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Yoga Vashishtha 3.17.1–9
(Death is only an appearance in the dream of the world)
श्रीसरस्वत्युवाच ।
शवीभूतमिमं वत्से भर्तारं पुष्पपुञ्जके।
आच्छाद्य स्थापयैनं त्वं पुनर्भर्तारमेप्यसि ॥ १ ॥
पुष्पाणि म्लानिमेष्यन्ति नो नचैष विनङ्क्ष्यति ।
भूयश्च तव भर्तृत्वमचिरेण करिष्यति ॥ २ ॥
एतदीयश्च जीवोऽसावाकाशविशदस्तव ।
न निर्गमिष्यति क्षिप्रमितोऽन्तःपुरमण्डपात् ॥ ३ ॥
षट्पदश्रेणिनयना समाकर्ण्येति बन्धुभिः ।
सा समाश्वासितागत्य पयोभिरिव पद्मिनी ॥ ४ ॥
पतिं संस्थाप्य तत्रैव पुष्पपूरप्रगोपितम्।
किंचिदाश्वासिताऽतिष्ठद्दरिद्रेव निधानिनी ॥ ५ ॥
तस्मिन्नेव दिने सैषा तस्मिञ्छुद्धान्तमण्डपे ।
अर्धरात्रे परिजने सर्वस्मिन्निद्रया हृते ॥ ६ ॥
ज्ञप्तिं भगवतीं देवीं शुद्धध्यानमहाधिया ।
दुःखादाह्वाययामास सोवाच समुपेत्य ताम् ॥ ७ ॥
किं स्मृतास्मि त्वया वत्से धत्से किमिति शोकिताम् ।
संसारभ्रान्तयो भान्ति मृगतृष्णाम्बुवत्तधा ॥ ८ ॥
लीलोवाच ।
क्व ममावस्थितो भर्ता किं करोत्यथ कीदृशः ।
समीपं नय मां तस्य नैका शक्नोमि जीवितुम् ॥ ९ ॥
3.17.1–3:
Goddess Saraswati said: Child, cover your husband’s body with this heap of flowers and keep it here. You will get your husband back again; these flowers will wither, but he will not perish. Very soon he will again become your husband. His soul is pure like the sky and belongs to you. It will not leave quickly from this inner palace.
3.17.4-5:
The lotus-eyed queen, comforted by her relatives who said “So be it,” came like a lake refreshed by water. She placed her husband there, hidden under a pile of flowers, and stood a little consoled, like a poor woman who has found treasure.
3.17.6–8:
That very night, in the pure inner chamber, when all the attendants had fallen asleep at midnight; with great pure meditation and deep sorrow she called the Divine Goddess of Pure Awareness. The Goddess appeared and spoke to her: “Child, why have you remembered me? Why are you grieving? The illusions of the world appear like water in a mirage.”
3.17.9:
Lila said: Where is my husband now? What is he doing? What is he like? Take me to him at once—I cannot live alone.
Summary of the Teachings:
These verses mark the beginning of the famous story of Queen Lila in the Yoga Vashishta, one of the most profound illustrations of Advaita Vedanta and the Nature of Reality.
First, they reveal the illusory nature of death. Even though King Padma has physically died and his body lies lifeless, Goddess Saraswati assures Lila that the real husband (the conscious Self) has not perished at all. The body is only a temporary covering like flowers that fade, but Consciousness itself never dies. This teaches that death is only an appearance in the dream of the world.
Second, the verses introduce the idea that the jiva (individual soul) is nothing but Pure Awareness, vast and untouched like the sky. It does not “go” anywhere at death; only the body and mind change form. Saraswati promises that the same Consciousness will soon reappear as Lila’s husband again, showing the eternal continuity of the Self behind all births and deaths.
Third, Lila’s intense love and longing for her husband become the driving force for the highest spiritual teaching.
Her grief is so deep that she refuses to live without him. This pure one-pointed desire becomes the perfect qualification for receiving Supreme Knowledge, because it makes her ready to question the very nature of Reality itself.
Fourth, when Lila calls upon the Goddess (who represents Pure Knowledge or Chiti), the Goddess immediately appears and gently points out that all worldly sorrow arises from taking the mirage-like appearances of samsara as Real. This is the core message of non-duality: the world is seen only because of ignorance; in truth there is only One Infinite Consciousness.
Finally, Lila’s desperate plea “Take me to him—I cannot live alone” is not just romantic longing; it becomes the seeker’s cry to be taken to the Real Self. Her wish is granted in the most extraordinary way in the verses that follow: she is led to Realise that her husband never truly left, because everything—past, present, future, life, death, this world and other worlds—is nothing but appearances in the One Unchanging Consciousness. Thus her love becomes the doorway to complete Realization.
