Yoga Vāsiṣṭha

The Yoga Vāsiṣṭha exists in three versions: the Bṛhat (~29,000 ślokas), the Laghu (~3,000 ślokas, a compendium attributed to Abhinanda), and this selection of the most philosophically dense verses from the Laghu. All three share the same narrative framework — the dialogue between the sage Vasiṣṭha and prince Rāma on the nature of reality — but differ in length and detail.

This selection gathers the passages where Advaita doctrine is expressed most directly: the unreality of the phenomenal world, the nature of consciousness, the mechanisms of the mind, and the paths to liberation. Each verse includes Devanāgarī, IAST transliteration, translation, and a commentary connecting it to the yoga tradition.

The collection can be expanded by prakaraṇa. The complete Laghu contains narrative material — illustrative stories, secondary dialogues — that has been condensed here to leave only the philosophical core. In the future, each prakaraṇa could be expanded with the narrative context that frames the teachings.

The Yoga Vāsiṣṭha complements the Aṣṭāvakra Gītā and the Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra as a non-dual text. Where the Aṣṭāvakra proclaims the identity of the self with Brahman with absolute directness, and the Vijñāna Bhairava offers techniques to touch that identity, the Vāsiṣṭha explores it through inquiry — examining how illusion is constructed, how the mind works, and how ignorance dissolves.