Yoga Vasishta Sara (Maha Ramayana)

Subtitle: 
The Essence of Yoga Vasishta
Name: 
An English Translation from the Sanskrit Original
Publish Place: 
Tamil Nadu
Publisher: 
Sri Ramanasramam
Publish Year: 
2005

The Brihat (the great) Yoga Vasishta or Yoga Vasishta Maha Ramayana as it is also called, is a work of about 32,000 Sanskrit couplets, traditionally attributed to Valmiki, the author of Srimad Ramayana. It is a dialogue between Sage Vasishta and Sri Rama, during which Advaita (the doctrine of non-duality) in its pure form of ajatavada (theory of nonorigination) is expounded, with illustrative stories in between. This vast work was abridged some centuries ago by Abhinanda Pandita, a Kashmiri scholar, into 6,000 couplets, which go by the name of Laghu Yoga Vasishta. This is a masterpiece initself, like the original Brihat. It is said among hindu-scholars that just reading this book can lead to enlightenment.