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Vasistha's Yoga Page iii Vasistha’s * Yoga Swami Venkatesananda STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK PRESS Page iv Disclaimer: This book contains characters with diacritics. When the characters can be represented using the ISO 8859­1 character set (http://www.w3.org/TR/images/latin1.gif), netLibrary will represent them as they appear in the original text, and most computers will be able to show the full characters correctly. In order to keep the text searchable and readable on most computers, characters with diacritics that are not part of the ISO 8859­1 list will be represented without their diacritical marks. Published by State University of New York Press, Albany © 1993 State University of New York All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address State University of New York Press, State University Plaza, Albany, N.Y., 12246 Library of Congress Cataloging­in­Publication Data Venkatesananda, Swami. Vasistha's * yoga / Swami Venkatesananda. p. cm. Includes translation of: Yogavasistharamayana*. Includes index. ISBN 0­7914­1363­2 (hard.) — ISBN 0­7914­1364­0 (pbk.) 1.Yogavasistharamayana*—Commentaries. 2. Religious life— Hinduism. 3. Hinduism—Doctrines. I. Yogavasistharamayana*. English. II. Title. BL 1237.32. Y633V46 1993 294.5'4—dc20 92­3160 CIP 10 9 Page v SCHEME OF TRANSLITERATION a * i i* u u* r* r* l* e ai o au m* h* VOWELS: a CONSONANTS: gutturals k kh g gh n* palatals c ch j jh ñ cerebrals t* th* d* dh* n* dentals t th d dh n labials p ph b bh m semi­vowels y r I v sibilants s s as in sun s* palatal sibilant s* cerebral sibilant—as in shun aspirate h The above scheme does not facilitate the pronunciation of the syllable jna which occurs often in the Yoga Vasistha* as also in yoga literature (jnana*> means knowledge). The j is not really pronounced as j but almost as g. It is followed by the n which partakes of the character of the guttural and the palatal n. Added to all this there is also a suggestion of y before the appropriate vowel completes the syllable. Satvic*, rajasic* and tamasic* are anglicised adjective forms of satva, rajas and tamas. Many common nouns have also been anglicised by addition of 's' for the plural. The numbers in the margins refer to Parts and Chapters in the complete Yoga Vasishtha. The Roman number refers to the Part, of which there are six, and the following Arabic number designates the Chapter being summarized from that Part. CONTENTS Blessing ii Scheme of Transliteration v Forework viii Introduction x Prayer xii Part One: On Dispassion 1 Part Two: On the Behaviour of the Seeker 21 The Story of Suka * 23 Self­effort 25 Part Three: On Creation 39 The Story of Lila* 55 The Story of Karkati* 92 The Story of the Sons of Indu 108 The Story of Ahalya* 110 The Story of the Great Forest 119 The Story of the Three Non­existent Princes 122 The Story of Lavana* 124 Part Four: On Existence 143 The Story of Sukra* 147 The Story of Dama*, Vyala* and Kata* 165 The Story of Bhima*, Bhasa* and Drdha* 172 The Story of Dasura* 186 Kaca's Story 193 Part Five: On Dissolution 197 The Story of King Janaka 204 The Story of Punya * and Pavana* 222 The Story of Bali 225 The Story of Prahlada* 235 The Story of Gadhi* 258 The Story of Uddalaka* 268 The Story of Suraghu 281 The Story of Bhasa* and Vilasa* 286 The Story of Vitahavya* 305 Part Six: On Liberation 323 Discourse on Brahman 340 The Story of Bhusunda* 346 Description of the Lord 366 Deva Puja* 376 The Story of the Wood apple 389 The Story of the Rock 390 The Story of Arjuna 395 The Story of the Hundred Rudras 409 The Story of the Vampire 418 The Story of Bhagiratha* 419 The Story of Sikhidvaja* and Cudala* 422 The Story of the Philosopher's Stone 434 The Story of Cintamani* 441 The Story of the Foolish Elephant 442 The Story of Kaca 468 The Story of the Deluded Man 470 The Story of Bhrngisa* 472 The Story of Iksvaku* 476 The World Within the Rock 568 The Story of the Sage from Outer Space 583 The Story of Vipascit* 602 The Story of the Hunter and the Deer 624 The Story of Kundadanta 682 Index 727 Page viii FOREWORD The book, Vasistha's * Yoga, is a translation into English accompanied by brief expositions, by Swami Venkatesananda of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, India, of the well­known Vedanta* treatise in Sanskrit, The Yoga Vasistha*. The Swami has arranged the verses of the book in such a way as to convert them into a rosary of daily thoughts throughout the year, on the lines of his two other books, already published, namely, the Srimad* Bhagavatam* or The Book of God, and The Bhagavad­gita* or The Song of God. The Yoga Vasistha* has been a favourite book of spiritual seekers in India these several centuries. Its special appeal lies in its thoroughly rational approach, and in its presentation of Vedanta* as a philosophy which dares, like The Bhagavad­gita*, to bridge the gulf between the secular and the sacred, action and contemplation, in human life, through a comprehensive and lofty spirituality. The reader will come across passages such as the verse entry II:18, highlighting the importance of reason: The remark of even a child is to be accepted, if it is in accordance with reason; but the remark of even Brahma* Himself, the creator of the world, is to be rejected like a piece of straw if it does not accord with reason. It is this philosophy of a comprehensive spirituality, rational and practical, that man in the modern age needs to rescue himself from his stagnation of worldliness and put him on the high road of creative living and fulfillment. Page ix Swami Venkatesananda, who has been working untiringly for decades to spread the life­giving message of Yoga and Vedanta * in East and West, has done a great service to spiritual seekers far and wide by bringing out this translation of The Yoga Vasistha* in the wake of his translation of the other two great books. The Chiltern Yoga Trust of Elgin, South Africa, deserves the silent thanks of readers for publishing these three books of the Swami and helping to broadcast far and wide the life­giving, purifying, and inspiring ideas of Eternal India, Amat Bharat*, in her Vedanta*. SWAMI RANGANATHANANDA Page x INTRODUCTION Scholars speculate about the author of this monumental scripture and such other academic matters: may God bless them with success. The Yoga­Vasistha * is the greatest help to the spiritual awakening and the direct experience of the Truth. This is certain. If this is what you want, you are welcome to Yoga­Vasistha*. The text abounds in repetitions which are, however, not repetitious. If you do not like (or need) repetition, then read just this one verse: This world­appearance is a confusion: even as the blueness of the sky is an optical illusion. I think it is better not to let the mind dwell on it, but to ignore it. (I.3.2) This verse occurs several times in the scripture and it seems to be the very essence of the teaching. If that is not quite clear to you now, read the scripture. The numerous ways in which this truth is revealed will help open your mind. It is wise to read just one page a day. The teaching is revolutionary. The biased mind does not readily accept it. After the daily reading, meditate. Let the message soak through. <><><><><><><><><><><><> An oft­recurring expression in this scripture is 'kakataliya*'—a crow alights on the cocoanut palm tree and that very moment a ripe cocoanut falls. The two unrelated events thus seem to be related in time and space, though there is no causal relationship. Page xi Such is life. Such is 'creation'. But the mind caught up in its own trap of logic questions 'why', invents a 'why' and a 'wherefore' to satisfy itself, conveniently ignoring the inconvenient questions that still haunt an intelligent mind. Vasistha * demands direct observation of the mind, its motion, its notions, its reasoning, the assumed cause and the projected result, and even the observed and the observation—and the realisation of their indivisible unity as the infinite consciousness. That is the uniqueness of this scripture which hence declares itself to be supreme: Except through this scripture, one cannot gain what is good, now or at any time. Therefore, for perfect realisation of the supreme truth, one should fervently investigate this scripture alone. (VI.2.103) It is, however the teaching that is supreme, not a book or a sage. Hence, Vasistha* is bold enough to say: If, however, one thinks it is not authoritative because it is of human origin, one can resort to the study of any other scripture dealing with self­knowledge and final liberation. (VI.2.175) Whichever be the scripture taught by whomever and whichever be the path you choose, stop not till the psychological conditioning ceases entirely. Hence, Vasistha* exhorts the seeker: One should study at least a small part of this scripture daily. The beauty in this scripture is that its student is not abandoned to his despair; if something is not clear in the first instance, a further study of the scripture makes it clear.
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