Chapter 3.102, Verses 11–20

Yoga Vashishtha 3.102.11–20

(The True Self is completely free from all suffering and change that affect the body)

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।

अनार्तोऽप्यार्तिमान्भाति च्छिन्नेऽङ्गे किंच ताम्यति।

भेदाभेदविकारार्तिः काचिन्नात्मनि विद्यते ॥ ११॥

देहे नष्टे क्षते क्षीणे कात्मनः क्षतिरागता।

भस्त्रायां परिदग्धायां भस्त्रापूरो न नश्यति ॥ १२॥

देहः पततु वोदेतु का नः क्षतिरुपस्थिता।

को नष्टः प्रक्षते पुष्पे आमोदो व्योमसंश्रयः ॥ १३॥

आपतन्तु वपुःपद्मे सुखदुःखहिमश्रियः।

आकाशोडुयनालीनां का नः क्षतिरुपस्थिता ॥ १४॥

देहः पततु वोदेतु यातु वा गगनान्तरम्।

तद्विलक्षणरूपस्य कासौ भवति मे क्षतिः ॥ १५॥

यथा पयोदमरुतोर्यथा षट्पदपद्मयोः।

तथा राघव संबन्धस्त्वच्छरीरत्वदात्मनोः ॥ १६॥

मनो राम शरीरं हि जगतः सकलस्य च।

आद्या शक्तिश्चिदध्यात्मा न नश्यति कदाचन ॥ १७॥

योऽसावात्मा महाप्राज्ञ न नश्यति न गच्छति।

न नश्यति कदाचिच्च किं मुधा परितप्यसे ॥ १८॥

विशीर्णेऽभ्रे यथा वातः शुष्केऽब्जे षट्पदो यथा।

यात्यनन्तपदं व्योम तथात्मा देहसंक्षये ॥ १९॥

संसारेऽस्मिन्विहरतो मनोऽपि हि न नश्यति।

ज्ञानाग्निना विना जन्तोरात्मनाशे तु का कथा ॥ २०॥

Sage Vashishta continued: 

3.102.11–20

> Even when a limb is cut off and seems distressed, the one who is not really suffering appears to be in pain. Yet no pain from difference, non-difference, or change exists in the Self at all.

> When the body is destroyed, wounded, or wasted, what harm comes to the Self? When a bellows is completely burned, the air inside it does not perish.

> Let the body fall or rise—what harm comes to us? When a flower is destroyed, who is lost? Not the fragrance that rests in the open space.

> Let the frost-like glories of pleasure and pain fall upon the lotus-like body. What harm reaches us who move freely in the sky like birds?

> Let the body fall, rise, or go into the open sky. What harm can that cause to me, whose true nature is completely different from it?

> O Rama, the connection between your body and your Self is like that between a cloud and the wind, or between a bee and a lotus.

> O Rama, the mind is the body of the whole world. The primal power of Consciousness, the Inner Self, never perishes at any time.

> O greatly wise one, that Self neither perishes nor goes away. It never is destroyed. Why then do you grieve in vain?

> Just as the wind goes free when the cloud disperses, or the bee flies to endless space when the lotus dries up, so the Self goes to its Infinite State when the body ends.

> Even the mind of one who wanders in this World does not perish. Without the fire of Knowledge, how can there be any talk of the destruction of the Self for a living Being?

Detailed Summary of the Teachings:

These verses teach that the True Self is completely free from all suffering and change that affect the body. Even when a body part is injured or the body itself is damaged, the Self remains untouched. Any appearance of pain is only an illusion; nothing of difference, sameness, or alteration can ever disturb the Pure Self.

The body may be destroyed, wounded, or weakened, yet this brings no real loss to the Self. Just as air inside a bellows stays safe even if the bellows is burned up, the Self continues unharmed. Whether the body rises, falls, or disappears makes no difference to our Real Nature.

Pleasure and pain may settle on the body like frost on a lotus, but they cannot touch those who identify with the free, sky-like Self. The Self’s Nature is entirely different from the body, so no bodily event can cause it any harm.

The link between body and Self is loose and temporary, like the link between wind and cloud or bee and flower. The mind serves as the form of the World, yet the original power of Pure Consciousness that is the Inner Self never dies.

The Self neither is destroyed nor goes anywhere. It is Eternal. Therefore needless grief is pointless. When the body ends, the Self simply returns to its Boundless State, just as wind merges with open air or a bee flies free. Even the mind does not truly perish through ordinary life; only the fire of True Knowledge can dissolve ignorance. Without that Knowledge there is no real question of the Self ever being destroyed.

Chapter 3.99, Verses 37–44

Yoga Vashishtha 3.99.37–44

(Mind is the sole creator of its own bondage and suffering)

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।

स्ववासनोपतप्तानि सर्वाण्येव मनांसि हि।

स्वयमेव पलायन्ते गन्तुं युक्तानि तत्पदम् ॥ ३७॥

यदिदं विततं दुःखं तत्तनोति स्वयं मनः।

स्वयमेवातिखिन्नं तु पुनस्तस्मात्पलायते ॥ ३८॥

संकल्पवासनाजालैः स्वयमायाति बन्धनम्।

मनो लालामयैर्जालैः कोशकारकृमिर्यथा ॥ ३९॥

यथानर्थमवाप्नोति तथा क्रीडति चञ्चलम्।

भाविदुःखमपश्यन्स्वं दुर्लीलाभिरिवार्भकः ॥ ४०॥

अपश्यन्काष्ठरन्ध्रस्थवृषणाक्रमणं यथा।

कीलोत्पाटी कपिर्दुःखमेतीदं हि तथा मनः ॥ ४१॥

चिरपालनया चैव चिरभावनया तथा।

अभ्यासात्तुच्छतामेत्य न भूयः परिशोचति ॥ ४२॥

मनःप्रमादाद्वर्धन्ते दुःखानि गिरिकूटवत्।

तद्वशादेव नश्यन्ति सूर्यस्याग्रे हिमं यथा ॥ ४३॥

यावज्जीवमनिन्द्यया च रमते शास्त्रार्थसंजातया तुल्यं वासनया मनो हि मुनिवन्मौनेन रागादिषु।

पश्चात्पावनपावनं पदमजं तत्प्राप्य तच्छीतलं तत्संस्थेन न शोच्यते पुनरलं पुंसा महापत्स्वपि ॥ ४४॥

Sage Vasishta continued: 

3.99.37–44

> All minds heated and distressed by their own latent desires themselves run away, being fit to reach that Supreme State.

> This widespread suffering is itself spread by the mind. Extremely distressed by itself, it then flees from that suffering again.

> By the nets of its own mental constructs and desires, the mind binds itself, just as a silkworm is trapped by the sticky threads of its own saliva.

> Just as it meets misfortune, so the restless mind plays about, not seeing the coming suffering, like a child lost in mischievous play.

> Not seeing how its testicles get crushed in the hole of the wood, the monkey that pulls out the peg suffers pain; in the same way this mind suffers.

> Through long nurturing and long contemplation, by steady practice the mind becomes insignificant and no longer grieves.

> From the mind’s carelessness, sufferings grow high like mountain peaks. By control of the mind alone they melt away, like snow before the sun.

> Throughout life the mind delights equally in the pure tendency born of scriptural understanding, remaining silent like a Sage toward attachments and the rest. Afterwards, attaining that purest, purifying, unborn, cool State and resting there, a person does not grieve again even in the greatest calamities.

Summary of the Teachings: 

These verses teach that the mind is the sole creator of its own bondage and suffering. Every sorrow a person experiences is produced and expanded by the mind itself through its latent desires and restless mental activity. The mind first generates the pain, then feels overwhelmed by it and tries to escape, yet the escape remains incomplete because the root cause—its own tendencies—stays intact.

The mind traps itself in a web of its own making, exactly as a silkworm spins sticky threads that become its prison. Restless and playful, it pursues fleeting pleasures without noticing the future pain that follows, just as a child continues mischievous games without seeing the harm. In a still more vivid image, the mind acts like a foolish monkey that pulls a peg from a split log and thereby crushes its own sensitive parts, bringing needless agony upon itself through its own impulsive action.

Liberation does not come from flight or external change. Only long, steady practice of restraint, contemplation, and right understanding can make the troublesome tendencies of the mind grow weak and insignificant. When the mind is carefully governed, the mountains of accumulated sorrow dissolve as quickly as snow melts under the morning sun.

Therefore a person should train the mind, throughout the whole of life, to take delight only in pure tendencies that arise from the clear understanding of scriptural Truth. Remaining inwardly silent toward all attachments and aversions, like a Sage, the mind gradually settles into the Pure, cool, Unborn State that is free from disturbance. Established in that State, one remains unshaken and free from grief even when the greatest outward calamities arise.

In essence the teaching is simple and practical: the mind alone binds and the mind alone liberates. By recognizing its self-created suffering, refusing to feed its restless play, and patiently training it in pure understanding and silence, a person reaches lasting inner peace that no external event can destroy.

Chapter 3.98, Verses 1~20

Yoga Vashishtha 3.98.1~20

(Mind is the root of both bondage and freedom)

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच।

यतःकुतश्चिदुत्पन्नं चित्तं यत्किंचिदेव हि।

नित्यमात्मविमोक्षाय योजयेद्यत्नतोऽनघ ॥ १॥

संयोजितं परे चित्तं शुद्धं निर्वासनं भवेत्।

ततस्तु कल्पनाशून्यमात्मतां याति राघव ॥ २॥

चित्तायत्तमिदं सर्वं जगत्स्थिरचरात्मकम्।

चित्ताधीनवतो राम बन्धमोक्षावपि स्फुटम् ॥ ३॥

अत्रार्थे कथ्यमानं मे चित्ताख्यानमनुत्तमम्।

ब्रह्मणा यत्पुरा प्रोक्तं श्रृणु रामातियत्नतः ॥ ४॥

अस्ति रामाटवी स्फारा शून्याशान्तातिभीषणा।

योजनानां शतं यस्यां लक्ष्यते कणमात्रकम् ॥ ५॥

तस्यामेको हि पुरुषः सहस्रकरलोचनः।

पर्याकुलमतिर्भीमः संस्थितो वितताकृतिः ॥ ६॥

(३.९८.७–१६)

अन्धकूपात्समुत्थाय प्रविष्टः कदलीवनम्।

कदलीकाननाच्छ्वभ्रं करञ्जवनगुल्मकम् ॥ १७॥

करञ्जकाननात्कूपं कूपाद्रम्भावनान्तरम्।

प्रविशन्प्रहरंश्चैव स्वयमात्मनि संस्थितः ॥ १८॥

एवंरूपनिजाचारः सोऽवलोक्य चिरं मया।

अवष्टभ्य बलादेव मुहूर्तं रोधितः पथि ॥ १९॥

पृष्टः स कस्त्वं किमिदं केनार्थेन करोषि वा।

किं नामाभिमतं तेऽत्र किं मुधा परिमुह्यसि ॥ २०॥

Sage Vasishta said: 

3.98.1–6

> O sinless one, the mind arises from whatever source and is of whatever nature. One should always carefully direct it toward liberation of the Self.

> O Raghava, when the mind is joined to the Supreme, it becomes pure and free from latent tendencies. Then, empty of all imaginings, it attains the Nature of the Self.

> O Rama, this entire World of things that move and things that do not move depends on the mind. Bondage and liberation clearly depend on the mind as well.

> O Rama, listen with great care to this excellent story of the mind that I am telling you. Brahmadev himself spoke it long ago.

> There is a vast, empty, restless, and extremely terrifying forest called Ramatavi forest. In it, a distance of a hundred yojanas looks like a mere speck.

> In that forest stands one man with a thousand hands and a thousand eyes. He is of huge form, fearsome, and his mind is greatly disturbed.

3.98.7–16

The man seizes many clubs with his thousand arms, beats his own back and body, then flees in terror from himself. Exhausted and crying, he falls into a deep, pitch-dark well. After a long time he climbs out, resumes beating himself, and runs farther. He plunges into a thorny Karanja thicket like a moth into fire, escapes, continues the self-beating and flight, enters a cool and lovely banana grove as if laughing, leaves it, and finally rushes again into the same dark well, his body broken and worn.

3.98.17–20

> Rising from the dark well, he entered a banana grove. From the banana forest he went into a pit, then into a thicket of Karanja bushes.

> From the Karanja thicket he entered a well, and from the well he entered another banana grove. Thus he keeps entering and striking while remaining within himself.

> I (Brahmadev) watched this kind of behavior of his for a long time. Then, using force, I blocked his path for a short while.

> I asked him: Who are you? What is this? For what purpose do you do it? What do you wish for here? Why do you uselessly delude yourself?

Summary of the Teachings:

These verses teach that the mind is the root of both bondage and freedom. Whatever its origin or present State, it must be steadily turned toward the Self. When fixed on the Supreme it is purified, loses its deep-seated tendencies, and finally becomes free of all imagination, resting as Pure Self-nature.

The world of moving and unmoving things is shown to be entirely dependent on the mind. Bondage and liberation are therefore not external conditions but States of the mind itself. The allegory that follows makes this concrete.

The vast, empty, terrifying forest stands for the cycle of Worldly Existence. In delusion it appears immense; with right understanding it is seen as insignificant. The single man with a thousand hands and eyes is the mind itself, filled with countless desires and perceptions. By its own desires it strikes itself and then flees from the pain it has created, running endlessly through experiences of pleasure and pain.

The dark well represents states of deep suffering or hellish existence. The thorny thicket stands for ordinary worldly life full of sharp attachments and cares. The pleasant banana grove stands for temporary heavenly or sensual enjoyments. The mind repeatedly leaves one and plunges into another, never finding rest because the root cause—its own restless activity—remains.

The final teaching is that the mind’s endless self-torture and flight can be interrupted only by firm inquiry and discrimination. When the mind is held and questioned, its false activity is exposed. Liberation begins the moment the mind is stopped in its tracks and turned from self-created suffering toward the Stillness of the Self.

Chapter 2.13, Verses 11–20

Yoga Vashishtha 2.13.11–20

(Ignorance, a pervasive affliction that prevents equanimity and leads to a life of misery)

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच ।

स्वानुभूतेश्च शास्त्रस्य गुरोश्चैवैकवाक्यता ।

यस्याभ्यासेन तेनात्मा सन्ततेनावलोक्यते ॥ ११ ॥

अवहेलितशास्त्रार्थैरवज्ञातमहाजनैः ।

कष्टामप्यापदं प्राप्तो न मूढैः समतामियात् ॥ १२ ॥

न व्याधिर्न विषं नापत्तथा नाधिश्च भूतले ।

खेदाय स्वशरीरस्थं मौर्ख्यमेकं यथा नृणाम् ॥ १३ ॥

किंचित्संस्कृतबुद्धीनां श्रुतं शास्त्रमिदं यथा ।

मौर्ख्यापहं तथा शास्त्रमन्यदस्ति न किंचन ॥ १४ ॥

इदं श्राव्यं सुखकरं यथा दृष्टान्तसुन्दरम्।

अविरुद्धमशेषेण शास्त्रं वाक्यार्थबन्धुना ॥ १५ ॥

आपदो या दुरुत्तारा याश्च तुच्छाः कुयोनयः ।

तास्ता मौर्ख्यात्प्रसूयन्ते खदिरादिव कण्टकाः ॥ १६ ॥

वरं शरावहस्तस्य चाण्डालागारवीथिषु ।

भिक्षार्थमटनं राम न मौर्ख्यहतजीवितम् ॥ १७ ॥

वरं घोरान्धकूपेषु कोटरेष्वेव भूरुहाम्।

अन्धकीटत्वमेकान्ते न मौर्ख्यमतिदुःखदम् ॥ १८ ॥

इममालोकमासाद्य मोक्षोपायमयं जनः ।

अन्धतामेति न पुनः कश्चिन्मोहतमस्यपि ॥ १९ ॥

तावन्नयति संकोचं तृष्णा वै मानवाम्बुजम् ।

यावद्विवेकसूर्यस्य नोदिता विमला प्रभा ॥ २० ॥

Maharishi Vashishta said:

2.13.11: When one’s personal experience, the teachings of the scriptures, and the words of the Guru align, through practice, the Self is clearly perceived in its continuity.

2.13.12: One who disregards the meaning of the scriptures and ignores the Wise, even if facing great misfortune, does not attain the equanimity of the ignorant.

2.13.13: Neither disease, nor poison, nor calamity, nor poverty on this earth causes as much suffering to a person as the Ignorance residing within their own body.

2.13.14: Just as this scripture, when studied, purifies the intellect and removes Ignorance, there is no other scripture that accomplishes this to the same extent.

2.13.15: This scripture is pleasing to hear, adorned with beautiful examples, and entirely consistent, with its words and meanings harmoniously aligned.

2.13.16: All insurmountable calamities and trivial misfortunes arise from Ignorance, just as thorns sprout from the khadira tree.

2.13.17: O Rama, it is better to wander as a beggar with a bowl in hand through the streets of an outcast’s village than to live a life destroyed by Ignorance.

2.13.18: It is better to live as a blind insect in the dark hollows of trees or deep wells than to endure the extreme suffering caused by Ignorance.

2.13.19: Having encountered this illuminating path to Realization, no one falls back into the darkness of delusion, not even those trapped in the deepest Ignorance.

2.13.20: The lotus of human Consciousness remains contracted by desire until the pure radiance of the sun of discernment rises.

Summary of the Teachings:

The verses from Yoga Vasishta 2.13.11 to 2.13.20, spoken by Sage Vasishta to Rama, emphasize the critical role of Wisdom and scriptural study in overcoming Ignorance, which is portrayed as the root cause of human suffering. The alignment of personal experience, scriptural teachings, and the guidance of a Guru is highlighted as essential for Realizing the True Nature of the Self. This integrated approach fosters a continuous and clear perception of the Self, guiding the practitioner toward Realization. Ignorance, in contrast, is depicted as a pervasive affliction that prevents equanimity and leads to a life of misery, regardless of external circumstances.

Vasishta underscores the unparalleled value of the scriptures in purifying the intellect and dispelling ignorance. He compares the Yoga Vasishta to a unique tool for eradicating folly, noting its engaging and consistent teachings, enriched with relatable examples. The scripture is presented as a practical and harmonious guide that not only imparts Knowledge but also makes the pursuit of Wisdom accessible and appealing. This emphasis on the transformative power of scripture sets it apart as a vital resource for spiritual growth.

The verses vividly illustrate Ignorance as the source of all calamities, likening it to thorns sprouting from a tree. Ignorance is portrayed as more destructive than physical ailments, poisons, or poverty, as it resides within and perpetuates suffering. 

Vasishta stresses that external hardships pale in comparison to the internal torment caused by a lack of understanding, which distorts one’s perception of Reality and leads to endless cycles of misfortune.

To further emphasize the perils of Ignorance, Vasishta uses striking metaphors, suggesting that even a degrading existence as a beggar or a blind insect is preferable to a life marred by Ignorance. These comparisons highlight the depth of suffering Ignorance inflicts, portraying it as a state of profound disconnection from Truth and Realization. The teachings urge the seeker to prioritize Wisdom over worldly pursuits, as Ignorance traps one in a cycle of pain far worse than any external condition.

Finally, the verses offer hope by presenting the path to Realization as an illuminating force that dispels the darkness of delusion. The rise of discernment, likened to the sun’s pure radiance, liberates the human Consciousness from the grip of desire and Ignorance. By engaging with the teachings of the Yoga Vasishta, one can transcend delusion and attain freedom, ensuring that even those deeply entangled in Ignorance can find their way to Realization through the light of Wisdom.