If the world you see in a dream turns out to be false the moment you wake up, could this waking world be exactly the same kind of illusion? Through the story Sage Vasishtha tells Queen Leela about a Brahmin couple in the village of Giri, the Yoga Vasistha answers this — waking and dreaming are both just constructs of the same field of pure consciousness, and both are equally unreal.
Have you ever had a dream so vivid that it held an entire kingdom, sprawling palaces, and every relative you know, only to have it all vanish the instant you woke up? In that waking moment, it feels obvious – what you just experienced wasn’t real, and what you’re seeing now is.
That is precisely the doubt Queen Leela raised before Goddess Sarasvati. When she learned that she herself was hidden inside the story of a humble Brahmin couple living in a small house, her astonishment was immense – and the answer Goddess Sarasvati gave unravels how this entire universe is nothing but a reflection within pure consciousness.
The Story of a Brahmin in the Village of Giri
Goddess Sarasvati continued unfolding the secret of creation she had begun describing to Leela earlier. In the field of pure consciousness, she said, there existed in some remote corner a great household – a hall – and this hall was roofed over by the glass-like element of space, one of the five great elements.
In that hall, the guardians of the worlds stood like its pillars. The fourteen worlds were its many chambers. Countless beings lived within those chambers. Prajapati, the creator god, was like the master of that house – and yet he himself lived trapped inside his own nest.
Above that hall, in its open sky, the siddhas who moved through it, and even worlds and cities, looked no bigger than mosquitoes. And within that same hall lay a village called Giri. In one house in that village lived a Brahmin, a man named Vasishtha.
Two Different Vasishthas
This Brahmin lived by the rules laid down in the Vedas, free of illness, free of fear, spending his days as a householder with a peaceful mind, his wife and children beside him. His name, his wealth, his age, his learning, his standing – all of it made him sound exactly like the great Sage Vasishtha, but he was not the same Vasishtha, the seer who served as royal preceptor to the Ikshvaku dynasty.
Even his wife shared the same name – Arundhati. And the real Arundhati, wife of the Ikshvakus’ revered guru Vasishtha, was very much alive too. But Goddess Sarasvati made it clear – these were two entirely different couples.
This Brahmin poured genuine love upon his wife. His whole domestic world revolved around her. Then one day, this Brahmin resolved to undertake an endeavor as vast as a mountain.
The Brahmin’s Penance and His Wish for a Kingdom
One day, with a mind at peace, the Brahmin turned to his wife and said, ‘My dear, what use do I have now for the glory of kingship? I will leave this household life behind and devote myself to penance.’
From that day on, he turned away from any interest in ruling and went to a forest of austerity, where he performed intense penance. After a long period of this discipline, Lord Brahma himself appeared before him.
The Brahmin: As the fruit of this penance, grant me a magnificent kingdom, one I may enjoy and rule over for a long span of time.
👉 Previous Episode: Is the World Around Us Real, or Just a Thought? The Secret of Creation Hidden in Leela’s Story | Yoga Vasistha S3 EP-14
The Boon Is Granted – The Brahmin Becomes a King
Lord Brahma granted his wish, saying, ‘It shall be exactly as you have asked,’ and then vanished. As a result of that boon, the Brahmin, in his sleep, became a magnificent king in a dream and began ruling over a vast kingdom.
In that dream, he lived for years enjoying royal pleasures, commanding armies, and conquering rival kings. The dream felt entirely real to him, because within the dream, time itself felt genuine to his mind.
In the end, during a period of war and battle against enemy kings within that kingdom, the Brahmin died. The instant he died, he woke up from his dream – and realized he was still in his small house, lying beside his wife, exactly as before.
The Brahmin’s Astonishment Upon Waking
The moment he woke, the Brahmin was struck by an astonishment as vast as a mountain. The kingdom he had ruled for so long, the armies, the battles, even his own death – all of it had vanished in an instant. His real life, right there in that small house, remained exactly as it had always been.
The Brahmin: Was all that royal splendor nothing but a dream? Where did all those years go – the kingdom I ruled, the wars I fought, that entire life I lived as a king?
Many Years Hidden Inside Eight Days
The Brahmin shared what had happened with his wife. She, too, was astonished, because in reality the Brahmin had only been asleep for eight days. Yet within his dream, he had lived and ruled a kingdom for what felt like many years.
Goddess Sarasvati offered this very story to Leela as an example. She then revealed something startling – that Brahmin and his wife were none other than Leela and her own husband. The truth that the two of them had died only eight days earlier struck Leela as utterly astonishing.
Leela’s Doubt – How Could This Be Possible?
Having heard everything Goddess Sarasvati said, Leela fell into thought, turning it over again and again, and sat silent for a while. A profound astonishment had taken hold of her. After a moment, she voiced her doubt before the goddess.
Leela: O Goddess! Your words seem somewhat unreasonable to my mind. To say that we ourselves are that Brahmin couple – a couple living in a small house who died only eight days ago – what a strange claim that is!
Leela: Are we to believe that our vast kingdom could fit inside that Brahmin’s house? My husband is in the other world right now – how could its great kingdoms, its sprawling lands, its mountains, its very horizons, ever fit inside such a tiny room?
An Elephant, Lions, a Mosquito – Leela’s Flood of Questions
Leela pressed her doubt further, growing even more insistent. Could a massive, rutting elephant fit inside a single mustard seed, she asked. Could a tiny mosquito swallow a whole pride of lions, and many such prides besides?
‘It sounds as though you’re telling me a bee chewed up an entire Mount Meru and swallowed it whole in an instant,’ Leela said to Goddess Sarasvati. She went on to ask whether the clouds that appear in one’s dream could make the walls of the very room where the dreamer sleeps dance in response.
Leela: O Supreme Goddess! Just as all of this sounds impossible, so too does it seem impossible that an entire earth, with its mountains, could exist inside that Brahmin’s house. Mother, we are but ignorant, foolish children – if we ask you something out of confusion, would you, who are great beyond measure and the very mother of this universe, grow angry with us? Never. So I beg you, explain to me the truth as it truly is, so that my mind may finally find clarity.
Goddess Sarasvati’s Answer – The Nature of Maya
Having heard all of Leela’s questions, Goddess Sarasvati replied with calm composure. She made it clear that once one truly grasps the nature and workings of this illusion, there is no need to be astonished by questions like Leela’s – for she herself was well established in that very understanding.
Goddess Sarasvati: My child, Leela! Understand this – I am not speaking a single word of falsehood. We ourselves are the very embodiment of truth, the ones who taught the world the principle that no one should ever lie. If we ourselves were to break that principle, who then would remain to uphold righteous conduct? So know that everything I am telling you is entirely true.
Goddess Sarasvati: The individual soul of that Brahmin, there within the space of his own home, took on the very form of space itself – and that same form of space is what appears before you as this vast universe.
What Became of ‘My Wife, My Husband’ – Those Memories?
Hearing Goddess Sarasvati’s words, another doubt rose in Leela’s mind. She could not understand where the bonds and feelings formed within her dream had gone once she woke up.
Leela: But then what happens to all those memories – ‘my wife, my husband, my children, our home’?
Goddess Sarasvati: Tell me – when you dream at night and feel ‘my wife, my husband, my children, our home,’ where do all of those go the moment you wake from sleep? While the dream lasts, everything in it – the objects, the events, the people – feels absolutely real, and the entire waking world feels as though it doesn’t exist at all, as though it were the false one.
The Seer, His Construct, and the Three States of Waking, Dreaming, and Deep Sleep
Goddess Sarasvati continued, sharpening her point further. In the same way, once you return to the waking state – that is, once you wake from sleep – everything that happened in the dream feels like a mere illusion, something that never truly existed. Yet this very waking state, while it lasts, feels solid and utterly real, exactly as the dream once did.
It is the seer himself who, through his own construct or imagination, brings the three states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep into being. Waking and dreaming both come clothed in visible experience, while deep, dreamless sleep remains wrapped in silence, with nothing to see at all.
Just as the memories of waking life vanish and feel unreal during a dream, the memories of a dream become equally unreal and nonexistent once one returns to waking life. This is exactly why, in their lives as king and queen, they carried no memory of the truth – ‘we were once a Brahmin couple’ – because that knowledge belonged to a dream-like, illusory state. Every single being carries its past lives in precisely this same way.
A Reflection Within Pure Consciousness – The Illusory Nature of This World
As Goddess Sarasvati moved toward the close of her teaching, she explained that the universe, in its entirety, works on this exact same principle. Doesn’t a small mirror hold within it the reflection of large objects, of a vast and sweeping scene? And yet, everything that appears in it is unreal, isn’t it?
In the very same way, the vast worlds reflected within the subtle inner mind are equally unreal. The earth and everything else that appears within them is equally unreal. All of it is nothing but a wondrous reflection – like reflections in water – cast by the true, real substance that is pure consciousness itself.
Within the supreme, unblemished reality of Brahman, this false creation appears to shine forth as though it were true. There is no truth in this universe beyond that. What appears in this world as this universe is nothing but a projection, an attribution, of the experience of that one consciousness, the Self, dwelling in the heart of every being.
Pure Consciousness in the Village of Giri, the Universe Within That One House
Goddess Sarasvati brought her explanation to a close with a decisive declaration. Where, after all, is the water in a mirage on a barren desert? How could this earth, these experiences, these events, these relationships – all of it born, like the events of a story, out of nothing more than a memory shaped by mere imagination – ever be considered real?
This house, the space of consciousness contained within it, you, I, and everything else here – none of this is anything but pure consciousness itself, nothing else whatsoever. And just as a lamp helps illuminate something hidden in the dark, all of this serves us as proof, as an illustration, to help us understand this one truth – the illusory nature of this universe.
Goddess Sarasvati: That Brahmin exists precisely within the pure consciousness held inside that one house in the village of Giri. And within that very same space of consciousness lies the entire earth, oceans and all. My child, within a single speck of dust – an atom – countless multitudes of worlds can be experienced.
Goddess Sarasvati: So what is there to be astonished at, that cities and gardens and everything else could fit within that Brahmin’s house? Where, after all, are the limits of what imagination can hold? What does a mirror have to say about it? Do you not already know that this entire universe exists within the mind itself – something smaller than the smallest atom? This is the most ordinary truth there is. Why, then, do you doubt it so much?
The Three States – How the Seer’s Construct Works
| State | Nature | How It Is Experienced |
|---|---|---|
| Waking | Comes with visible experience | Experienced as solid and real, exactly as it happens |
| Dreaming | Comes with visible experience | Feels real while it lasts, then appears illusory afterward |
| Deep Sleep | Silent, without any visible experience | Neither memory nor experience remains |
The Spiritual Essence
This story tells us one single truth – the seer, through his own construct or imagination, builds the three states of waking, dreaming, and deep sleep. Whichever state one happens to be in feels entirely real, while all the other states seem false by comparison.
Just as an entire lifetime of ruling a kingdom fit inside eight days of the Brahmin’s sleep, Goddess Sarasvati teaches that the whole universe can just as easily fit within a single small space of consciousness. This suggests that time and space themselves are nothing more than relative notions constructed by the mind.
What appears as this universe is nothing but the experience of that one consciousness, the Self, dwelling within the heart of every being. Once this is understood, we come to see that every relationship, every responsibility we carry, is merely a temporary construct – yet the path to liberation while still living lies in fulfilling that very construct with dignity and righteousness.
Tonight, before you fall asleep, take a moment to think about this – how all the joys, sorrows, and responsibilities you carried through the day simply vanish once you’re asleep. Try turning that same gaze toward your waking experiences as well – your bonds need not weaken, but their weight can grow lighter.
Chapter Summary
Goddess Sarasvati describes to Leela a great household existing within the field of pure consciousness, within which lies a village called Giri, where a Brahmin named Vasishtha lives with his wife Arundhati. Through penance, he receives a boon from Brahma, gains a kingdom, lives for years as a king in a dream, and eventually dies. Upon waking, he discovers he had only been asleep for eight days. When Goddess Sarasvati reveals that this couple is none other than Leela and her husband, Leela is astonished and pours out a flood of questions. Goddess Sarasvati then teaches that waking and dreaming are both equally constructs of the seer, and that this entire universe is nothing but a reflection within pure consciousness.
Scripture Notes
- Main Message: Waking and dreaming are both states the seer creates through his own construct – whichever one we are experiencing feels true, while the other appears illusory.
- Philosophical Teaching: This universe is nothing but the experience of the one consciousness, the Self, dwelling within the heart of every being – a mere illusion reflected as an attribution, with Brahman alone as the sole reality.
- Connection to the Next Chapter: Leela still needs greater clarity – let us see, in the next episode, how deeply Goddess Sarasvati goes on to unravel the true nature of this illusion.
Just as the memories of waking life become unreal during a dream, the memories of a dream become equally nonexistent once one returns to the waking state.
This entire universe exists within the mind itself – something smaller than the smallest atom.
Just as a lamp helps illuminate something hidden in the dark, all of this serves as an illustration to help us understand the illusory nature of this universe.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the Brahmin in the village of Giri?
This Brahmin is named Vasishtha, but he is not the same as the great Sage Vasishtha, the seer who served as royal preceptor to the Ikshvaku dynasty. His wife also shares the name Arundhati, but she too is a different person. According to the Yoga Vasistha, these are two entirely separate couples.
What penance did the Brahmin perform?
The Brahmin left his household life behind and performed intense penance, wishing for a kingdom. Lord Brahma appeared before him and granted him a boon fulfilling his wish.
What happened in the Brahmin’s dream?
As a result of Brahma’s boon, the Brahmin became a magnificent king within his own sleep and ruled a kingdom for many years, eventually dying in battle. In reality, though, he had only been asleep for eight days.
What is the connection between Leela, her husband, and the story of the Brahmin?
According to Goddess Sarasvati, that Brahmin and his wife are, in truth, Leela and her husband. She explains that the two of them had died only eight days earlier, and that within that dead life, they experienced ruling over a kingdom.
Why does the Yoga Vasistha say that waking and dreaming are equal?
Just as waking experiences appear unreal while one is dreaming, dream experiences appear unreal once one is awake. The seer, through his own construct, considers whichever state he happens to be in as true, which is why the Yoga Vasistha teaches that both states are equally illusory.
How can the entire universe fit within a single small space of consciousness?
According to Goddess Sarasvati, just as a small mirror can reflect a vast scene, the subtle inner mind reflects the vast universe. Even though the mind is as small as an atom, the entire universe exists within it – which is precisely what makes this possible.
What is meant by pure consciousness, or Chidakasha?
Chidakasha means the space of consciousness – the experience of the one Self dwelling within the heart of every being. The Yoga Vasistha teaches that this entire universe is nothing but an illusory wonder appearing as an attribution within that space of consciousness, much like a reflection in water.
Conclusion
The illustration Goddess Sarasvati offers here brings a strange peace to the mind, even as it stirs deeper reflection – if this universe truly is nothing but a reflection within pure consciousness, then how real, after all, are the relationships and responsibilities we hold onto so tightly? Let us wait for the next episode to see what further explanation Goddess Sarasvati offers for the doubts still lingering in Leela’s mind.
