Why does a person believe the joys and sorrows of a dream are real? Sage Vasistha’s answer is this — Brahman itself becomes the dreamer, mistakes its own imagined world for reality, and experiences the joys, sorrows, honor, and dishonor within it as its own. Yet that imagined world never departs from consciousness, from its own true nature — this itself is Brahman’s eternal truth.
A dream you fall into while asleep feels utterly real, doesn’t it? Inside it you weep, you fear, you rejoice — yet the moment you wake, it all vanishes in an instant. So why, while the dream is happening, do we believe it so completely?
This is the very question Sri Rama asks Sage Vasistha. The conversation begins with the story of a goddess named Dwitiyalila, who worships Saraswati and travels through the sky to reunite with her husband, and it eventually leads to a profound truth — how Brahman expands itself into the world, and in what sense that world truly ‘exists.’
The Restlessness That Grew Within Dwitiyalila
Sage Vasistha began speaking to Rama once more. The goddess Dwitiyalila, he said, had pleased the goddess Saraswati through her worship and devotion. And yet, when it came to understanding her own true nature, some incompleteness still lingered within her. Her intellect needed to unfold further, to open wider still.
She longed to see her husband directly, in that very body shaped by her impressions and desires. So she rose into the sky, body and all, moving as lightly as a bird in flight. A single thought carried her forward, lifting her spirit: ‘I am about to be united with my husband.’
A Woman’s Form in the Mirror of Intention
As she flew on and on, Dwitiyalila suddenly saw a woman standing before her in the sky. But this woman was no stranger — she was a reflection cast in the mirror of Dwitiyalila’s own will, a form called Kumari, brought into being by the power of Saraswati’s intention.
Kumari’s Welcome, Dwitiyalila’s Question
Kumari saw Dwitiyalila and greeted her with visible delight.
Kumari: Welcome, O devotee of the goddess of memory! O beautiful one! I have been waiting here in this path of the sky, just for you, on Saraswati’s own command.
Dwitiyalila: How fortunate — you arrived before me and waited here! I am grateful. If a divine soul like you had not appeared, I would have been utterly lost in this vast, endless sky.
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The Truth That ‘A Meeting With the Great Is Never Wasted’
Unable to hold back the urgency in her heart, Dwitiyalila spoke her wish to Kumari without any hesitation.
Dwitiyalila: They say a meeting with the noble never goes to waste — and meeting someone as elevated as you must be no different! Now tell me, where is my husband? Take me to him at once.
Kumari’s Guidance — the Subtle Body
Kumari held her back gently and offered her a subtler way forward.
Kumari: Don’t be so hasty! Hold firmly to this understanding — that you wear not a gross body, but something far subtler and more natural to your essence: the ativahika body, the subtle body. Take up that subtle form and follow me. Only then can I lead you to where your husband is.
A Journey Past the Camphor-Sphere of the Cosmos
The moment she heard these words, Dwitiyalila took on the ativahika, the subtle body, and began following Kumari. Guided ahead by Kumari — sent by Saraswati, the goddess of memory — Dwitiyalila entered the vast, consciousness-woven expanse of the cosmic sky.
Little by little, the two of them crossed beyond the realm of clouds and entered the realm of wind. They passed the path of the sun. They rose beyond the sphere of the stars. Indra, the gods, the realm of the perfected beings, and even the great trinity of deities — all of these they crossed with ease. And at last they reached the outermost edge of the universe, the point where it dissolves like camphor into nothing.
Think of ice placed inside a pot with no crack in it at all — and yet, from outside, drops of water still gather on its surface. In just the same way, Dwitiyalila, perfected through the power of her own intention, passed beyond the boundary of the universe. Understand this: she, a being made purely of mind, was experiencing within herself the very illusion called ‘the universe,’ born entirely from her own intention. The root cause behind every experience is nothing but impression — samskara.
The Infinite Sky of Pure Consciousness, Filled With Countless Universes
In this way she crossed every realm, from Brahma’s world onward. Together with the goddess Kumari, she passed through the camphor-boundary of the universe — the outer edge holding all the worlds together as one space. She crossed the layers of water and every other covering that enclosed it. And she entered the boundless sky of pure consciousness, the chidakasha, where nothing ever ends.
Within that sky of consciousness lay countless universes, each one utterly invisible to the next. Have you ever seen how a small worm can enter a single berry among a whole tree full of them? In just that way, out of the countless universes there, Dwitiyalila and Kumari entered one particular universe. Within that universe’s realm, they drew near to the kingdom of a man named Padma. Little by little, they made their way into the inner chambers, into the very room where Padma’s physical body lay.
Rama’s Doubt — Was This Really Such a Vast, Matchless Journey?
Having heard this account of the journey, Sri Rama turned to Sage Vasistha, his curiosity plainly written on his face.
Sri Rama: Did this subtle movement truly unfold with such completeness, in the eyes of the Supreme? Master, resolve one doubt for me — could she not have reached her husband instantly, without ever leaving the room where she stood? Why did she need to travel such an immense distance at all?
Vasistha’s Teaching — Boundless Intention Becomes Boundless Experience
Sage Vasistha answered the doubt with compassion in his voice.
Sage Vasistha: O Rama! This entire subtle body took shape purely out of her own intention. Nowhere in her mind was the thought, ‘I am not really traveling any distance at all.’ It was precisely the thought — ‘I am journeying through the sky, searching for my husband’ — that gave rise to this entire, complete voyage. And it is exactly this kind of intention that brings the whole world into lived experience within Brahman’s creation.
Brahman Itself Expanding Into the World
Here Sage Vasistha began to unfold an even deeper truth. Silence settled over the assembly, and Rama’s eyes shone with keen attention.
Sage Vasistha: Brahman is one, and one alone. Do not think it dissolves and vanishes into some ocean, or that something else exists apart from it, something second to it. Whatever we call ‘I, you, he, that, this’ — the seer, and everything else — all of it remains nothing but Brahman. What we call ‘I and you, here and there’ remains, in truth, Brahman alone. And so everything that is ever seen remains, in truth, Brahman alone.
The Dreamer Is the One Who Composes the Dream
Think of a man who, in his own dream, conjures up objects, and ideas of ‘you and I,’ of ‘yours and mine.’ He himself is the dreamer, and he is the one experiencing the very unfolding of the dream he is composing. Even though every object in that dream, and everything within it, belongs entirely to him, to his own consciousness, he still sees ‘pleasure and pain, honor and dishonor’ within it as if they were something separate from himself — and experiences them exactly that way.
The Subtle Form of the Five Elements
In precisely the same way, Brahman — whose subtle elements, the five great elements, are nothing but forms of Brahman’s own radiant consciousness — experiences within itself the qualities of liquid, solid, air, fire, and space. That same Brahman, having taken on the subtle form of these elements, then acquires, purely through the power of its own imagination, the grosser form we perceive as water and the other coverings of the universe.
In that moment, Brahman itself appears to itself in the very shape of this universe. And this entire display, which seems to unfold outside of us, is in truth nothing but unreal — yet through the sheer force of habit, it appears before us as though it were an unshakable, solid truth. Do you see it now? In this way, Brahman, thinking ‘I am the collective totality of all living beings,’ expands its own mental kingdom into this very form we call ‘the universe.’ And it is precisely that mental kingdom which we speak of under the name ‘the world.’
The Law of Intention Is Never Broken
Here Sage Vasistha turned his thoughts back to Dwitiyalila and spoke these words.
Sage Vasistha: O dear Lila! Even though all of this is nothing but pure intention, it still unfolds in strict accordance with a certain law — the law that governs the power of intention itself. That law existed exactly as it does now, right from the very beginning of creation. Whatever form the movements of the mind take, the light of consciousness reflects that very same form. Not a single event in this world ever occurs without following this law.
Gold Never Abandons Its Shape
Sage Vasistha continued, sharpening his teaching further.
Sage Vasistha: Has gold ever, even once, abandoned its own shape? Never. The world is exactly the same. It exists eternally within the ever-changing Brahman, never apart from it. This world, which blossoms forth from within Brahman itself, cannot become empty nothingness even during the dissolution of the universe. Whatever existed at the very dawn of creation exists in that very same way now. Just as waves are inseparable from water’s nature to wave, so too is worldhood forever inseparable from Brahman’s nature.
As Ice Cannot Be Parted From Cold, or Fire From Heat — So Consciousness Cannot Be Parted From Law
As he moved toward his conclusion, Sage Vasistha steadied this teaching with one final image.
Sage Vasistha: Just as ice cannot be separated from cold, and fire cannot be separated from heat, so too consciousness and law remain forever bound together. Wherever there is consciousness, creation exists alongside it. This earth, water, air, and everything else born of the sky — all of it followed a certain law at the very dawn of creation, and follows that same law even now. Not the slightest change has ever touched their true nature.
Eternally Risen Consciousness Is the True Nature of Every Being
Sage Vasistha brought his teaching to a close with this final declaration.
Sage Vasistha: And so these laws go on unfolding, exactly as they always have. The law governing death, birth, and living itself proceeds in this same unchanging way. Every living being moves in accordance with that very law. And yet — the true nature of this living being is nothing but eternally risen consciousness, standing beyond every single one of these events. There is nothing here that calls for doubt.
The Root Nature of the Five Elements — According to Vasistha’s Teaching
| Element | Root Nature |
|---|---|
| Space (Akasha) | The nature of emptiness |
| Water (Jala) | The nature of flowing |
Spiritual Meaning
Dwitiyalila’s journey through the sky is not merely a story — it is a living illustration of just how powerfully intention shapes experience. It was only because she believed, ‘I am traveling a great distance,’ that the whole distance, every one of those realms, became real and vivid to her. Brahman works in exactly the same way — it is only because it thinks, ‘I am the collective of all living beings,’ that it expands itself into the very form we call the world.
Just as gold never abandons its own shape, Brahman never abandons its true being — its eternity, its everlasting nature, not even slightly. Whether the world appears or disappears, Brahman remains exactly as it always was. Once we truly grasp this, we understand that the joys and sorrows we experience are themselves part of this very law of intention — and that there is no need to see them as something separate from eternal consciousness.
Every emotion that arises in our lives is born from our own intention. Pause for just a moment, and notice: ‘This experience is nothing but my own thought taking shape.’ That noticing, that pause — that itself is true meditation.
Chapter Summary
Dwitiyalila worships the goddess Saraswati and, longing to see her husband, sets out on a journey through the sky. Along the way, a goddess named Kumari joins her and teaches her the technique of traveling through the subtle body. Together they cross every realm, pass through countless universes, and finally reach the kingdom of a man named Padma. In answer to Rama’s doubt, Vasistha explains that this entire journey was made possible purely by her intention, and that Brahman itself expands into the world, creating every experience a living being has. He closes by declaring that just as gold never abandons its shape, Brahman never abandons its eternal, conscious nature.
Scripture Notes
- Main Message: Intention alone creates experience; and though Brahman expands itself into the world, it never for a moment loses its eternal, conscious nature.
- Philosophical Teaching: Consciousness and law are forever bound together — like ice and cold, like fire and heat. The true nature of a living being is eternally risen consciousness, standing beyond every event that ever occurs.
- Connection to the Next Chapter: What happens after Dwitiyalila reaches the kingdom of Padma, and where this turn in the story leads — Vasistha will reveal that in the next episode.
Has gold ever, even once, abandoned its own shape? The world, too, never abandons Brahman.
Even though all of this is nothing but pure intention, it still unfolds in strict accordance with a fixed and certain law.
The true nature of a living being is eternally risen consciousness, standing beyond every single event.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is Dwitiyalila in the Yoga Vasistha?
Dwitiyalila is a goddess devoted to Saraswati, who journeys through the sky out of longing to see her husband — and this journey becomes the occasion for a profound teaching on how Brahman expands itself into the world.
Who is Kumari, and why did she appear?
Kumari is a form that appeared as a reflection cast in the mirror of Dwitiyalila’s own intention, shaped by the power of Saraswati’s will, and she came to guide Dwitiyalila on her journey.
What is the subtle body?
The subtle body, or ativahika body, is not the gross physical body but a far more refined form natural to one’s own essence — and it is through this subtle body that travel through the sky becomes possible.
How does Brahman turn into the world?
Brahman, thinking ‘I am the collective totality of all living beings,’ expands its own mental kingdom into the form of the universe — and that mental kingdom is exactly what we call ‘the world.’
What is the law of intention?
The law of intention is the principle that consciousness always reflects whatever form the movements of the mind take — meaning not a single event in this world ever occurs outside this law.
What is the true nature of a living being?
The true nature of a living being is eternally risen consciousness, standing beyond every event that ever occurs — a truth Vasistha declares leaves no room whatsoever for doubt.
Conclusion
Dwitiyalila’s journey teaches us a truth that runs deep — our own intention builds the very experience we live through, and yet, in the midst of every one of those experiences, eternal consciousness never once changes. Just as gold never abandons its shape, Brahman never abandons its truth — how deeply Vasistha’s words settle within us. What happens once Dwitiyalila finally reaches her husband? Where will this story carry us next?
