Sage Vasishta's Advice to Ramachandra

     Ramachandra, son of King Dasharatha of Ayodhya, completed his education in Gurukula and went for a visit to different parts of his kingdom and see the prevailing conditions. The living conditions were deplorable. He was so sad that he gave up food and sleep and remained in isolation after his return. King was anxious about Rama's health and requested Sage Vasishtha to enquire into Rama's condition and advice him. It is this advice to Rama by the Sage that has become the famous Gita, Yogavasishta, and other names. What exactly is the advice? This was originally a voluminous 'Yogavashishtha' of over 20,000 verse and was abridged to about 6000 verses by Pundit Abhinanda Gaur of Kashmir in 9th century A.D. to about 6000 verse. Now a number of abridged versions (of selected verses) areavailable. The topics covered are very important for us.

    Everyone interested in living a happy, peaceful life should study this carefully.It has gems of advice from a great sage and is a guide to us.It deals with: the illusory nature of the world, cessation of desires, contemplation on the inner self, 'Realizationof the Atman', 'Renunciation', etc.The Samskruta shloka are very impressive!

   At the outset, the Learned Sage says, the true nature ofthe world is such that one need not unncessarily bother about it.  Further, the central theme of this beautiful scripture is self-relization (Atma sakshatara) and renunciation (vairagya). The sage is very clear about the need for purification and ultimate liberation (mukti). Self inquiry as to "Who am I" and  "Whose is this worldly bondage" are very important. At times, the Sage is curt and says, "It is better to go around with a begging bowl than live foolishly without the spiritual knowledge" (Ch. I, Verse 26).  

    It is absolutely necessary to seek proper guidnce, seek an attained person, illumined Guru, to get proper guidance in these spiritual matters. But, it is important to note that "Without god's grace (divya anugraha) it is not possible for one to get the help of a proper teacher (sadguru) or to have the correct understanding of the right scripture, Vedanta. 

  We will try to give a brief summary of the Sage wisdom on the various topics in the following blogs. The very first advice of the Sage is to develop a sense of discrimination, disinterestedness, vairagya, the very nirasakti yoga imparted by Bhagavan Shree Krishna to Arjuna in the Gita. This does not mean total neglect of one's duties. It is a very difficult proposition. It may be a sort of resistance to over-indulgences. Show interest only to limited extent? A yogi who is not interested in worldly acquisition is inwardly satisfied, contented and happy. tasmad yogirbhavaarjuna |