YV BKII CH10 Brahma Propounds the Knowledge of Liberation to Vashishtha

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Yoga Vashishtha of Valmiki
Book II – The Aspirant Who Longs for Liberation
Chapter 10: Brahma Propounds the Knowledge of Liberation to Vashishtha
Book II, Chapter 10
Brahma Propounds the Knowledge of Liberation
to Vashishtha
Vashishtha resumed:
1This thing called destiny is as true as the reality of God.
It is the cause of causes and effect of effects.
2Now attend to my words, depend on your efforts, and
intently apply your ever confident mind to the
attainment of your chief good.
3Use your effort to control your misleading senses
from pursuing their objects.
4I will now set out a system for you that contains the
essence of the best means for liberation, and which will
confer the fruits of your exertions and lead you to your
welfare in both worlds.
5Let those who have great minds forsake their
worldly desires in order to avoid future births and
attend to these lectures with calm contentment.
6Weigh well the meanings of previous discussions and
those to come, repress your mind from its worldly
cares, and compose yourself in calmness in order to
inquire after truth.
7Hear me, relate to you, Rama, the way to emancipation
which will remove your feelings of pain and pleasure,

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and which will become the surest means to lead you to
supreme happiness.
8On hearing this lecture on liberation in the company of
all those reasonable men, you will know that highest
state which is free from pain, and of which there is no
end.
9This was spoken of old in a former kalpa age by
Brahma abiding in the Supreme Spirit. It is the remover
of all anxiety and giver of all comfort to the soul.
10Rama asked, “Say, O Brahmin who is my guide,
what cause moved Brahma himself to reveal this
knowledge of old, and how did you obtain it?”
Vashishtha replied:
11The Supreme Soul of infinite manifestations
exists by itself. It passes through and supports the
whole in the form of void and understanding and
as light to all living beings.
12From Him who remains the same (unaltered being) in
his rest and motion, the great Vishnu was born, like a
moving wave on the quiet waters of the sea.
13Then Brahma was produced from the lotus of his
heart, having Mount Meru for its seed, the points of the
compass for its petals, and the stars for its pistils. 14He,
being beset by gods and sages acquainted with the

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Vedas and their meanings, created all the worlds and all
minds with their various thoughts.
15Then he created groups of men in the Bharata division
(India) and in a corner of Jambudwipa (Asia) and
subjected them to all manner of diseases and afflictions.
16They are also troubled by the possession and desire of
many things and their subjection to dangers and
diseases. Here all species of created beings are subject
to a variety of tribulations and afflictions.
17The lord and creator of worlds, seeing the misery of
these people, felt compassion for them like a father for
his children.
18Then, for a moment he pondered within himself, with
intensity of thought and for the good of all creatures,
how to end the misery of these beings who were
subjected to death and despair.
19With this thought the lord god Brahma himself
established the rules of austerity, piety, charity, veracity
and pilgrimage.
20Having established these, the lord and creator again
thought within himself: how to make an end of the
many miseries of the men he had created.
21He thought upon self-extinction as the supreme bliss,
obtainable only through knowledge of God, and
whereby man might be exempted from repeated births
and deaths.

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22It was divine knowledge, he thought, that was the only
means by which men could crossing the ocean of this
world. Austerity, charity and pilgrimage were no means
to it.
23With this he said, “I will immediately make a new and
sure bridge for the salvation of men and for their
liberation from pain.”
24Having thought so, Lord Brahma sitting on the lotus
meditated in his mind and produced me from himself.
25Being thus produced, I immediately stood in the
presence of my ancestor, like a wave rising from the sea
leans towards it.
26Holding a pitcher in one hand and prayer beads made
of seeds in the other, I bowed down to the god who held
a water-pot in one hand and prayer beads in the other.
He addressed me like this.
27“Come my son,” he said, then holding me with his
hand, he made me sit on the northern petal of his lotus
of truth that shone as brightly as the moon amid silvery
clouds.
28Wearing the skin of an antelope and with the voice of
a gander addressing a stork, my father Brahma spoke to
me who was similarly dressed.
29He said “For a moment I will overpower your fickle-
mindedness under a mist of unconsciousness, like a
dark cloud obscures the moon.”

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30It was under this curse that I lost my reason and forgot
everything, even the clear idea I had of God.
31I became as helpless as one out of his wits, and came
to be afflicted with distress and sorrow like an indigent
person.
32“Ah, how sorrowful is this world,” said I. “How did
evil come to dwell in it?” With these thoughts I
remained in silence.
33Then he my father spoke to me saying, “Ah my son,
why are you so afflicted? Ask me for a remedy for your
affliction and you shall become happy.”
34Then, seated as I was on the gold-coloured leaflet of
the lotus, I asked the lord creator of all peoples about
the medicine for worldly sorrows.
35“How, my lord,” I asked, “did this world come to be so
full of misery, and how can people be rid of it? This is
what I ask of you.”
36I then learnt the most holy wisdom that my father
Brahma gave me. Following his advice, I became quite
composed.
37Then, seeing me knowing the knowable and restored
to my own natural state, the creator of the world and
revealer of all causes said, 38“My son, I had turned you
to insanity by an illusion in order to make you inquire
into the essence of true knowledge for the welfare of
mankind.

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39Now you are released from the curse of illusion
and you have arrived to your highest state of
understanding. You have become as one soul
(with the Supreme) and as pure as gold.
40Now shut your heart against the world and
proceed to the surface of the earth, to the land of
Bharata, for the good of mankind.
41There employ yourself to ceremonial duties to
the best of your knowledge and advise others on
how to properly conduct rituals.
42But those who are disgusted (with the world) in
their hearts, and are rational with their elevated
understandings, are to be counselled with the
esoteric knowledge that confers true joy.”
43Being thus appointed by him who was born in
the lotus, I continue to abide here throughout the
succession of beings.
44I have no duty to perform here but live my life
free from all cares. I always do my acts with a
mind as tranquil as if it were in a state of sleep. I
do my works with the body, but I do nothing here
with my soul (which is fixed in God).
*******

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Meaning
Pistils: The female, ovule-bearing organ of a flower,
including the stigma, style, and ovary.
Beset: To trouble or harass constantly; to surround or
attack from all sides; to cover with, esp. with jewels.
Afflictions: A state of great suffering and distress due
to adversity; a condition of suffering or distress due to
ill health; a cause of great suffering and distress.
Tribulations: An experience that tests one's
endurance, patience, or faith; an annoying or frustrating
or catastrophic event; great affliction, trial, or distress;
suffering.
Austerity: The trait of great self-denial (especially
refraining from worldly pleasures).
Veracity: Unwillingness to tell lies.
Self-Extinction: Complete annihilation of the self.
Esoteric: Confined to and understandable by only an
enlightened inner circle.
Kalpa: (In Hindu cosmology) a period in which the
universe experiences a cycle of creation and
destruction.
A kalpa (4.32 billion years) is a day (12 hours) of
Brahma, and one day of Brahma consists of a thousand

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cycles of four yugas, or ages: Satya, Treta, Dwapar and
Kali.
By another calculation, each kalpa is divided into 14
manvantara periods, each lasting 71 Yuga cycles
(306,720,000 years). Preceding the first and following
each manvantara period is a juncture (Sandhya) the
length of a Satya-yuga (1,728,000) years.
[Kalpa: 14 x 71 x 4,320,000 + 15 x 1,728,000 = 4.32 x 109]
Two kalpas constitute a day and night of Brahma. A
"month of Brahma" is supposed to contain thirty such
days (including nights), or 259.2 billion years.
According to the Mahabharata, 12 months of Brahma
(=360 days) constitute his year, and 100 such years the
life of Brahma. (50 years of Brahma = 1 Parardha).
Life of Brahma in Earth Years
2 x (4.32x109) x 30 x 12 x 100 = 311,040,000,000,000
The universe is created, destroyed, and re-created in an
eternally repetitive series of cycles. In Hindu
cosmology, a universe endures for about 4,320,000,000
years (one day of Brahma, the creator or one kalpa) and
is then destroyed by fire or water elements. At this
point, Brahma rests for one night, just as long as the
day. This process, named pralaya or dissolution repeats
for 100 Brahma years (311 Trillion, 40 Billion Human
Years) that represents Brahma's lifespan.
By these calculations the life of Brahma seems fantastic
and interminable, but from the viewpoint of eternity it

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is as brief as a lightning flash. In the Causal Ocean there
are innumerable Brahmas rising and disappearing like
bubbles in the Atlantic. Brahma and his creation are all
part of the material universe, and therefore they are in
constant flux.
Currently, 50 years of Brahma have elapsed. The last
Kalpa at the end of 50th year is called Padma Kalpa. We
are currently in the first 'day' of the 51st year.
This Brahma's day, Kalpa, is named as Shveta-Varaha
Kalpa. Within this Day, six Manvantara have already
elapsed and this is the seventh Manvantara, named as –
Vaivasvatha Manvantara.
Within the Vaivasvatha Manvantara, 27 Mahayugas (4
Yugas together is a Mahayuga), and the Krita (Satya-
yuga), Treta and Dwapar Yugas of the 28th Mahayuga
have elapsed. This Kaliyuga is in the 28th Mahayuga.
This Kaliyuga began in the year 3102 BCE in the
proleptic Julian calendar. Since 50 years of Brahma
have already elapsed, this is the second Parardha, also
called as Dwitiya Parardha (50 years of Brahma = 1
Parardha).
The time elapsed since the current Brahma has taken
over the task of creation can be calculated as:
432000 × 10 × 1000 × 2 = 8.64 billion years {2 Kalpa (day and night)}
8.64 × 109 × 30 × 12 = 3.1104 Trillion Years (1 year of Brahma)
3.1104 × 1012 × 50 = 155.52 Trillion Years (50 years of Brahma)
(6 × 71 × 4320000) + 7 × 1.728 × 106 = 1852416000 years elapsed in first six
Manvantara, and Sandhyakal in the current Kalpa

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27 × 4320000 = 116640000 years elapsed in first 27 Mahayugas of the
current Manvantara
1.728 × 106 + 1.296 × 106 + 864000 = 3888000 years elapsed in the current
Mahayuga
3102 + 2016 = 5118 years elapsed in the current Kaliyuga.
So the total time elapsed since the current Brahma is:
155520000000000 + 1852416000 + 116640000 + 3888000 + 5117 =
155,521,972,949,117 years (one hundred fifty-five trillion, five hundred
twenty-one billion, nine hundred seventy-two million, nine hundred
forty-nine thousand, one hundred seventeen years) as of 2016 AD.
The current Kali Yuga began at midnight 17 February /
18 February in 3102 BCE in the proleptic Julian
calendar. As per the information above about Yuga
periods, only 5,117 years are passed out of 432,000 years
of current Kali Yuga, and hence another 426,883 years
are left to complete this 28th Kali Yuga of Vaivasvatha
Manvantara.
Three Types of Dissolutions: There are three kinds
of dissolution (pralaya): the first induced (naimittka);
the second natural (prakrita); the third immediate
(atyantika).
• Induced destruction (which concerns all living
beings on earth) takes place at the end of each Kalpa.
• Natural destruction is that which concerns the whole
universe. It takes place when the divine dream which
is the world ends. Matter, space, and time then cease
to exist. It takes place at the end of time (Parardha).
• The third destruction, called immediate, refers to the
liberation (moksha) of the individual for whom the
visible world ceases to exist.

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Immediate destruction therefore concerns the
individual, induced destruction all living species on
earth, and natural destruction the end of the universe.
We should aim for immediate destruction i.e. liberation
(moksha) from the Wheel of Time if we want to end our
troubles forever and this is possible only while living.
There are no guarantees after death.
In our Objective World no one gives us B.A.; M.A. or
Ph.D. degrees without going to schools, colleges and
universities and seeking help of our teachers.
How can someone guarantee us liberation which is the
most difficult task and for which we have made no
effort to even know the subject throughout our lifetime,
leave aside the company of realized persons?
How the avatars or the Masters of the past can be of any
use to us now? Only a living being can guide a living
being. Liberation is only possible by following a
liberated and not otherwise.
That is why Rama addressed his problems to the two
realized sages of his time. And we should look for a
fully realized and duly authorized sage or Saint of our
time who is himself liberated and has the authority of
the Almighty to liberate others. The world is never
without at least one such teacher and if we seek
sincerely, rest assure, we shall be guided to the teacher
of our seeking.
*******

YV BKII CH10 Brahma Propounds the Knowledge of Liberation to Vashishtha

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