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Yoga Vashishtha 3.114.22–30
(Root of all bondage is the mind’s firm conceptual conviction about itself and the World)
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।
पौरुषोद्योगसिद्धेन भोगाशा रूपतां गता।
असंकल्पनमात्रेण साविद्या प्रविलीयते ॥ २२॥
नाहं ब्रह्मेति संकल्पात्सुदृढाद्बध्यते मनः।
सर्वं ब्रह्मेति संकल्पात्सुदृढान्मुच्यते मनः ॥ २३॥
संकल्पः परमो बन्धस्त्वसंकल्पो विमुक्तता।
संकल्पं संविजित्यान्तर्यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु ॥ २४॥
दृढा न याम्बरेऽत्रास्ति नलिनी हेमपङ्कजा।
लोलवैदूर्यमधुपा सुगन्धितदिगन्तरा ॥ २५॥
उद्दण्डैः प्रकटाभोगैर्मृणालभुजमण्डलैः।
विहसन्ती प्रकाशस्य शशिनो रश्मिमण्डलम् ॥ २६॥
विकल्पजालिकेवेत्थमसत्येवापि सत्समा।
मनःस्वार्थविलासार्थं यथा बालेन कल्प्यते ॥ २७॥
तथैवेयमविद्येह भवबन्धनबन्धनी।
चपला न सुखायैव बालेन कलिता दृढा ॥ २८॥
कृशोऽतिदुःखी बद्धोऽहं हस्तपादादिमानहम्।
इति भावानुरूपेण व्यवहारेण बध्यते ॥ २9 ॥
नाहं दुःखी न मे देहो बन्धः कस्यात्मनः स्थितः।
इति भावानुरूपेण व्यवहारेण मुच्यते ॥ ३०॥
Sage Vasistha said:
3.114.22–30
> The craving for enjoyments, which has taken shape through the success of personal effort, dissolves completely by the mere absence of mental conception. That ignorance vanishes through non-conceptualization alone.
> The mind remains firmly bound by the strong conviction “I am not Brahm” The mind is liberated by the strong conviction “Everything is Brahm”
> Conceptual thought is the highest bondage; non-conceptual Awareness is liberation. Having fully conquered conceptual thought within yourself, act thereafter as you wish.
> There does not exist in the sky any firm lotus growing from golden mud, with restless bees of cat’s-eye gems and fragrance spreading in every direction.
> With raised stalks and fully expanded petals, and with circles of soft fibrous arms, it appears to laugh at the radiant disc of the moon’s rays.
> Just like a web of pure imagination that, though unreal, seems Real, it is created by a child solely for the mind’s own playful enjoyment.
> In exactly the same way, this ignorance here binds a person in the fetters of Worldly existence. It is unstable, brings no Real happiness, and is firmly imagined by a childlike mind.
> “I am thin, extremely miserable, bound, and possessed of hands, feet and so on”—by living and acting in accordance with such notions, a person remains bound.
> “I am not miserable, I have no body, and for which Self does any bondage exist?”—by living and acting in accordance with such notions, a person is set free.
Detailed Summary of the Teachings:
These verses teach that the root of all bondage is the mind’s firm conceptual conviction about itself and the World. Desire for pleasure arises only through personal effort and mental projection; the same desire disappears the moment the mind stops generating supporting thoughts. Liberation is therefore not a distant achievement but the simple cessation of limiting ideas.
The decisive power of resolve is emphasized next. Holding the thought “I am not the Absolute” keeps the mind trapped, while holding the opposite conviction “All is the Absolute” dissolves the sense of separation. Conceptual thinking itself is declared the supreme chain; freedom is nothing other than the absence of that thinking. Once the inner habit of conceptualization is mastered, outer action may continue freely without creating new bondage.
An elaborate image of an impossible golden lotus floating in the sky is then introduced. The lotus, complete with jeweled bees and soft fibrous arms that seem to mock the moon, is beautiful yet entirely unreal. It exists only because a child invents it for amusement. In the same way, the entire fabric of worldly ignorance is a mental construction that appears solid and binding only because the mind continually affirms it.
Ignorance therefore has no independent substance. It is fickle, incapable of giving lasting happiness, and sustained solely by childish imagination. The practical implication is clear: the sense of being a limited, suffering body is itself only a notion. When a person lives and behaves according to the idea “I am weak, bound, and embodied,” that very behavior reinforces the prison.
Conversely, when the same person lives according to the clear understanding “I am not the sufferer, the body is not mine, and the Self was never bound,” the chains fall away. Freedom is not produced by external change; it arises the moment the mind stops validating the old story and begins to act from the truth of its own unbound nature.
