Shastriji always used to tell his followers that, it was difficult for him to put into words whatever thought that flowed in his mind while going through Yōgavāsiṣṭha as every word or a phrase or a sloka would push him to non doing state. Due to repeated requests from his close associates, he agreed to speak on a few topics in Yōgavāsiṣṭha. The recorded talks which were highly disjointed have been put into a readable format after much deliberation. The reader is requested to keep this in mind and absorb the essence of teaching.
- Editor
YŌGAVĀSIṢṬHA (योगवासिष्ठ) - IS AN EXTRAORDINARY text. It talks at high levels of spirituality. The very thought and study of the text puts me into a state of samādhi (समाधि, bliss). How can I talk on the text and do justice to you. Normally, that is why I do not wish to talk on Yōgavāsiṣṭha. If one is having pātrata (पात्रत, eligibility), then, this text will put him into that blissful state. If one has attained the right level of maturity and if the concepts are clear about his true Nature, here is a text, every word, every half śloka, puts him into that state of samādhi. That is why; the wise rightly call it a manana-grantha (a reference book for repeated reflection). I thought I would write something, but I failed due to inability to concentrate on words. Ramakrishna refers to that State as an ocean of amr̥ta (nectar), after dipping in it, you dissolve and you are gone. Where is the reporter? Even to report about that, you have to stand at the threshold – at the sandhikāla (संधिकाल) - a bit of cognition, a bit of tr̥pti (तृप्ति, satisfaction) and a feel of dissatisfaction, a-tr̥pti. Otherwise you cannot do anything at all. That is the beauty of the text. After the phase of śravaṇa (श्रवण, listening to scriptures), where you intellectually know what you really are, go to Yōgavāsiṣṭha. You will be surprised to note that any sloka can push you to a state of non-doing. It is not superficial. Thoughts cannot shape themselves. How can you develop big arguments in support of your positions when you are in that non-doing state?
I will pick up some points from the text, without going in a methodical way, and try to place before you my feelings even though they are disjointed and broken. I would like to avoid as much as possible the story portion and the anecdotes. If we have to go in detail, it may take three to four years. We cannot afford to spend such a time, in this busy world. If we think of a concept of vānaprastha (वानप्रस्थ, retirement) period, then such a thing is possible, since we can be in continuous ātmaciṁtana (आत्मचिंतन, self introspection) phase without distractions. That is why much of Vedanta is one’s own study. There is nothing like spoon feeding. You can appreciate those states only when you touch them yourselves, in your experimentation. The prescription in Yōgavāsiṣṭha, is to ‘look inside”, that is all!
There is a very good mantra in Kathopanishad:
पराञ्चि खानि व्यतृणत् स्वयंभूस्
तस्मात् पराङ् पश्यति नान्तरात्मन्।
कश्चिद् धीरः प्रत्यगात्मानम् ऐक्षत
आवृत्तचक्षुः अमृतत्वमिच्छन्॥ (५)parāñci khāni vyatr̥ṇatsvayaṁbhūstasmāt
parāṅpaśyati nāntarātman
kaścit dhīraḥ pratyagātmānamaikṣata
āvr̥ttacakṣuḥ amr̥tatvamicchan.
(Ka.Upa.2-4-1)
We are structurally looking outside. Man is so constructed that all his sense organs go outward. He goes out to see, to talk, and to enjoy. Naturally, therefore, he does not look inside at all. Once in a way in a century, a hero is born. What does he do? Directs the tool of investigation viz, intellect inside. Why does he look inside? amr̥tatvamicchan – Prompted by the desire for immortality. Just to get to that state where the fear of death vanishes, he looks inside.
Vedanta in short gives us a method of investigation to turn inside. Once you adopt that, you discover everything. You do not have to wait for the teacher. Under the revised resetting, the inward journey starts and you discover many regions, hitherto unknown, but revealed in the texts of Upanishads. It is seen clearly in the Bhr̥guvalli (भृगुवल्लि), of Taittariya Upanishad where the Rishi directs the student to study on his own. He suggests to do ātmaparīkṣā (आत्मपरीक्षा, examination of oneself), to resolve fundamental questions. The teacher’s dictum was:
तपसा ब्रह्म विजिज्ञासस्व। तपोब्रह्मेति।
tapasā brahma vijijñāsasva. tapō brahmēti.
He does not give any more hints. Why this hardness on the part of the teacher? The answer is, that was the way – spoon feeding does not help.(४) You may get some hints from Shankara and from Yōgavāsiṣṭha but much of the study has to be one’s own. How is it possible? It is to be borne in mind that you have to put questions to yourselves. What are the forces playing inside? How are they related? Which is the pre-state, which is the post state and then come to conclusion. Once we start seeing or searching ourselves inside, everything reveals itself.
Take the case of prāṇa (प्राण, vital breath). What is it? When you sit for meditation, you can see a movement inside which is an activity. This is anubhava mātra gamyam – अनुभवमात्रगम्यम् - can be seen only through experience.
What is cognising? What is the process involved? It is possible when one manages to come to attention posture which is a prerequisite for cognition. It is not natural. Taking an example, let us say you meet a friend and he says that you did not wish him at all. The simple answer you give “I had been thinking elsewhere” That is to say, you have not focused or given attention to the friend. To cognise things, focusing or attention is a must. This is a necessary prerequisite to grasp a thing. It may be a picture or an idea or a concept etc. This is called point creation. This is a mechanism by which a point is created – _dēśasr̥ṣṭi _or _vastusr̥ṣṭi – देशसृष्टि _or वस्तुसृष्टि.(५) A series of points created culminates in a picture. It may be a tree – a hundreds of point formation has given me a tree or a house or even a person. So every seeing is focusing in a particular way,”I” am a focusing person at that time of seeing. When we talk of tripuṭi (त्रिपुटि, the triad) we consider three things - the knower, the knowing and the knowledge or the seer, seeing and the seen. The result of the process of knowing is the seen. The citta (चित्त, the intellect), which is otherwise in the form of prāṇa or movement, comes to an attention position.
So, Brahman is not unknown to you. Everybody is experiencing the state of Brahman every now and then without realizing it.
को ह्य् एवान्यात् कः प्राण्यात् यद् एष आकाश आनन्दो न स्यात्? एष हि एव आनन्दयति।
kōhyēvānyāt kaḥ prāṇyāt yadēṣa ākāśa ānandō na syāt ēṣa hi ēva ānandayati.
(Tai.Upa.2-7-3)
If one did not touch this emptiness (non focussing version of oneself) now and then, how would have one survived wonders the scripture. That means, one is not continuously focussing. Otherwise he would have gone mad with all problems and rushed to a doctor for sedation. This continuous focussing could have been a curse. I was a victim of this searching, attentive, focussing mind which had put me into a lot of problems. I was trying to indulge in things which were not in my domain at all. Although I was a professor of chemistry, I tried to be a carpenter, an engineer and a builder. Do you praise me for that or do you condemn that?
So, the broken happiness whatever we enjoy and use it as relaxation has saved us from the evils of society whereas it is the normal tendency to extol this focusing power in us. But as per Vedanta, it is a curse. You are extremely blisstful at the samādhi level or the svarūpa (स्वरूप – one’s true nature). You are expansive in that state. A Jñāni (ज्ञानि – realised person) says that he does not exist. The person is so diffused, light and thin. He is just happiness. One respiration - to and fro motion - can take place in ten or fifteen minutes. Two cases of such Samādhi situation, we find in Yōgavāsiṣṭha. One is of Prahlada and the other is of Shikidwaja. So today every research is possible because you are compelled to come to focusing mood and explore the laws of the discipline you belong to. It may be engineering or medicine or physics or domestic science. This becomes a load on you if stretched too much.
I was explaining the way of understanding tripuṭi. Tripuṭi is focusing. One of the definitions of Brahman or Self as per Upanishads is Cit or as per Yōgavāsiṣṭha is संवित् - saṁvit:
- Self, therefore, is also just the mere knowing power. Prior to knowing, whatever we are is the Svarūpa. Jñāna is the mere knowing state.
- By degenerative process, the knowing becomes the known. That is, Jñāna which is mere knowing becomes jñēya – ज्ञेय, the known (mistranslation??).
- This is also termed as cit (चित्) and cētya (चेत्य) – saṁvit (संवित्) and saṁvedya (संवेद्य) as in Yōgavāsiṣṭha. Cit, which is just the knowing, has become Cētya, the known by the degenerative process of focussing into creation. This is how we cognize the world. After position of this focussing is vastu (वस्तु – a thing, an object, a thought, etc.)
- The in-between process or stage of Cit and Cētya is beautifully recognized by Yōgavāsiṣṭha as cētyōnmukhata – चेत्योन्मुखत or vēdyōnmukhata / vēdanōnmukhata - वेद्योन्मुखत / वेदनोन्मुखत – is knowing which is, in the process of becoming known. That is Knowing is in the process of cognition or crystallisation of thought. The result is, you have pictures and sounds and the movements of different intensities. We call it by nāma, rūpa, karma – नाम, रूप, कर्म - name, form, activity.
In most of us the ‘I’ is in the process of cognition or crystallization. If Cētya or cognition has not set in, then whatever you are is the ‘I’ portion. Being in the attentive phase is the ’I’. If you are in that cognizing mood without taking the details of the Jagat, you are in the ‘I’ state. So this I is the creating principle and its creation is the world of objects like pictures, sounds, thoughts, etc. Why not call this as ultimate ‘I’? What is wrong with this ‘I’? This ‘I’ in the attention mood without the resultant formation of object, dēśasr̥ṣṭi or _vastusr̥ṣṭi, देशसृष्टि _or वस्तुसृष्टि, is a burdensome state.
So, for two reasons, it is a suffering ‘I’ and nobody would like it. It is a labouring ‘I’. ‘I’ is in the duḥkhasthāna (दुःखस्थान – suffering phase). One aspect of duḥkha is Focusing and the other is the Speed with which you go to that focussing phase. By knowing the fact that, this state which puts you in burden in a short time, cannot be the true ‘I’. More often you say that by too much of thinking, you become tired – focusing tires you. This knowledge itself will reset your values. From that day, you decide to become a different person because you have clarity about yourself on the question of details. This is the usefulness of the study.
What is the alternative? What is the way out for this problem that the system knows? The system has a protective mechanism as it were. There is a safety valve mechanism. Even in the wakeful state, we come to a “LET GO” state touching Brahman. The way of knowingly becoming irresponsible is permissible. This is called conscious irresponsibility. Unknowingly becoming irresponsible is tamas – तमस् - ignorance. State of sleep is a safety valve mechanism. From your state of pointedness you have shifted into the state of satwa – सत्व – calm or serene. The self expansion has started. Pointedness is a state of burden. LET GO is the opposite state.
Everyone has an element of Brahman in him. Scriptures always remind us that we have another way of living. When the quality or characteristics of sleep is consciously maintained, then, one becomes Brahman. Meditation is a program of conscious expansion. The point of importance in meditation is not to notice anything either inside or outside. In Bhūmāvidya of Chandyogya Upanishad (7-24), it is clearly indicated that:
यत्र नान्यत्पश्यति नान्यच्छृणोति
नान्यद्विजानाति स भूमा
yatra nānyatpaśyati nānyacchr̥ṇōti
nānyadvijānāti sa bhūmā
Bhūmā is vyāpakatwa (व्यापकत्व – expansiveness where you do not see any other thing, don’t listen to another thing, do not think of another thing. Shankara is extraordinary in commenting on this. He raises a doubt as to whether from the above definition one can infer that in the state of Bhūmā or spread state, one is seeing oneself? When the recommendation is not to see any thing, does it mean that one needs to see oneself? Shankara says ‘NO’. All the time, you were struggling outside, now you are struggling inside trying to know. This knowing phase itself is burden. Then what is the meaning of the above?
यत्र दर्शनक्रिया न संभवति यत्र श्रवण क्रिया
वेदनक्रिया न संभवति ….
yatra darśanakriyā na saṁbhavati yatra śravaṇakriyā vēdanakriyā na saṁbhavati….Where listening, seeing, sensing, etc does not happen – that is the state in which you are peaceful or joyful with bhoga or without bhoga. Shankara simplifies Vedanta as under. If you are a serious student and desire to come out of suffering, do a bit of study,
तस्या अविद्यायाः किं स्वाभाविकत्वं
आहोस्वित् कामकर्मादिवत् आगन्तुकत्वम्
यदि च आगन्तुकत्वम् ततो विमोक्ष उपपद्यते।
तस्याश्च आगन्तुकत्वे कोपपत्तिः.
tasyā avidyāyāḥ kiṁ svābhāvikatvaṁ
āhōsvit kāmakarmādivat āgantukatvam?
yadi ca āgantukatvam tatō vimōkṣa upapadyatē.
tasyāśca āgantukatvē kōpapattiḥ?
(Bru.Upa.4-3-20)
- Whether the toiling phase of knowing, doing and enjoying, is it your true nature or borrowed nature?
- If it is true nature, nothing can help you to get rid of that.
- If it is of the nature of coming and going, then it is droppable.
- Are focusing and speed our natural states or borrowed states?
Āgantuka dharma is the acquired trait and as such one can drop it. Svabhāva dharma is one’s natural trait and thus cannot be dropped. So there is no prospect of riddance or moksha from such natural traits. If one is able to understand this aspect, how can one suffer? This is a very small but an important examination that can lead one to come out of sorrow. This is an excellent tool to set right one’s values.If one can do the focusing slowly, then it is not a burden. So one can adopt this method and still be in the happy state. Vedanta is so liberal and does not impose restrictions. Rama and Krishna never got excited under any circumstances. Rama is called मर्यादापुरुष – maryādā-puruṣa, a very highly balanced person. Listen to Krishna in Bhagavadgīta and do not imitate him, but follow Him. This shows that a jnani can also become angry, but that anger is only to help the mankind. As soon as the purpose is served, then there is no anger at all. He does not bring it to memory again. In two seconds the built up anger is dissolved never to return again. This is called: The capacity to release and withdraw at will.
प्रयोग उपसंहार सामर्थ्य.
prayōga upasaṁhāra sāmarthya.
.
Rama asks the question to Vasishta: (YV 4-4-32)
अनन्तस्य अप्रमेयस्य सर्वस्य एकस्य भास्वतः,
अनस्तमितसारस्य कलना कथमागता.
anantasya apramēyasya.sarvasya ēkasya bhāsvataḥ,
anastamitasārasya kalanā kathamāgatā.
(How has the infinite and incomprehensible effulgent Consciousness that does not eclipse, come to be endowed with world conception?)
Why did Brahman, who is infinite, all pervading, immeasurable, unblemished, become this poor helpless and suffering person and got terribly caught in the worldly life. Why did Brahman create individual souls – जीवत्व, _jīvatva, _who is always of complaining nature? Vasistha says:
कुतो जाता अयं इति ते राम मास्तु विचारणा,
इमां कथमहं हन्मित्येषा ते अस्तु विचारणा.
kutō jātā ayaṁ iti tē rāma māstu vicāraṇā,
imāṁ kathamahaṁ hanmityēṣā tē astu vicāraṇā.
(YV 4-4-42)
(O Rama, do not enquire how has this avidya come into existence. Do only the enquiry as to how you will conquer this.)
It is surprising that Vasishta says - kutō jātā ayaṁ iti tē rāma māstu vicāraṇā - Do not put this question as to why this creation has come about? Do not ask this question as nobody has given any answer to this question. It is a wasteful question as per Vasistha. It is better to put a purposeful question. Any amount of argument cannot satisfy the answer to such a question. Any amount of explanation about creation does not benefit anyone. You should always put a question as to how to come out of this maaya or suffering. Let that be your question.
Shankara gives his own अध्यासवाद - adhyāsavāda, which is not convincing to me. Govindapada gives his अजातिवाद -ajātivāda, which looks more ambiguous as he says world has not come into existance at all and so there can be no question of arguments? This argument shows that one is running away from the problem as we know well that we are all suffering.
You employ the विज्ञानकोश- vijñānakōśa, the intellectual sheath, to solve your problem. You will only realise that this kosha itself is the obstacle to the final goal. A simple example given in olden days was of removing a thorn by using another thorn. You not only throw the injury causing thorn, but you throw the other thorn which removed this thorn. So you drop the problem and also the problem solving mind, that is the intellect and drop that investigating mind or बुद्धिकोश – buddhikōśa. Look at this mantra from Mahabharata”s Mokshadharma Parva.
त्यज धर्ममधर्मंच उभे सत्यानृते त्यज,
उभे सत्यानृते त्यक्त्वा येन त्यजसि तत्त्यज.
(329-40)
tyaja dharmamadharmaṁca ubhē satyānr̥tē tyaja
ubhē satyānr̥tē tyaktvā yēna tyajasi tattyaja.
Yēna tyajasi tattyaja - the best tool of investigation with which you remove all your problems will not be valuable to you in the end after reaching the goal and thus ultimately discard the tool itself. Vijñānakōśa gives you insight into the problem and is also a problem by itself. In the evolution level, animal instincts, animal ways of life have to be given up to embrace dharma which is the organised way. This is what karmakaanda tells us. Have limitation in everything. So from a-dharma you come to dharma. But that also becomes a burden. So any focusing is a burden. So drop that kosha also. There is nothing like an anxiety for good thing or a bad thing. So dharma also becomes a burden. So if you have to achieve the ultimate, you have to drop dharma also. Dharma, however soft an activity, becomes a burden when you are too careful and keen to maintain that. So a point comes when you have to relax. This is the only extra insight that is got by studying Vedanta and the Hindu way if life.
Here is a religion that has the courage to say one has to give up dharma also in order to realize a higher truth, since it also becomes a burden. There is no end to good activity. This good activity itself becomes a problem. In Yoga- vasishtha also, such thought is reflected:
बंधो हि वासना बंधो मोक्षः स्यात् वासनाक्षयः,
वासनां त्वं परित्य्ज्य मोक्षार्थित्वमपि त्यज.
baṁdhō hi vāsanā baṁdhō mōkṣaḥ syāt vāsanākṣayaḥ,
vāsanāṁ tvaṁ parityjya mōkṣārthitvamapi tyaja.
(Y.V.4-5-20)
(Bondage is really the subjugation caused by the vāsanas, embedded longing or craving. Liberation is annihilator of vāsanas. Drop all vāsanas and also the desire for liberation)
Suppose tyaaga (renunciation) and daana (charity) also prick you to an extent that it becomes very difficult for you to even stick to dharma. At this point, you must put the the basic question to yourself – what is meant by helping people? What is enjoyment? What is selflessness? You should question the relevance of dharma itself.
That was the problem with Arjuna. That was the problem with Nachiketa. That is how Vedanta has come to light. That was the problem with Sri Rama. He started denying bhoga (enjoyment) for himself because everything became stale. He withdrew himself into a shell and became downcast and turned a patient. He got into a spiritual melancholy (depression). This will be the suffering of a noble soul, when all the bhoga becomes stale.
Sukha or happiness is not dependent on the object that one gives into. No man can be happy unless he controls the forces that are pushing him to the extreme. If the system suffers, nobody can help unless the person concerned realises that he has to be alert. If one doesn’t know this truth, he will be struggling at the dharma level itself.
I am not saying that you should stop karma. Karma is essential for one to perform in this world. Vedanta should not be followed verbatim. Just as one is careful about possessing money, a saadhaka should be careful about every single step he takes. The ultimate goal is not to lose sight of the happiness that one has to retain all through the work that one performs and not slip into suffering due to extra performance. If you have values for mundane things, do not spoil them prematurely. Feed them with this attitude. Be very comfortable and keep on doing things until your responsibilities are finished or till you are tired. In the enthusiasm for getting blissful states, do not stop your responsibilities. When the call for ēkānta (एकान्त – seclusion) becomes too high and when there is a strong urge for liberation, then you may give up the functions which come in the way of your performance. If it drops by itself, then it is well and good. Do not stop it by force. Vedanta says repeatedly:
न बलात् न हठात् - na balāt na haṭhāt.
You have to adjudge yourself. A teacher shows the way and you have to walk depending on the level of your attainments.
Ramana stole money meant for school fees and got his head shaved and threw away the remaining money and walked away. That was the pull which dragged him. Everyone cannot be that way. We cannot imitate him. We can be happy knowing fully well how to correct our errors. We have to adopt the avenues like jñānamārga, karmamaarga and most important the shubhakarma maarga and continue sadhana.