The Supreme Yoga Yoga Vasistha Translated by SWAMI VENKATESANANDA Foreword by Srt SWAMI RANGANATHANANDA Swami MUKTANANDA PARAMAHAMSA Rt. Hon. Sir S. RAMGOOLAM, P.C. MOTILAL BANARSIDASS PUBLISHERS PRIVATE LIMITED ¢ DELHIReprint: Delhi: 2005, 2006, 2010 Indian First Edition: Dethi, 2003 First Edition: South Africa 1976 in 2 Volumes Second Edition: Australia 1981 in 1 Volume Third Edition: Australia, 1984 © CHILTERN YOGA TRUST, AUSTRALIA. AllRights Reserved ISBN:978-81-208-1964-1 (Cloth) ISBN: 978-8 1-208-1975-7 (Paper) MOTILAL BANARSIDASS 41 U.A. Bungalow Road, Jawahar Nagar, Delhi 110 007 8 Mahalaxmi Chamber, 22 Bhulabhai Desai Road, Mumbai 400 026 208 Royapetah High Road, Mylapore, Chennai 600 004 236, 9th Main II Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore 560011 Sanas Plaza, 1302 Baji Rao Road, Pune 411 002 8 Camac Sweet, Kolkata 700017 Ashok Rajpath, Paina 800 004 Chowk, Varanasi 221 001 The right of Swami Venkalesananda to be identified as the author of this work is asserted. Printed in India By Jainendra Prakash Jain at Shri Jainendra Press, A45 Naraina, Phase-I, New Delhi 110 028 and Published by Narendra Prakash Jain for Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Bungalow Road, Delhi 110 007This Publreakion & deck eated bb amy wudey Swami Styananda. Hts Lge WALA Sum phomy urhose Cons tank WRhravn Wwe? “Sy all Condi trond J am Knowledge - rhigs Ad se lute.” Sage Vasistha LWCanmaked o% Suram Stueamanda & erm bo: Ha Supreme Yoga. In Gurndiv Yoga Vasestha Wak alives OVeuectoe _ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Gra:eful thanks are offered to Sri Swami Ranganathananda, Swami Muktananda Paramaharisa, and the Right Honourable Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam for their gracious Foreword.CONTENTS Acknowledgement. Foreword by Swami Ranganathananda. .. Blessings by Swami Muktananda. . Foreword by Prime Minister's Office, Mauritiv Introduction. : Scheme of Transliteration. Pisyetige. cee coe I. YAIRAGYA PRAKARANAM Section Dealing with Dispassion..........0.2.22.0000eceeseceeteeeeeeee 1—20 Il, MUMUKSU VYAVAHARA PRAKARANAM ‘The Behaviour of the Seeker... 1, The Story of Suka 2. Self Effort... il. UTPATTI PRAKARANAM Section Dealing with Creation ....0505 0.005 BOE ead The Story of Akasaja (The holy man)........060660c0cceeeeeeeee es The Story of Lila. “ mile» The Story of Karka ‘The Story of the Sons of Indu (Ten Young Men). The Story of Ahalya The Story of the Great Forest. The Story of the Three Non-existent Princes . The Story of Lavana PH2rFrer> IV. STHITI PRAKARANAM Section Dealing with Existence. ............ 2.006 scce eee seer ee eens 104—137 1. The Story of Sukra.... 2. The Story of Dama, Vyala and Kata. 3. The Story of Bhima, Bhasa and Drdha 4, The Story of Dasira. 5. Kaca’s Song... V. UPASAMA PRAKARANAM Section Dealing with Dissolution. .......0.2..2.000eeceeceeeeeeevees-138—221 1. The Story of King Janaka. 2. The Story of Punya and Pavana 3. The Story of Bali 4. The Story of Prahlada. 2163175 5. The Story of Gadhi. 176-179CONTENTS, 6, The Story of Uddalaka.... 184—192 7. The Story of Suraghu 8. The Story of Bhasa and Vilasa 9. The Story of Vitahavya VI. NIRVANA PRAKARANAM Section Dealing with Liberation. 0.0.2.6... 0006ce cee cee eeeee ences 222366 Discourse on Brahman... 2 +++231—236 ‘The Story of Bhusunda.. 1.237247 Description of the Lord. -250—284 1 2 3. ‘to's 4. Deva Puja (Worship of God). 5. The Story of the Wood-apple 6. The Story of the Rock (The Nature of Consciousness) 7. The Story of Arjuna 8. The Story of the Hundred Rudra 9. The Story of the Vampire. .. 10. The Story of Bhagiratha j 11. The Story of Sikhidhvaja and Cudala . 12. The Story of the Philosopher's Stone. . 13. The Story of the Cintamai 14. The Story of the Foolish Elephant. 1S. The Story of Kaca......... 16. The Story of the Deluded Man 17. The Story of Vipagcit.. 18. The Story of the Hunter and the Sage. 19. The Story of Kalaratri.... 20. The world Within the Rock. 21. The Story ofthe Sage from Outer Space 22. The Story of Bhrigisa 23, The Story of Ikgvaku. 24. The Story of the Hunter and the Deer 25, The Seven States of Yoga...... * Thus Spake Vasistha Index........FOREWORD The book, The Supreme Yoga, is a translation into English accompanied by brief expositions, by Swami Venkatesananda of the Divine Life Society, Rishikesh, India, of the well-known Vedanta treatise in Sanskrit, The Yoga Vasistha. The Swami has arranged the verses of the book in such a way as to convert them into a rosary of daily thoughts: throughout the year, on the lines of his two other books published, namely The Srimad Bhagavatarh or Book of God, and The Bhagavad Gita or The Song of God. The Yoga Vasistha has been a favourite book of spiritual seekers in India these several centuries. Its special appeal lies in its thoroughly rational approach, and in its presentation of Vedanta as a philosophy which dares, like the Bhagavad Gité, to bridge the gulf between the secular and the sacred, action and contemplation, in human life, through a comprehensive and lofty spirituality. The reader will come across passages such as the verse entry for 3lst January, highlighting the importance of reason: “The remark of even a child is to be accepted, if it is in accordance with reason; but the remark of even Brahma Himself, the creator of the world, is to be rejected like a piece of straw, if it does not accord with reason.’ It is this philosophy of a comprehensive spirituality, rational and practical, that man in the modern age needs to rescue himself from his stagnation of worldliness and put him on the high road of creative living and fulfilment. Swami Venkatesananda, who has been working untiringly for decades to spread the life-giving message of Yoga and Vedanta in East and West, has done a great service to spiritual seekers far and wide by bringing out this translation of The Yoga Vasistha in the wake of his translation of the other two great books. The Chiltern Yoga Trust of Elgin, South Africa, deserves the silent thanks of readers for publishing these three books of the Swami and helping to broadcast far and wide the life-giving, purifying, and inspiring ideas of Eternal India, Amar Bharat, in her Vedanta. 20 December 1975 Strom Ram gomathonanca, President, Ramakrishna Math, Hyderabad, A.P., India.BLESSINGS The Yoga Vasistha is a unique work of Indian philosophy. It is highly respected for its practical mysticism. The study of this great scripture alone can surely help one to attain to God-consciousness. For aspirants of the highest beatitude, the Yoga Vasistha is like nectar. It is a storchouse of wisdom. Like the Amritanubhava of Sit Jiianeshwar, the path shown in this work is for those who are highly spiritually evolved, almost to the state of a Siddha. It expounds the highest doctrine with many stories and illustrations. Not only philosophers, but even the modern psychologists and scientists will certainly find in it something related to their own discoveries. Most of the scriptures were narrated by God to His devotees, but the Yoga Vasistha was narrated to God Himself. It is the teaching of the sage Vasistha imparted to Lord Rama. It contains true under- standing about the creation of the world. The philosophy of the Yoga Vasistha is very similar to that of Kashmir Shaivism. Its main teaching is that everything is Consciousness, including the material world, and that the world is as you see it. This is absolutely true. The world is nothing but the play of Consciousness. Abhinavagupta, the tenth century scholar of Kashmir Shaivism, once said, "Shiva, the independent and pure Self that always vibrates in the mind, is the Parashakti that rises as joy in various sense experiences. Then the experience of this outer world appears as its Self. 1 do not know where this word ‘samsara’ has come from.” This is also the unparalleled philosophy of the Yoga Vasistha. In translating this monumental work, Swami Venkatesananda has worked hard to make its philosophy comprehensible to ordinary people. In doing so, he has déne a great service to seekers of the Truth. Swamiji is a pure person, full of knowledge and therefore worthy of translating this work of supreme yoga. Let this book bring true knowledge to its readers. 2d ) Swami Muktananda