Yoga is a widely popular practice that has taken the world by storm. But with its popularity comes misconceptions about its true nature and teachings. While many people associate yoga with physical postures and breathing exercises, its origins are much deeper and more profound. Yoga is about the path of wisdom, as taught in the Vedic texts. Among these texts, Yoga Vashistha stands out as a counseling model that can help one realize the hidden potential of the human mind and achieve a state of perfect emotional equilibrium. Join me on a journey to discover the true essence of yoga and the ancient wisdom of Yoga Vashistha.

Article Highlights

• Yoga has been commercialized by various gurus, brands, and traditions, resulting in misconceptions about its true nature and teachings.
• The Vedic Sanskrit word Yoga means the Path of Wisdom, coming from the extraordinary teachings of the Vedas.
• Asana means seat, and Pranayama offers perspectives on living by changing breathing patterns, which helps in calming the mind.
• Patanjali was not the founder of Yoga, and his Yoga Sutras do not mention the kinds of asanas popularly practiced today.
• Valmiki’s Ramayana, particularly the Bala Kanda or Chapter of Youth, contains the earliest known text that speaks profoundly about the conscious self, mind, and their impact on individuals and the world.
• Yoga Vashistha, recorded in the Ramayana, is the oldest known text that advocates for realizing the hidden potential of the human mind and ways to harness it to achieve a state of perfect emotional equilibrium – Stithaprajna.
• Yoga Vashistha is a counseling model that helps one prepare for significant, unseen, and unanticipated challenges in life, altering one’s perspective to achieve one’s desired object.
• Yoga Vashistha is not a religious text but a rational, logical, yet wise conversation built on the oldest known counseling model discovered, developed, and propounded by the sage Rishis.
• Yoga Vashistha disowns astrology and advocates for focusing on actions rather than consequences. It explains the detriments of the desire to know about one’s future and its consequences on the mind and actions.
• Yoga Vashistha contains valuable knowledge about the mind that remains an enigma for modern scientists working in the areas of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
• The teachings of Yoga Vashistha have the potential to empower machines to think independently, which is beyond the capacity of present AI machines.

Yoga today has been transformed into a commercial commodity by a plethora of “Gurus,” “brands,” and “traditions” – each claiming authenticity. Yet, each of these variants of Yoga is about bodily and breathing exercises. But, was Yoga truly meant to be so? People misunderstand Asanas as Postures, Pranayama as breathing exercises, and Patanjali as the founder of Yoga; it is hard to comprehend the greater teachings and Wisdom of Yoga propounded in several Vedic texts.  

For clarity, The Vedic Sanskrit word Yoga comes from the root word “Yuj,” meaning the path. Since Yoga comes from the more extraordinary teachings of Vedas, which in turn implies Wisdom, one could translate it as the Path of Wisdom. Asana comes from the root Vedic Sanskrit word Asan or Seat. Pranayama comprises two Vedic Sanskrit words, Prana meaning Life and Ayama implying perspective. Pranayama is essentially that which offers Perspectives on Living. And since changing one’s breathing pattern helps us in calming our mind, which in turn changes our perspectives – it is also referred to as Pranayama.

Against all the common misnomers, Patanjali was never the founder of Yoga. He was not even the preceptor of the kinds of Yoga we know of or practice today. Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras have no mention of the kinds of Asanas commodified in prevailing Yogic “traditions.”

The earliest known text to speak about the greater Wisdom of Yoga was Valmiki’s Ramayana. Here, the prince of Ayodhya, Rama, seeks to take a sabbatical and travels the world after his education. On returning, Rama is disturbed, depressed, confused, and even agitated after observing the pains of life. He informs his father, Dasharatha, of his intention to relinquish his position as Yuvaraja or Crown Prince and become a hermit renunciate. A profoundly concerned father, Dasharatha, then asks his Rajaguru (Royal Mentor) Vashistha to counsel the young prince, leading to a prolonged and in-depth conversation. Valmiki recorded this conversation meticulously in Bala Kanda (Chapter of Youth) of his Ramayana which is popularly known as Yoga Vashistha.

Yoga Vashistha is also the first known text that speaks profoundly about the conscious self or Aatma, Mana or Mind, and how they impact individuals, familial, organizations, and the world. Understanding the more profound Wisdom of the Yoga Vashistha is key to understanding the self and the mind and our actions and consequences.

What is also essential here is to know that Yoga Vashistha is never a “religious text.” It is, at best the most rational, logical, yet wise conversation built on the oldest known and living counselling model discovered, developed and propounded by the sage Rishis. Against all conventional beliefs, Rama in Valmiki’s Ramayana was never a God, Avatar, or Supreme Personality of Godhead. It is imperative to note that Valmiki’s Ramayana (over 6,000 years old) is not the same as Tulasi Das’s Ramacharitmanas (written more relatively recently, approx. around 15^th century AD).

Yoga Vashistha, while refusing even to entertain the idea of God, seeks to impress upon us to know our true selves and then with that realization establish for ourselves whether  or not, there is God. There is neither an imposition nor refuting of the idea of God in any of the Vedic texts, starting from Vedas, Upanishads, Shastras, Sutras, Valmiki’s Ramayana, or Vyasa’s Mahabharata.

Yoga Vashistha disowns the idea of astrology; it impresses its readers to focus on the actions instead of the consequences. It explains the detriments of the desire to know about one’s future and its consequences on the minds and actions.

Yoga Vashistha is probably the oldest text, anywhere in the world, to have advocated the need for realizing the hidden potential of the human mind and ways to harness it, in a the best possible way so as to achieve a state of perfect emotional equilibrium – Stithaprajna – to overcome all emotional turmoil. It presents a credible counseling model to prepare oneself for more significant, unseen, unanticipated challenges in life and handle them effortlessly, to achieve one’s desired object, by altering one’s perspective. Yoga Vashistha is also the first book explaining more excellent knowledge about the mind, one that continues to remain an enigma for modern scientists, working in the areas of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning.

Teachings of Yoga Vashistha on the ideas of thoughts, views, perspectives, and cognition could have a great potential for empowering the machine to even to think independently, which is way beyond the capacity of present AI machines which are run by complex instructions, driven by systems based on probability statistics..

These are some of the many reasons for making Yoga Vashistha one of the most relevant ancient Vedic texts.