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Yoga Vashishtha 3.99.25–36
(These verses explain that partial spiritual discrimination brings greater suffering when the mind begins to detach from the body and the world, because the Pure State has not yet been reached)
श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।
अर्धप्राप्तविवेकस्य न प्राप्तस्यामलं पदम्।
चेतसस्त्यजतोऽङ्गानि परितापो हि वर्धते ॥ २५॥
हसितं तु यदानन्दि पुंसा मदवबोधतः।
परिप्राप्तविवेकेन तत्तुष्टं राम चेतसा ॥ २६॥
परिप्राप्तविवेकस्य त्यक्तसंसारसंस्थितेः।
चेतसस्त्यजतो रूपमानन्दो हि विवर्धते ॥ २७॥
हसताङ्गानि दृष्टानि पुंसा यान्युपहासतः।
तानि दृष्टानि मनसा विप्रलम्भपदानि ह ॥ २८॥
मिथ्याविकल्परचितैर्विप्रलब्धमहो चिरम्।
इत्यङ्गान्युपहासेन दृष्टानि स्वानि चेतसा ॥ २९॥
मनः प्राप्तविवेकं हि विश्रान्तं वितते पदे।
प्राक्तनादीनताधारं हसन्पश्यति दूरतः ॥ ३०॥
यदसौ समवष्टभ्य मया पृष्टः प्रयत्नतः।
तद्विवेको बलाच्चित्तमादत्त इति दर्शितम् ॥ ३१॥
यदङ्गानि विशीर्णानि गतान्यन्तर्धिमग्रतः।
तच्चित्तेन विनार्थाशा शाम्यतीति प्रदर्शितम् ॥ ३२॥
सहस्रनेत्रहस्तत्वं यत्पुंसः परिवर्णितम्।
तदनन्ताकृतित्वं हि चेतसः परिदर्शितम् ॥ ३३॥
यदात्मनि प्रहारौघैः पुमान्प्रहरति स्वयम्।
तत्तत्कुकल्पनाघातैः प्रहरत्यात्मनो मनः ॥ ३४॥
पलायते यत्पुरुषः स्वात्मनः प्रहरन्स्वयम्।
स्ववासनाप्रहारेभ्यस्तन्मनः प्रपलायते ॥ ३५॥
स्वयं प्रहरति स्वान्तं स्वयमेव स्वयेच्छया।
पलायते स्वयं चैव पश्याज्ञानविजृम्भितम् ॥ ३६॥
Sage Vashishta continued:
3.99.25–36
> For one who has only partially attained discrimination and has not yet reached the Pure State, when the mind abandons the body and its limbs, suffering only increases.
> The joyful laughter that arises in a person from the Realization that comes with (the intoxication of) true understanding, when discrimination is fully attained, is the contentment of the mind, O Rama.
> For one who has fully attained discrimination and has abandoned the condition of Worldly existence, when the mind gives up form, Bliss indeed increases.
> The limbs that a person looks upon with laughter out of mockery are seen by the mind as positions of deception and betrayal.
> “Alas, I have long been deceived by false imaginings!”—thus one’s own limbs are viewed by the mind with mockery.
> The mind that has attained discrimination and rests in the expansive State laughs as it looks from afar upon its former dependence on lower conditions.
> That which I firmly grasped and questioned with great effort—discrimination forcibly takes hold of the mind—this has been shown.
> That the limbs decay and disappear before one’s eyes shows that without the mind the hope for objects comes to rest.
> The description of a person having a thousand eyes and hands points to the Infinite, formless nature of the mind.
> When a person strikes himself with a stream of blows, it is the mind striking itself with the blows of false imaginations.
> When a person flees while striking himself, it is the mind fleeing from the blows of its own latent tendencies.
> One strikes one’s own inner self by oneself and of one’s own will, and flees by oneself as well—behold the play of ignorance.
Summary of the Teachings:
Full discrimination produces contentment and growing Bliss as the mind naturally releases attachment to form and Worldly existence. The earlier laughter of mockery toward the body becomes the wise mind’s recognition that the body and its experiences were long-standing deceptions created by false imaginings.
A mind established in discrimination rests in an expansive, peaceful state and looks back with amusement on its former dependence on limited, lower conditions. Discrimination itself is shown to seize the mind by force once it is earnestly sought, ending the mind’s restless hold on appearances.
The decay and disappearance of the body illustrate that all hope directed toward external objects ceases when the mind no longer supports them. Descriptions of a being with countless eyes and hands simply reveal the mind’s own infinite, formless capacity.
All self-inflicted suffering—striking oneself and then fleeing—is revealed as the mind attacking itself through false imaginations and then running from the very latent tendencies it has created. Ignorance alone makes a person both the striker and the one who flees, all by his own will.
In essence the teaching is that complete discrimination ends the cycle of self-torment. The mind, once free of false notions, rests in Bliss, sees the World as its own deceptive creation, and no longer harms or flees from itself.
