्ययमाधत्ते स्वप्ने स्वामिव पान्थताम् ।
तारकाकारमाकारं भाविदेहाभिधं तथा ॥ २३ ॥
भावयत्येति तद्भावं चित्तं चेत्यार्थतामिव ।
परित्यज्यैव तद्बाह्यं ततस्तारककोटरे ॥ २४ ॥
अन्तर्भाति बहिष्ठोऽपि पर्वतो मुकुरे यथा ।
कूपसंस्थो यथा देहः समुद्गकगतं वचः ॥ २५ ॥
Maharishi Vashishta continues:
3.13.18: Listen now to how the living Soul-Space enters this body. The living Soul-Space is nothing but the Supreme Lord Himself. It is that very Supreme Lord who exists within the body.
3.13.19: The living soul thinks, “I am a tiny spark of light.” It imagines this with its own thoughts. Then, it swells up that same idea, just like a bubble grows in the sky of the Self.
3.13.20: Something that does not really exist takes on the look of something Real – just like the moon in a dream is not truly there. The living soul keeps thinking about that unreal thing and stands as both the Seer and the seen.
3.13.21: One thing alone becomes two, like in a dream when a person feels both dead and awake at the same time. It takes on a little grossness, a solid feel. Then, knowing itself as a star-like point, it stays that way.
3.13.22: From the form that the mind has fully imagined, the living soul – which is always the same as the great world-form – thinks by itself, “I am this, I am that.” It keeps saying “I am” all the time.
3.13.23: The mind takes on an idea from itself, like a traveler in a dream who feels he is the owner of the road. In the same way, the mind imagines a body-shape that looks like a star and gives it a name.
3.13.24: The mind creates that idea and turns it into a felt thing, almost like a knowable object. It completely leaves behind anything outside that idea. Then, inside the tiny hole of the star-point, the mind shines.
3.13.25: Even something outside appears inside, just like a mountain shows up in a mirror. Or like the body that stays in a well, yet its voice echoes out into a box high above.
Summary of the Teachings:
The verses explain that the individual soul (jiva) is not separate from the Supreme Lord (Parameshvara). The Soul-Space is the same as the Infinite Divine Space. It enters the body not by moving from somewhere else, but by the Lord imagining Himself as a limited being inside the body. This is the first key teaching: there is only One Reality, and the soul is that Reality playing a role.
The soul begins with a single thought: “I am a tiny point of light.” This thought is like a Seed. The mind blows it up like a bubble, making it seem big and real, even though it starts from nothing. The unreal idea becomes the Seer (who looks) and the seen (what is looked at). In a dream, the moon looks Real but is not; here, the body and world look Real but come from a false thought.
Next, the one soul splits itself into two – the Knower and the Known – just as in a dream a person can feel dead yet still watch the scene. The soul takes on a slight thickness, a gross form, and sees itself as a star-like point of light. From this imagined world-shape, the soul keeps repeating “I am this body, I am this person,” even though its True Nature never changes.
The mind creates the body-image like a traveler who dreams he owns the path. It gives the star-point a name and shape, then treats it as a real object to know. The mind drops all ideas of “outside” and shines only within that tiny point, like a mountain reflected inside a small mirror or a voice from a well echoing into a distant box. This shows how the Infinite appears limited inside the soul’s self-made boundary.
The core teaching is that the world, body, and personal Self are all made by thought alone. They have no true existence apart from the one Supreme Self. By understanding this, a person sees the bubble of “I” and “mine” burst, leaving only the endless sky of Pure Consciousness. Freedom comes from knowing the soul was never trapped – it only dreamed it was a star inside a body.
