The Philosophical Verses of Yoga Vasishtha (An English Translation of Yoga Vasishtha Sara with Commentary and Sanskrit Text)

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The original Yogavasishtha is a large book. It has 32,000 Sanskrit verses. It is believed that the great sage Valmiki the author of the Yogavasishtha. But some scholars do not accept this view. Nevertheless, it is admitted by all at this is a most wonderful book.

Considering that the large number of verses contained the book may daunt some readers, a shorter version lied the Laghu Yogavasishtha, consisting of 6,000 verses skillfully selected from the original Yogavasishtha, was created by Pundit Abhinanda Gaur of Kashmir in the h century, A.D.

Later, one anonymous scholar, choosing only the most highly philosophical verses from the original Yogavasishtha, created a smaller book named Yogavasishtha-sara consisting of only 223 verses. It is this book that I have translated for the benefit of English-speaking readers under the name The Philosophical Verses of Yogavasishtha. the theme of this book is non-dualistic, and through- out the book I have provided explanatory notes in italics wherever needed. This book has ten chapters. For the convenience of readers who do not know Sanskrit, the English translation and the Sanskrit text have been put two different sections. The first section of the book LS the English translation while the Sanskrit text of the book has been added toward the end, followed by a glossary.

While translating the verses I have tried to follow the excellent commentary of Sri Mahidhara. I was also much helped by the first Bengali translation of Yogavasishtha- sara by Swami Dhireshananda of the Ramakrishna Order.

In the publication of this book the following persons have helped immensely and I acknowledge their loving assistance with deep gratitude.

Allen R. Freedman, Ph. D., for computer typesetting the manuscript.

Mira Guerquin for the cover design and her beautiful painting reproduced on the front cover.

Devra Freedman for proofreading and editing.

Charles S. Wirth for providing assistance with the production of the book.

Sheela Sadhwani for her painting of Sri Sankaracharya.

I shall consider my labor well-rewarded if this book proves to be helpful to English speaking readers.