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Yoga Vashishtha 3.110.1–11
(How Pure Consciousness first turns outward, begins to imagine objects, and becomes the restless, divided mind)
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।
परमात्कारणादादौ चिच्चेत्यपदपातिनी।
कलनापदमासाद्य कला कलिलतां गता ॥ १॥
असत्स्वेव विमोहेषु रामैवंप्रायवृत्तिषु।
घनेषु तुच्छतामेत्य चिराय परिमूर्च्छति ॥ २॥
असदेव मनोवृत्तिर्म्लाना विस्तारयत्यलम्।
दुःखं दोषसहस्रेण वेतालानिव बालिका ॥ ३॥
सदेव हि महादुःखमसत्तां नयति क्षणात्।
निष्कलङ्का मनोवृत्तिरन्धकारमिवार्करुक् ॥ ४॥
नयत्यभ्याशतां दूरं दूरमभ्याशतां नयेत्।
मनो वल्गति भूतेषु बालो बालखगेष्विव ॥ ५॥
अभयं भयमज्ञस्य चेतसो वासनावतः।
दूरतो मुग्धपान्थस्य स्थाणुर्याति पिशाचताम् ॥ ६॥
शत्रुत्वं शङ्कते मित्रे कलङ्कमलिनं मनः।
मदाविष्टमतिर्जन्तुर्भ्रमत्पश्यति भूतलम् ॥ ७॥
पर्याकुले हि मनसि शशिनो जायतेऽशनिः।
अमृतं विषभावेन भुक्तं याति विषक्रियाम् ॥ ८॥
सुरपत्तननिर्माणमसत्सदिव पश्यति।
वासनावलितं चेतः स्वप्नवज्जाग्रदेव हि ॥ ९॥
मोहैककारणं जन्तोर्मनसो वासनोल्वणा।
उत्खातव्या प्रयत्नेन मूलोच्छेदेन सैव च ॥ १०॥
वासनावागुराकृष्टो मनोहरिणको नृणाम्।
परां विवशतामेति संसारवनगुल्मके ॥ ११॥
Sage Vasistha said:
3.110.1–5
> In the beginning, from the highest cause, pu6re Consciousness falls toward objects. Reaching the state of imagining and measuring, it becomes a restless, tangled fragment.
> O Rama, in these unreal delusions of this kind, when they grow thick, the mind becomes empty and lies fainted for a long time.
> This faded and unreal movement of the mind greatly spreads sorrow through a thousand faults, just as a little girl imagines ghosts.
> A pure, stainless movement of the mind instantly turns even great sorrow into nothing, just as the light of the Sun drives away darkness.
> The mind can make what is near seem far and what is far seem near. It jumps among living beings the way a child jumps among small birds.
3.110.6–11
> For an ignorant mind filled with old impressions, even safety becomes fear. From a distance, a simple tree-stump looks like a ghost to a confused traveler.
> A stained mind suspects an enemy even in a friend. A creature whose mind is drunk with pride sees the ground spinning.
> When the mind is agitated, even the moon looks like a thunderbolt. Nectar eaten with the thought that it is poison acts like poison.
> A mind wrapped in impressions sees the building of a city of the gods—something unreal—as if it were real. Even while awake, it sees the world as in a dream.
> Strong impressions in the mind are the one cause of a living being’s delusion. That same impression must be dug out with effort by cutting it at the root.
> The mind of human beings is like a deer pulled by the net of impressions. It falls into complete helplessness in the thickets of the forest of worldly life.
Summary of the teachings:
These verses describe how Pure Consciousness first turns outward, begins to imagine objects, and becomes the restless, divided mind. Once this happens, the mind lives among things that are not ultimately Real. Thick clouds of confusion make it weak and almost unconscious for a long time. Suffering grows not from solid outer facts but from this faded, empty activity of thought, the way a child suffers from ghosts that do not exist.
A mind that stays clean and without stain can dissolve even heavy pain at once, as sunlight removes darkness. The same mind, when restless, distorts distance and nearness and leaps from one living thing to another without rest. Fear, suspicion, and dizziness arise from inner impressions, not from the world itself. A safe place looks dangerous; a friend looks like an enemy; the solid earth seems to spin.
When the mind is disturbed, even gentle or good things turn harmful. The moon can look like a destroying bolt, and nectar can act as poison if taken with a poisoned idea. Impressions make waking life itself look like a dream-city of the gods—appearing solid while remaining empty. The world of waking and the world of dream are not two different kinds of seeing; both are shaped by the same inner traces.
The single root of all this confusion is vasana, the strong leftover impression or craving stored in the mind. It must not be managed on the surface. It has to be pulled out by the root through steady effort and clear seeing. Until that happens, the mind remains a small deer caught in a hunter’s net, dragged helplessly through the tangled forest of birth and death.
The teaching is practical: watch how thought creates distance, fear, enmity, and dream-like worlds. Keep the movement of the mind stainless so that sorrow loses its power. Uproot the impressions themselves rather than fighting their outer effects. Freedom comes when the mind is no longer pulled by the net of old desires and can rest as the Undivided Consciousness from which it first arose.
