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The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, Vol. 2 (of 4), Part 2 (of 2) — Inside the Classic
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Project Gutenberg
2023
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Religious life -- Hinduism -- Early works to 1800; Hinduism -- Doctrines -- Early works to 1800
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Project Gutenberg digital edition
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Edition facts
Words
181,297
Reading time
789 min
Text sections
120
The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki, Vol. 2 (of 4), Part 2 (of 2) — Inside the Classic can be approached with a clearer sense of reading commitment from its source measurements: 181,297 words, 13 hr 9 min estimated reading time, and 120 detected text sections.
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This editorial note examines how the opening, middle, and later excerpts of Valmiki's Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana, Vol. 2, Part 2 guide a first reading, focusing on narrative structure, ritual detail, and philosophical reflection.
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- Title & short description10 pts
- Source metadata20 pts
- Text length15 pts
- Chapters / structure15 pts
- EPUB file integrity20 pts
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CHAPTER I. Janya-Jani-Nirúpana 403
CHAPTER II. The Receptacle of the Mundane Egg 408
CHAPTER III. Eternity of the World 411
CHAPTER IV. Treating of the Germ of Existence 414
CHAPTER V. Story of Bhárgava 416
CHAPTER VI. Elysium of Bhárgava 418
CHAPTER VII. Re-union of the Lovers 421
CHAPTER VIII. Transmigration of Sukra 425
CHAPTER IX. Description of Sukra’s Body 429
CHAPTER X. Bhrigu’s Conference with Kála or Death 431
CHAPTER XI. Cause of the Production of the World 439
CHAPTER XII. Detailed Account of the Genesis of the World 448
CHAPTER XIII. Consolation of Bhrigu 451
CHAPTER XIV. Sukra’s Reminiscence of his Metempsychosis 454
CHAPTER XV. Lamentation and Expostulation of Sukra 459
CHAPTER XVI. Resuscitation of Sukra 464
CHAPTER XVII. Attainment of the Ideal Realm 467
CHAPTER XVIII. The Incarnation of the Living Spirit 471
CHAPTER XIX. Investigation into the Nature of the Living Soul 480
CHAPTER XX. Description of the Mind 484
CHAPTER XXI. On the Philosophy of the Mind 486
CHAPTER XXII. Resting in Supreme Felicity 493
CHAPTER XXIII. Meditation of the Wonders in the Realm of the Body 498
CHAPTER XXIV. The Non-entity of the Mind 505
CHAPTER XXV. Narrative of Dáma, Vyála and Kata 508
CHAPTER XXVI. Battle of the Deities and Demons 512
CHAPTER XXVII. Admonition of Brahmá 518
CHAPTER XXVIII. The Renewed Battle of the Gods and Demons 523
CHAPTER XXIX. Defeat of the Demons 527
CHAPTER XXX. Account of the Subsequent lives of the Demons 531
CHAPTER XXXI. Investigation of Reality and Unreality 533
CHAPTER XXXII. On Good Conduct 539
CHAPTER XXXIII. Consideration of Egoism 545
CHAPTER XXXIV. End of the Story of Dáma and Vyála 553
CHAPTER XXXV. Description of Insouciance 558
CHAPTER XXXVI. Description of the Intellectual Sphere 566
CHAPTER XXXVII. Upasama. The Sameness or Quietism of the Soul 570
CHAPTER XXXVIII. The Same Quietness or Quietude of the Spirit 572
CHAPTER XXXIX. On the Unity of all Things 577
CHAPTER XXXX. Brahma Identic with the World 584
CHAPTER XLI. Description of ignorance 589
CHAPTER XLII. Production of Jíva or Living Souls 593
CHAPTER XLIII. The Repositories of Living Souls 598
CHAPTER XLIV. The Incarnation of Human Souls in the World 605
CHAPTER XLV. Dependence of all on God 611
CHAPTER XLVI. Description of Living-Liberation 617
CHAPTER XLVII. Description of the Worlds and their Demiurgi 621
CHAPTER XLVIII. Story of Dásúra 630
CHAPTER XLIX. Description of Dásúra’s Kadamba Forest 635
CHAPTER L. Dásúra’s Survey of the Heavens 639
CHAPTER LI. Dásúra’s Begetting a Son 641
CHAPTER LII. Grandeur of the Air-born King 645
CHAPTER LIII. Description of the Mundane City 649
CHAPTER LIV. Corrective of Desires 655
CHAPTER LV. Meeting of Vasishtha and Dásúra 660
CHAPTER LVI. On the Soul and its Inertness 664
CHAPTER LVII. Nature of Volleity and Nolleity 670
CHAPTER LVIII. The song of Kacha 676
CHAPTER LIX. Works of Brahmá’s Creation 678
CHAPTER LX. Production of Living Beings 684
CHAPTER LXI. On Birth, Death and Existence 687
CHAPTER LXII. Speech of the Divine Messenger 690
CONTENTS OF UPASAMA KHANDA.
CHAPTER I. The Áhnika or Daily Ritual 693
CHAPTER II. Ráma’s Recapitulation of Vasishtha’s Lectures 698
CHAPTER III. Description of the Royal Assembly 703
CHAPTER IV. Inquiries of Ráma 706
CHAPTER V. Lecture on Tranquility of the Soul and Mind 710
CHAPTER VI. Lecture on the Discharge of Duty 716
CHAPTER VII. On Attainment of Divine Knowledge 719
CHAPTER VIII. Song of the Siddhas or Holy Adepts 720
CHAPTER IX. Reflections of Janaka 723
CHAPTER X. Silent and Solitary Reflections of Janaka 730
CHAPTER XI. Subjection of the Mind 734
CHAPTER XII. On the Greatness of the Intelligence 737
CHAPTER XIII. Government of the Mind 741
CHAPTER XIV. Ascertainment of the Thinking Principle 754
CHAPTER XV. On Avarice 761
CHAPTER XVI. Healing of Avarice 764
CHAPTER XVII. On the Extirpation of Avarice 767
CHAPTER XVIII. Living Liberation or True Felicity of Man in this Life 771
CHAPTER XIX. On Holy Knowledge 779
CHAPTER XX. Remonstration of Pávana 784
CHAPTER XXI. Repression of Desires by Means of Yoga-Meditation 789
CHAPTER XXII. Narrative of Virochana 793
CHAPTER XXIII. Speech of Virochana on Subjection of the Mind 799
CHAPTER XXIV. On the Healing and Improvement of the Mind 803
CHAPTER XXV. Reflections of Bali 811
CHAPTER XXVI. Admonition of Sukra to Bali 814
CHAPTER XXVII. Hebetude of Bali 817
CHAPTER XXVIII. Description of Bali’s anaesthesia 821
CHAPTER XXIX. Bali’s resuscitation to sensibility 824
CHAPTER XXX. Fall of Hiranyakasipu and Rise of Prahláda 831
CHAPTER XXXI. Prahláda’s Faith in Vishnu 835
CHAPTER XXXII. The Spiritual and formal Worship of Vishnu 843
CHAPTER XXXIII. Prahláda’s Supplication to Hari 848
CHAPTER XXXIV. Prahláda’s Self-knowledge of Spiritualism 852
CHAPTER XXXV. Meditation on Brahma in One’s Self 865
CHAPTER XXXVI. Hymn to the Soul 876
CHAPTER XXXVII. Disorder and Disquiet of the Asura Realm 885
CHAPTER XXXVIII. Scrutiny into the Nature of God 887
CHAPTER XXXIX. Admonitions of Hari to Prahláda 890
CHAPTER XL. Resuscitation of Prahláda 896
CHAPTER XLI. Installation of Prahláda in his Realm 900
CHAPTER XLII. Spirituality of Prahláda 905
CHAPTER XLIII. Rest and Repose of Prahláda 908
CHAPTER XLIV. Narrative of Gádhi and his Destruction 913
The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana opens this volume with a scene of departure and return: sages, princes, and citizens disperse after an assembly, each group moving to its proper sphere—foresters to forests, aerials to the air. The translator, Viharilala Mitra, renders this cosmic order in measured verse, where even the act of leaving is a ritual. King Dasaratha honors the sages one by one; Vasishtha, after being adored by Ráma and the princes, proceeds to his hermitage “as the god Brahmá is accompanied by bodies of the celestials.” This hierarchical, ceremonial tone establishes that the text operates within a world where divine and human actions mirror each other, and where every gesture carries weight.
Ritual as a Framework for Teaching
The second chapter, “Ráma’s Recapitulation of Vasishtha’s Lectures,” shows how the text embeds philosophical instruction within daily observance. After the assembly, each character performs prescribed rites: bathing in sacred streams, donating land and kine, worshipping Vishnu and Siva, making oblations to the sun and planets. The description is precise—offerings of “gold and gems” are “sacred to particular deities”—and the rhythm of the day is marked by watches (yamárdha) and the fading of daylight. This ritual scaffolding is not decorative; it provides the context for Ráma’s wakeful night. While others sleep, he lies on his “downy and flowery bed” meditating on the sage’s words. The contrast between communal observance and solitary reflection hints at how the text uses routine to frame moments of deeper inquiry.
Ráma’s Vigil and the Turn to Interiority
In the same chapter, the narrative shifts from external action to internal focus. After the evening hymn and the rising of the moon, “the eyes of all men were folded in sleep,” but Ráma “kept waking in his bed, meditating on all things he had heard.” This moment is the pivot: the text moves from describing what characters do to what one character thinks. The excerpts do not reveal the content of Ráma’s meditation, but the structure suggests that the lectures themselves—the core of the Yoga-Vasishtha—will be delivered through his recollection. For a first reader, this signals that the work’s philosophical arguments are not abstract but arise from a specific dramatic situation: a prince’s restless night. The setting—a bed sprinkled with camphor powder, appearing “as a sheet of spreading moon-light”—adds a sensory layer that grounds the introspection.
The Translator’s Interventions and Textual Condition
Mitra’s translation, first published in 1899, is presented here with extensive transcriber’s notes that document corrections and ambiguities. The Project Gutenberg edition records missing lines, swapped pages, and illegible Devanagari characters, drawing on two other reprints (Bharatiya and Parimal) to fill gaps. For example, page 687 was supplied from the Bharatiya edition because the original contained a duplicate of page 887. These notes alert the reader that the text is a reconstructed artifact, not a pristine original. The translator also normalizes Sanskrit spellings and uses á, í, ú for long vowels—a typographical choice that may affect pronunciation for readers unfamiliar with transliteration conventions. A first reader should be aware that the volume’s 181,297 words span 120 text sections, and that the editorial apparatus is part of the experience.
Cosmic Scale and Local Detail
The excerpts balance vast cosmological references with minute particulars. Vasishtha is compared to Brahmá, but the narrative also notes the “floating bushes of lotuses” and “ruddy geese, cranes and storks” at the riverbank. The text moves between the aerial and the earthly, the subterraneous and the domestic. This juxtaposition is not merely descriptive; it reflects the work’s philosophical project of situating human action within a larger order. When the citizens return to the city and the foresters to their forests, the text implies that each being has a proper place, a theme that likely recurs in the lectures. For a reader beginning this volume, attending to how the translator handles these shifts in scale—from the cosmic to the concrete—can illuminate the text’s method of teaching through narrative.
Approaching this volume as a first reader, it helps to track the interplay between ritual action and reflective pause. The opening chapters establish a pattern: communal observance, then solitary meditation. The translator’s notes, while technical, offer a window into the text’s transmission history. The excerpts do not reveal the full argument of Vasishtha’s lectures, but they show how the work frames philosophy as something that emerges from a specific time and place—a prince’s sleepless night, a hermitage in the woods, a world of gods and geese. Reading with attention to these frames may clarify the teachings that follow.
Reading this volume’s slow unfoldings—ritual detail giving way to vast philosophical quiet—I remembered sitting with Thoughts on African Colonization — Context and Discussion years ago, the same sense of being inside a mind working through weight, not rushing toward answers. Both books feel like rooms where time slows, letting hard questions breathe.
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