August 31, 2026
avayavānavayavī nityaṁ vetti yathā ‘khilān
tathā sarvānahaṁ vedmi brahmaṇyātmanyavasthitān (38)
RĀMA asked:
How was it that the Vipaścit could not reach the skull-cap of the universe which Brahmā the creator had created?
VASIṢṬHA replied:
At the very moment he came into being, Brahmā the creator pushed space apart with his two arms. That which was above was pushed far far above and that which was below went far far below. All the created elements rest in it, being supported by these two extremities. That which is between these two extremities is known as space which appears to be limitless and of a blue-colour. Water and such other elements do not taint this space; in fact they are not in it (for space is independent of them and exists where one thinks water, air, etc., exist). These elements are but the notions that arise in others.
Vipaścit took that path in order to examine the extent of ignorance and he began to investigate the stellar sphere. Brahman is infinite; and therefore ignorance of Brahman is also infinite. Ignorance exists when Brahman is not realised; and when Brahman is realised ignorance is seen not to exist. However far Vipaścit went, he was still wandering in the realm of this ignorance.
Of the others one attained liberation, another became a deer and another is also wandering in ignorance. The two who thus wander in distant worlds are not seen in our consciousness. But the one that became a deer is within the field of our understanding. That world in which that Vipaścit lives as the deer, after having wandered in distant worlds, is this very world which is in one distant corner of the infinite space of consciousness.
RĀMA asked:
Lord, Vipaścit lived in this world itself and went away from here. How is it that he has become a deer in this world?
VASIṢṬHA replied:
Even as one who is endowed with limbs knows them, even so I know everything which may exist in Brahman as Brahman is my own self. The past does not know the future and vice versa; but consciousness which is not divided by time is aware of all this. In that consciousness everything is “here” though to ordinary perception something may be far away. Thus I see the worlds in which Vipaścit wandered and how he became a deer in this very world. In fact I know where that deer is right now, O Rāma. It is the deer that was presented to you as a gift by the king of the Trigartha.
VĀLMĪKI said:
When the sage Vasiṣṭha said this, Rāma and the assembled sages and others were wonderstruck. Rāma despatched a few boys to go and fetch the deer. Seeing it, the assembly was amazed and everyone exclaimed: “Truly, Māyā (illusion) is limitless and infinite.”