The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana

A Sanskrit philosophical text of approximately 29,000 verses presenting dialogue between the sage Vasistha and Prince Rama on reality, consciousness, and liberation. Scholarly consensus dates its composition to between the 11th-14th centuries CE as an expansion of the earlier Mokṣopāya text, absorbing Saivite Trika influences while becoming an authoritative Advaita Vedanta scripture. The narrative presents Rama experiencing disillusionment (vairagya) after pilgrimage, prompting Vasistha's philosophical instruction. The text articulates sophisticated non-dualism: ultimate reality consists solely of Brahman (infinite consciousness), while phenomenal multiplicity represents maya arising from ignorance. Using metaphors of dreams and cloud-cities, it teaches that liberation comes through transforming consciousness itself via the practice of vicara (philosophical inquiry) rather than external manipulation. The text comprises six prakaranas covering dispassion, seeker qualifications, creation, existence, dissolution of ignorance, and final liberation. Its distinctive doctrine of sankalpa explains how consciousness generates experiential reality through conceptualization. Vihari Lala Mitra's English translation (1891-1899) in four volumes provided first comprehensive Western access, later championed by Swami Vivekananda and Ramana Maharshi.