Yoga Vasistha- Nirvana Prakaran Purvardha (Volume-4)

Yoga Vasistha can bring a complete transformation in human personality; even like the beggar of old fairy tales who turned into a king when a charmed golden ring fell into his hand; just so, whosoever holds this book, turning the pages with an inquisitive mind and a heart searching for truth, will discover the infinite beauty of his inner Self. Yoga Vasistha in its broad spectrum encompasses topics such as: the mysteries of the soul, death and reincarnations, the psychic Powers, the mystic energy known as Kundalini, the subtle operations of the unconscious mind which bring about repeated embodiments.

Yoga Vasistha can bring a complete transformation in human personality. Like the beggar in an old fairy tale who turned into a King when a charmed golden ring fell into hand, anyone who turns the pages of the book with an inquisitive mind and a heart searching for the the truth will discover the infinite beauty of his inner Self. Yoga Vasistha nourishes the soul and awakens a yearning for freedom and an exquisite peace unknown before.

This unique book par excellence has been long awaited by advanced Vedantins and yogis of India because it is only available in rare editions of the last century. And it is what the enquiring minds of the West have been desperately needing since they heard the remarks of Schopenhaure: "In the whole there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life; it will be the solace of my death."

H.H. Sri Swami Jyotirmayananda, internationally known lecturer and writer of over fifty books on Yoga and Vedanta philosophy, has interpreting and commenting on Yoga Vasistha for over forty years: first in India for nine years at the Yoga Vedanta Forest Academy, Sivananda Ashram, Ludhiana, and other parts of India, and also in the Dehradun Women's College. Since coming to the West, Swamiji lectured in Puetro Rico for six years, and now gives weekly lectures here in Miami. Available on CD/DVDs, these lectures are an undying treasure.

In the "Bala-Kanda" section of the Ramayana it is stated that Sri Rama was given spiritual instructions by Sage Vasistha. Yoga Vasistha, a complete and separate work in itself, is that teaching. While the Ramayana, the epic poem more popularly known throughout India and the world, describes the life and adventures of Sri Rama, the Yoga Vasistha presents his inner realization in detail for those who wish to intensify their spiritual life and deepen their understanding. A vast work of approximately 32,000 verses, the Yoga Vasistha was written by the great poet-sage Valmiki, as was the Ramayana, about 500 B.C. or earlier. Yoga Vasistha, which is virtually unknown in the West due to the scarcity of its English translations, is also known by the names of Maha-Ramayana, Uttar Ramayana, Arsha Ramayana, Jnana Vasistha, Vasistha Ramayana, and Vasistha. But whatever you choose to call it, it is the earliest work of Yoga-Vedanta and gives a magnificent exposition of the subtleties and insights of that philosophy. with a majestic sweep that has never been equaled in any metaphysical work since. Every kind of exposition is employed in its presentation didactic instruction, answers to doubts, parables, and stories within stories. Here, for example, the interlocking system of stories within stories enhances the vision of worlds within worlds, and of the infinitely complex world of the mind, itself arising from the Cosmic Mind. Many key points of this metaphysical instruction are touched upon over and over again with increasingly deeper meanings. Therefore the work appears to move in vast spirals, ultimately culminating in the Self-realization of Sri Rama.

In "Variagya Prakarana" of Volume I it will be remembered that Sage Vasistha asked Sri Rama to express the reasons for his depressed state of mind. At this, Sri Rama elaborated upon the transiency and essencelessness of all objects of the world. All that he once thought to be of value and a source of happiness has, through the vision of his penetrative intellect, become nothing but a source of emptiness and misery.

**Contents and Sample Pages**