The Yoga Vasishtha for parents: a teacher answering a young Rama's hardest questions

The Yoga Vasishtha is less famous than the Gita or the epics, but it may be the text that speaks most directly to a thoughtful teenager. Its frame story is simple: a young Rama, back from a pilgrimage, falls into a deep dejection. He questions the point of wealth, status and even life itself. His teacher, the sage Vasishtha, does not scold him. He answers with philosophy and, above all, with stories.

Why is it useful for parents of teenagers?

Because the starting point is a gifted young person who has lost his sense of direction, and an elder who takes his questions seriously. Many parents meet a version of this at fifteen or sixteen: a child who asks "what is the point?" about school, marks or the future. The Yoga Vasishtha shows a teacher who neither dismisses the question nor leaves the young person alone with it.

What kind of stories does it tell?

Strange and memorable ones. People live whole lifetimes in a moment. Worlds sit inside other worlds. A queen discovers that her husband's reign of many years took eight days in another place. These stories are meant to loosen our certainty about what is real, so that we can hold our ambitions and fears a little more lightly and choose more freely.

Frequently asked questions

Which translation of the Yoga Vasishtha do you quote?
Vihari-Lala Mitra's English translation, published between 1891 and 1899, which is in the public domain in India and the United States. We quote only Mitra's text, keep quotations short, and give book, chapter and verse numbers from his translation.

Who is the teacher in the Yoga Vasishtha?
The sage Vasishtha, the family teacher of Rama's dynasty, answering the questions of the young Rama.

Is the Yoga Vasishtha hard to read?
The full text is very long and the old translation is dense. Reading a single story, like Gadhi's or Lila's, is the easiest way in.