YOG A VA SISHTA SARA (THE ESSENCE OF YOGA VASISHTA) An English Translation from the Sanskrit Original Sri Ramanasramam Tiruvannamalai 606 603 2005 © Sri Ramanasramam Tiruvannamalai First Edition : Second Edition: Third Edition : Fourth Edition : 1973 1985 1994 2005 — 1000 copies — 1000 copies — 1000 copies — 1000 copies CC No. 1084 ISBN: 81-88018-45-7 Price: Rs. Published by V.S. Ramanan President Sri Ramanasramam Tiruvannamalai 606 603 Tamil Nadu INDIA Email:
[email protected] Website: www.ramana-maharshi.org Typeset at Sri Ramanasramam Printed by Sudarsan Graphics Chennai PREF ACE PREFA This English version of the Yoga Vasishta Sara is based on a translation made by Swami Sureshananda, an old devotee of Bhagavan, who has founded an ashram named ‘Vijnana Ramaneeyam’ at Palghat and has translated several works of Bhagavan as well as the Yoga Vasishta Sara into Malayalam. This was published serially in The Mountain Path, the journal published by Sri Ramanasramam, during 1969 to 1971 and is now issued in the form of a book for facility of reference. SRI RAMANASRAMAM 15th July, 1973 Guru-Poornima. V.S. RAMANAN PRESIDENT INTR ODUCTION INTRODUCTION The Brihat (the great) Yoga Vasishta or Yoga Vasishta Maha Ramayana as it is also called, is a work of about 32,000 Sanskrit couplets, traditionally attributed to Valmiki, the author of Srimad Ramayana. It is a dialogue between Sage Vasishta and Sri Rama, during which Advaita (the doctrine of non-duality) in its pure form of ajatavada (theory of nonorigination) is expounded, with illustrative stories in between. This vast work was abridged some centuries ago by Abhinanda Pandita, a Kashmiri scholar, into 6,000 couplets, which go by the name of Laghu Yoga Vasishta. This is a masterpiece in itself, like the original Brihat. Bhagavan Sri Ramana Maharshi used to refer to Yoga Vasishta frequently and has even incorporated six couplets from it in His Supplement to Forty Verses (verses 21 to 27). A further condensation of this work was made long ago, by an unknown author, into about 230 couplets, divided into ten chapters, as Yoga Vasishta Sara (Essence of Yoga Vasishta), of which this translation is presented for Note: An English translation of the Brihat Yoga Vasishta by Vihari Lal Mitra is out of print. Translation of Laghu Yoga Vasishta by K. Narayanaswamy Iyer is available from the Theosophical Publishing House, Madras-20. Introduction the first time. By making this condensation the author has rendered a great service to all sadhaks. This is indeed a goldmine fit for repeated reading and meditation. PUBLISHER CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE 1 DISPASSION 1 2 UNREALITY OF THE WORLD 5 3 THE MARKS OF A LIBERATED PERSON 9 4 DISSOLUTION OF THE MIND 13 5 THE DESTRUCTION OF LATENT IMPRESSIONS 17 6 MEDITATION ON THE SELF 20 7 METHOD OF PURIFICATION 22 8 WORSHIP OF THE SELF 25 9 EXPOSITION OF THE SELF 27 NIRVANA 32 10 YOGA V ASISHT A SARA VASISHT ASISHTA CHAPTER ONE DISP ASSION DISPASSION 1. Salutations to that calm effulgence which is endless and unlimited by space, time etc., the pure consciousness which can be known by experience only. 2. Neither one who is totally ignorant nor one who knows it (i.e. Truth) is eligible to study this book. Only he who thinks ‘I am bound; I must become free’ is entitled to study it. 3. Until one is definitely blessed by the Supreme Lo