The Yoga Vashisht or Brihat Yoga Vashisht, though not very well-known, is an important Hindu scripture. A very lengthy scripture, it contains some 32,000 verses in six books. The Yoga Vashisht was later condensed into a shorter version of 6,000 verses, the Laghu Yoga Vashisht. This was condensed even further as the Yoga Vashisht Sara, the essence of the Yoga Vashisht.
The Yoga Vashisht is written in the Puranic style in Sanskrit: it includes stories, stories within stories, discussions and so forth. It is a philosophical text attributed to Sage Valmiki, who also wrote the Raamayan. Yoga means ‘uniting’ and Yoga Vashisht means the teachings or yoga put forward by Guru Vashisht. Vashisht was the guru of Raja Dasharath and Shree Raam, his brothers and their lineage.
There are various Raamayan texts as penned by several authors: the Valmiki Raamayan, the Raamayan by Veda Vyaas, the Krittivrasi Raamayan and the Raamayan written by Tulsidas, which is well known. In none of these Raamayans is the Yoga Vashisht described, yet it is one of the most important dialogues involving Shree Raam. It is said that when Shree Raam graduated from Gurukul with his brothers, Bharat, Lakshman and Shatrughan, they went on a tour of holy places in India. Shree Raam wished to see the world beyond the kingdom. After this tour, there was a noticeable change in Shree Raam. Before he left, he was a young boy, under 15 years of age, and seemed quite happy in the palace. After returning to the kingdom, there was a marked change in him. He became very withdrawn and depressed. He didn’t take part in any sports, entertainment, or spend time with his friends. He just remained by Himself. He preferred to be alone and He didn’t talk very much. His father, King Dasharath became very worried. He wondered what had happened to his normally enthusiastic son. He tried to bring about a mood change in Shree Raam but nothing worked.
Around that time, Sage Vishwamitra was staying at Siddha Ashram, performing his yagya or sacrifice and it was being attacked by demons led by Mareech and Subahu. Sage Vishwamitra was a powerful sage and could have destroyed the demons. However, he had taken a vow, as part of his tapasya, to not take up arms against these demons. Often, the key to our scriptures lies in the meaning of words: Mareech is another name for the sun and represents an uncontrolled intellect and Subahu means strength in arms. In other words, on an individual level, powerful thoughts can distract us from our prayer.
Having heard that the Lord had incarnated in Ayodhya as the son of King Dasharath, Sage Vishwamitra decided to go there and seek his help to complete his sacrifice. When he reached Ayodhya, he was worshipped by King Dasharath, who said, “I am overjoyed to see you, O Sage. I feel blessed. Tell me what you want and I shall give it to you. Before asking what the sage wanted, he had committed himself in word. Sage Vishwamitra explained his predicament, and he asked the king to send his two sons, Shree Raam and Lakshman to help him protect the yagya and destroy the demons. King Dasharath was very attached to Shree Raam. For many years, he had had no sons and now he had four. He was disturbed and regretted giving his word before finding out the request of the sage. He said, “O Sage, please ask for anything else, other than Shree Raam. He is too young to fight these terrible monsters. I cannot send Him with you. I will give you my army. I will go myself and fight but I cannot send Shree Raam with you.” Vishwamitra Muni was very angry and he admonished King Dasharath.
At that point, the king’s guru, Guru Vashisht stepped in. He advised King Dasharath that he had given his word and fulfilling it was important to his lineage. He must send Shree Raam and Lakshman with Sage Vishwamitra. The king agreed with his Guru and Shree Raam was called and instructed to go with Sage Vishwamitra. Shree Raam’s state of mind was still depressed and withdrawn. He sat down and it appeared as if he was refusing to assist. Describing his own state of mind, Shree Raam said, “During my travels, I saw that everyone is suffering: the rich, the poor, the young, the old. There is suffering everywhere. Everything in this world is perishing. Nothing is permanent. All pleasures and pain, everything seems to be pointless. I see no purpose in life. Who am I? What is the nature of this world? Why am I here? I refuse to do anything else unless I get answers to these questions. My mind is unprepared to make any decisions and I cannot take any action.”
Sage Vashisht and Vishwamitra were pleased to hear Shree Raam’s words. They assured King Dasharath that Shree Raam was showing signs of true dispassion and this was necessary as a first step for any seeker of truth. Sage Vishwamitra gave Shree Raam some words of advice and then he asked Sage Vashisht to enlighten him further. This conversation, between Guru Vashisht and Shree Raam, where Shree Raam asked questions that were answered by Guru Vashisht, is known as the Yoga Vashisht. These teachings lasted for many days, after which, Shree Raam became enlightened.
Pundit Dr. Umesh Persad, Spiritual Leader, Gyaan Deepak Kirtan Mandali
(from a Sunday morning service)
Image credit: http://muneshkumarkella.blogspot.com/2013/07/yoga-vasistha_9116.html
