Preface
Viswamitra, the great sage of many spiritual attainments and achievements, come to the court of Dasaratha, King of Ayodhya, to request for the help of his son prince Rama for protecting his Sacrificial site from the ravaging onslaughts of the Rakshas (demons). Dasaratha, the aged king, was initially hesitant to send Rama to the battlefield. He pleads with Viswamitra ‘Rama is only sixteen years now. He does not have the experience of a battle, and least of all, with the ferocious Rakshas. I shall come instead with all my armies.’ Viswamitra concedes that Dasaratha is an experienced battle-scarred warrior of significant successes. Even so he can not replace Rama who, though young, is highly skilled in warfare. He requests Sage Vasishta, the Guru of Raghu clan, the dynasty of Dasaratha and Rama, to intervene on his behalf. Sage Visishta explains Dasaratha that Rama is no ordinary person and suggests that he accedes to the request of Sage Viswamitra. Unable to counter Vasishta, since the word of a Guru is like a command, dasaratha agrees to send Rama and tells rama to accompany Sage Viswamitra. But Rama was averse to undertake the expedition even though he is dutiful son. He has just returned from a pilgrimage to various holy places of India and the result of the tour was a conviction that there is very little to commend the pursuing of activity in an ephemeral world. Thus starts the famous dialogue between Sage Vasishta and Rama. This dialogue was recorded by Sage Valmiki as Vasishta Maharamayana. The span and spread of this dialogue is voluminous running into 32000 slokas (couplets in Sanskrit) divided into six books:
- Book of despair and dejection of Rama
- Book of nature and behavior of seeker
- Book of Creation
- Book of being and Becoming
- Book of Tranquility and Repose
- Book of Nirvana
Of the 32000 slokas, nearly 16000 constitute the Book of Nirvana. And it is also like a summary of all that has to be conveyed by Vasishta to Rama.
Yogavasishtam is one of the important texts of Indian spiritual tradition. It expounds almost all strands of spiritual experience and thoughts that span the wide range of the tradition. It is one of the most ancient expositions containing many important thought patterns of even the famous Bahagavad Gita. In Yogavasistham, the story of Arjuna and the ‘yoga of disintersest and detachment’ correspond to the Bhagavad Gita.
The text of Yogavasishtam represents the typical dialogue between a teacher and a student in great detail. The exposition extends to over nearly twenty days, almost every day from sunrise to sunset. The audience consisted of a wide range of people starting from common people with simple interest to learned sages and gods. The setting seems to be in the vast plalace gardens in a recess of cleared grounds flanked by huge, tall trees with crowns of dense foliage with the sky as canopy. This may be the reason why Vasishta draws heavily from the analogy of tree and cloud apart from the idea of mirage. The exposition is such that all propositions, and hypotheses are explained in great detail with illustratie stories and logical elaborations. Yogavasishtam contains its own annotations and commnentary and hence the enormous length.
This attempt at translation of this great work is at the instance of my Guru, Sri Shiva Balayogi Maharaj. Several years ago, in a rare momenet of communion and compassion, he suggested ‘Why don’t you translate Yogavasishtam into English. There is no unabridged version of it in English. You know Telugu, English and some Sanskrit’. Initial reaction of mine was shudder ‘Do you really mean it, Swamiji? Where am I and where is that great book?’
‘You mean you need inspiration and support. Don’t worry. I am there’
For years I could not pick up the necessary courage even though Swamiji gave me the unabridged Telugu translation of Yogavasishtam, running into four volumes nearly 5000 pages. TheTelugu translation was done by Swami Purnananda and Swami Vidhyaprakasandagiri of Vyasa ashram, erpedu, Chittoor District, Andhra Pradesh, India.
I read these volumes twice from cover to cover. The magnitude of task was staggering. However, recently my Guru conveyed to me His blessings and encouragement a year ago. I started the translation. The inspiration was, therefore, always flowing through the pen. I am presenting this to the public. I expect to finish the stupendous task in about two years with His grace. This is His work. I tried to receive His inspiration in full. I might have failed some times. Even so, I hope the translation did not suffer much.
There is another angle to it. We all believe that Swamiji was Vasishta and what is Yogavasishtam is what He said. He is speaking again to the world.
-P.N. Murthy
Hyderabad,
18-11-2000.
