.Yoga Vasistha
Yoga Vasistha (Sanskrit: योग-वासिष्ठ, Yoga-Vāsiṣṭha) is a philosophical text attributed to Valmiki, but the real author is unknown. The complete text contains over 29,000 verses. The long version of the text is called Brihat Yoga Vasistha, wherein Brihat means "great or large". The longer version is also referred to simply as Yoga Vasistha and by numerous other names such as Vasiṣṭha Ramayana. The short version of the text is called Laghu Yoga Vasishta, wherein Laghu means "short or small" and contains 6000 verses. The exact century of its completion is unknown, but has been estimated to be somewhere between 6th-century to as late as 14th-century, but it is likely that a version of the text existed in the 1st millennium.
The …show more content…
Other names of this text are Maha-Ramayana, Arsha Ramayana, Vasiṣṭha Ramayana, Yogavasistha-Ramayana and Jnanavasistha.
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The text is traditionally attributed to Valmiki, the author of Ramayana. Scholars seriously doubt the larger version of the text was authored by Valmiki, and consider the attribution as a mark of modest respect and reverence for him in the Hindu tradition by the actual unknown author(s) or compiler(s). The author of the shorter version, the Laghu-Yogavasistha, is generally considered to be Abhinanda of Kashmir.
This is one of the longest Hindu texts in Sanskrit after the Mahabharata, and an important text of Yoga.
In Chapter 2 of Book VI, titled as the story of Iksvaku, the text explains the state of nirvana (liberation).
The practice of atma-vichara, "self-enquiry," described in the Yoga Vasistha, has been popularised due to the influence of Ramana Maharshi, who was strongly influenced by this text.
Concept of …show more content…
sectionVI.1chapter68 ahamasmi jagatyasmin svasti sabdarthamatrakam sattasmmanyameveti sausuptam maunam ucyate (26)
Vasistha continued:
O Rama, remain forever firmly established in that state of utter freedom from movement of thought, resorting to the silence of deep sleep.
Rama:
Sir , I have heard of silence of speech, silence of the eyes and other senses and I have also heard of the rigid silence of extreme asceticism . But what is the silence of deep sleep?
Sage Vasistha:
Rama, there are 2 types of munis (a sage who observes Mauna or silence). One is the rigid ascetic and the other the liberated sage. The former forcibly restrains his senses and engages himself in dry (devoid of wisdom) Kriya (activities) with fanaticism. The liberated sage on the other hand knows what is what (the truth as truth and the unreal as the unreal). He is endowed with self-knowledge and yet he behaves as any ordinary person here. What is regarded as silence or mauna is based on the nature and behavior of these munis.
4 types of silence have been described:
1. Silence of speech
2. Silence of the senses (eyes etc.)
3. Violent restraint, as
Yoga Vasistha (Sanskrit: योग-वासिष्ठ, Yoga-Vāsiṣṭha) is a philosophical text attributed to Valmiki, but the real author is unknown. The complete text contains over 29,000 verses. The long version of the text is called Brihat Yoga Vasistha, wherein Brihat means "great or large". The longer version is also referred to simply as Yoga Vasistha and by numerous other names such as Vasiṣṭha Ramayana. The short version of the text is called Laghu Yoga Vasishta, wherein Laghu means "short or small" and contains 6000 verses. The exact century of its completion is unknown, but has been estimated to be somewhere between 6th-century to as late as 14th-century, but it is likely that a version of the text existed in the 1st millennium.
The …show more content…
Other names of this text are Maha-Ramayana, Arsha Ramayana, Vasiṣṭha Ramayana, Yogavasistha-Ramayana and Jnanavasistha.
.
The text is traditionally attributed to Valmiki, the author of Ramayana. Scholars seriously doubt the larger version of the text was authored by Valmiki, and consider the attribution as a mark of modest respect and reverence for him in the Hindu tradition by the actual unknown author(s) or compiler(s). The author of the shorter version, the Laghu-Yogavasistha, is generally considered to be Abhinanda of Kashmir.
This is one of the longest Hindu texts in Sanskrit after the Mahabharata, and an important text of Yoga.
In Chapter 2 of Book VI, titled as the story of Iksvaku, the text explains the state of nirvana (liberation).
The practice of atma-vichara, "self-enquiry," described in the Yoga Vasistha, has been popularised due to the influence of Ramana Maharshi, who was strongly influenced by this text.
Concept of …show more content…
sectionVI.1chapter68 ahamasmi jagatyasmin svasti sabdarthamatrakam sattasmmanyameveti sausuptam maunam ucyate (26)
Vasistha continued:
O Rama, remain forever firmly established in that state of utter freedom from movement of thought, resorting to the silence of deep sleep.
Rama:
Sir , I have heard of silence of speech, silence of the eyes and other senses and I have also heard of the rigid silence of extreme asceticism . But what is the silence of deep sleep?
Sage Vasistha:
Rama, there are 2 types of munis (a sage who observes Mauna or silence). One is the rigid ascetic and the other the liberated sage. The former forcibly restrains his senses and engages himself in dry (devoid of wisdom) Kriya (activities) with fanaticism. The liberated sage on the other hand knows what is what (the truth as truth and the unreal as the unreal). He is endowed with self-knowledge and yet he behaves as any ordinary person here. What is regarded as silence or mauna is based on the nature and behavior of these munis.
4 types of silence have been described:
1. Silence of speech
2. Silence of the senses (eyes etc.)
3. Violent restraint, as