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The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, Vol. 2 (of 4), Part 1 (of 2) — Text and Context
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1984
Project Gutenberg
2023
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Religious life -- Hinduism -- Early works to 1800; Hinduism -- Doctrines -- Early works to 1800
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Words
129,832
Reading time
565 min
Text sections
77
The catalog record for The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, Vol. 2 (of 4), Part 1 (of 2) — Text and Context provides practical reading context through 129,832 words, 9 hr 25 min estimated reading time, and 77 detected text sections.
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Project Gutenberg record #71063
This volume of the Yoga-Vasishtha translation presents the Utpatti Khanda and Sthiti Prakarana, where meditative visions of cosmic creation and dissolution unfold through the brothers' padmasana contemplation, revealing the subjective nature of reality.
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- Title & short description10 pts
- Source metadata20 pts
- Text length15 pts
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. Description of Sindhu’s Dominions 1
CHAPTER LII. State of Man after Death 4
CHAPTER LIII. Representations of Reminiscence 10
CHAPTER LIV. Reflections on Death 15
CHAPTER LV. The States of Life and Death 23
CHAPTER LVI. State of the Soul after Death 31
CHAPTER LVII. Phenomena of Dreaming 37
CHAPTER LVIII. Revival of Padma 43
CHAPTER LIX. Extinction of Padma’s Life 48
CHAPTER LX. On Duration and Time and Thoughts of the 50 Mind
CHAPTER LXI. On the Nature of the World 59
CHAPTER LXII. Interpretation of Destiny 64
CHAPTER LXIII. Immutability of the Divine Mind 69
CHAPTER LXIV. The Germinating Seed 71
CHAPTER LXV. Nature of the Living Soul 76
CHAPTER LXVI. Meditation of the Subjective and 78 Objective
CHAPTER LXVII. Lecture on Truth 81
CHAPTER LXVIII. Description of a Rákshasí (or female 94 fiend)
CHAPTER LXIX. Story of Visúchiká 97
CHAPTER LXX. Conduct of Visúchí, or the Adventures of 100 the Needle
CHAPTER LXXI. Remorse of Súchí 110
CHAPTER LXXII. Fervour of Súchí’s Devotion 115
CHAPTER LXXIII. Nárada’s Relation of Súchí’s Devotion 119
CHAPTER LXXIV. Consummation of Súchí’s Devotion 127
CHAPTER LXXV. Súchí’s regaining her former frame 131
CHAPTER LXXVI. Refraining from Unlawful Food 134
CHAPTER LXXVII. Deliberation of Karkatí 137
CHAPTER LXXVIII. Conference of the Rákshasí 141
CHAPTER LXXIX. Interrogatories of the Rákshasí 147
CHAPTER LXXX. Solution of the Questions 153
CHAPTER LXXXI. Congeries of Spiritual Doctrines 162
CHAPTER LXXXII. Friendship of the Rákshasí 176
CHAPTER LXXXIII. Worship of Kandará Alias Mangala 182
CHAPTER LXXXIV. Development of the germ of the mind 185
CHAPTER LXXXV. Interview of Brahmá and the Sun 194
CHAPTER LXXXVI. Story of Indu and his sons 200
CHAPTER LXXXVII. Analecta of the Celestial Spheres 207
CHAPTER LXXXVIII. Indifference of Brahmá 209
CHAPTER LXXXIX. Story of Indra and Ahalyá 212
CHAPTER LXXXX. Love of the Fictitious Indra and Ahalyá 218
CHAPTER LXXXXI. Incarnation of the Living Soul or Jíva 220
CHAPTER LXXXXII. On the Powers of Mind 228
CHAPTER LXXXXIII. A view of the Genesis of the mind and 233 Body
CHAPTER LXXXXIV. Brahma the Origin of All 237
CHAPTER LXXXXV. Identity of the Actor and his Action 241
CHAPTER LXXXXVI. Inquiry into the Nature of Mind 246
CHAPTER LXXXXVII. The Magnitude of the Sphere of the 258 Intellect
CHAPTER LXXXXVIII. History of the Human Heart 263
CHAPTER LXXXXIX. History of the Heart 268
CHAPTER C. Healing of the Heart 273
CHAPTER CI. Story of the Boy and Three Princes 279
CHAPTER CII. On the Indivisibility and Immortality of 286 the Soul
CHAPTER CIII. On the Nature of the Mind 292
CHAPTER CIV. Story of a Magic Scene 295
CHAPTER CV. The Breaking of the Magic spell 301
CHAPTER CVI. The Talisman of the King’s Marriage with 304 a Chandála Maid
CHAPTER CVII. Description of a Train of Dangers 312
CHAPTER CVIII. Description of a Drought and Dearth 318
CHAPTER CIX. Migration of the Chandálas 322
CHAPTER CX. Description of Mind 326
CHAPTER CXI. Healing of the Heart and Mind 335
CHAPTER CXII. The Restlessness of the Mind and its 341 Cure
CHAPTER CXIII. Description of Ignorance and Delusion 344 (Avidyá)
CHAPTER CXIV. Description of Errors 351
CHAPTER CXV. Causes of Happiness and Misery 360
CHAPTER CXVI. Birth and Incarnation of Adepts in Yoga 364
CHAPTER CXVII. Different States of Knowledge and 368 Ignorance
CHAPTER CXVIII. Directions to the Stages of Knowledge 373
CHAPTER CXIX. Illustration of the Gold-ring 377
CHAPTER CXX. Lamentation of the Chandála Woman 383
CHAPTER CXXI. Proof of the futility of Mind 387
CHAPTER CXXII. Ascertainment of the Self or Soul 396
DESCRIPTION OF SINDHU’S DOMINIONS.
Vasishtha said:—The loud cry that the king was killed in battle by the rival monarch, struck the people with awe, and filled the realm with dismay.
2. Carts loaded with utensils and household articles, were driving through the streets; and women with their loud wailings, were running away amidst the impassable paths of the city.
3. The weeping damsels that were flying for fear, were ravished on the way by their captors; and the inhabitants were in danger of being plundered of their properties by one another.
4. The joyous shouts of the soldiers in the enemy’s camp, resounded with the roarings of loose elephants and neighings of horses, trampling down the men to death on their way.
5. The doors of the royal treasury were broken open by the brave brigands, the valves flew off and the vaults re-echoed to the strokes. The warders were overpowered by numbers, and countless treasures were plundered and carried away.
6. Bandits ripped off the bellies of the royal dames in the palace, and the chandála free-booters hunted about the royal apartments.
7. The hungry rabble robbed the provisions from the royal stores; and the soldiers were snatching the jewels of the weeping children trodden down under their feet.
8. Young and beautiful maidens were dragged by their hair from the seraglio, and the rich gems that fell from the hands of the robbers, glistened all along the way.
The second volume of Vihari-Lala Mitra's translation of the Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana opens with the Utpatti Khanda (Book III) and continues into the Sthiti Prakarana, reaching the Upasama Khanda through Chapter LIII. The text presents a sustained philosophical dialogue framed by narrative episodes, such as the meditation of the sons of Indu, who sit in padmasana and envision themselves as Brahma, containing the entire universe within their minds. This passage exemplifies the work's central method: using vivid, cosmological imagery to illustrate the identity of the individual self with the absolute. The translator's notes, including references to the commentary by Ananda Bodhendra Saraswati, indicate a layered textual tradition.
Meditative Visions and Cosmic Scale
The excerpt describing the sons of Indu's meditation (Chapter LXXXVII) offers a striking example of the text's imaginative reach. The brothers, seated motionless 'like fixed rocks,' mentally project themselves as Brahma, the creator and sustainer. They declare, 'I see in me the spheres of the regents, of the world, and the circles of the Siddhas revolving about me.' The passage enumerates a vast hierarchy: the Vedas, the gods, the terraqueous orb with its oceans and continents, the infernal world with its demons, and the twelve suns. This is not merely a list but a structured vision of totality, where the meditator claims to observe 'the revolution of years and ages' and even a Kalpa passing away. The translator's gloss emphasizes that this 'subjective view of the objective' constitutes the essence of yoga meditation.
The Translator's Interventions and Textual Condition
Mitra's translation, first published in 1899, bears the marks of its era and its source material. The transcriber's notes for this Project Gutenberg edition record silent corrections of obvious misspellings and several emendations, such as 'the did' to 'did the' and 'can comesout' to 'can come out.' More significantly, the editors consulted two other reprints (Bharatiya Publishing House 1978 and Parimal Publications 1998) to supply missing or unclear text from the scanned LPP edition. The presence of angle brackets to indicate inserted words, and the acknowledgment that some Devanagari in footnotes is a 'best guess,' remind the reader that this digital version is a reconstruction. The translation itself uses a distinctive system of accents (á, í, ú) to mark long vowels, and the term 'Gloss.' refers to the classical Sanskrit commentary by Ananda Bodhendra Saraswati.
Recurring Patterns: Posture, Stillness, and the Inner Universe
Across the excerpts, a consistent pattern emerges: the meditative posture (padmasana) and physical stillness are prerequisites for an expansive inner vision. The brothers sit 'in their motionless postures like fixed rocks, and as images hewn out of stones.' This immobility contrasts with the dynamic, all-encompassing content of their meditation. They see 'some rising and falling, and others diving and floating, like the incessant waves of the sea'—a simile that underscores change within the changeless observer. The text repeatedly links the microcosm of the human mind to the macrocosm of the universe: the meditator contains 'the hollow of the infernal world' and 'the cavity of the sky.' This structural parallel between inner and outer reality is a key philosophical tenet, presented not as abstract doctrine but through concrete, sensory imagery.
Readers approaching this volume should be prepared for a text that moves between narrative, philosophical exposition, and visionary poetry. The translation's late-nineteenth-century style and the reconstructed nature of the digital edition warrant attention to the textual notes. The work rewards those who engage with its repetitive, incantatory quality, where the same cosmic themes are refracted through different episodes and similes. The meditation of the sons of Indu serves as a useful touchstone for understanding the text's method: stillness giving rise to a universe.
The rain blurred the window as I sat with the brothers’ padmasana visions, watching worlds dissolve into subjective light. The stillness felt almost ecclesiastical, a quiet pressing against certainty. Later, thumbing through Writings in Connection with the Donatist Controversy — Edition Insights, I found that same patient wrestling over what is real in a divided church. Two books, one afternoon, both asking how deeply we can trust what we believe.
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