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Tale 17 · The Vāsiṣṭha Atlas

Janaka and the Song of the Siddhas

Upaśama · Dissolution · Mitra V.8–13 · 10,405 words

A king overhears a song and wakes inside his life.

Bhūmikā 5 · Asaṃsakti (non-clinging)SomnambulisticYour ally · Breakthrough

The essence

On a spring evening King Janaka leaves his attendants and, in a grove of tamāla trees, overhears invisible Siddhas singing of the Being that is neither seer nor seen, of the self breathed in every breath, of the rest of quietism. He walks home in silence, climbs alone to his highest balcony and, watching birds fly at random, sees human hurry in them. He asks what sorcerer has bewitched him into believing he is not spell-bound, and resolves to efface the conception of the world from his mind. When the chamberlain calls him to the day’s rites he sits like a statue, reasoning that action and inaction cannot touch the intellect. Then he rises and performs his duties ‘awaking as if it were in his sleep’, speaks to his mind at night as to a companion, and reigns thereafter as one liberated in life, in what Mitra calls a ‘hypnotic state of sound sleep’. The light, Vasiṣṭha concludes, came from his own reflection.

What it teaches

  1. 01

    A teaching overheard can work more deeply than one addressed to us: Janaka was not instructed; he chanced on the Siddhas’ song and his own reflection did the rest (V.8.7; V.12.15–17).

  2. 02

    Awakening begins by recognising the ordinary trance one is in: ‘what sorcerer… as to make me believe I am not spell-bound at all’ (V.9.9).

  3. 03

    The mind can be addressed as a separate party, accused as a robber, befriended, asked to rest, and that dialogue is itself the method of its subjection (V.9.60; V.11.5–18).

  4. 04

    Liberation does not require leaving one’s functions: Janaka returns to rites and rule, doing his duties ‘as if it were in his sleep’, neither elated nor dejected (V.11.1–2; V.12.10–14).

  5. 05

    Liking and disliking are ‘two apes’ shaking the tree of the heart; rest comes when both are released, not when one wins (V.13.27).

The Vāsiṣṭha Atlas

This tale’s coordinates

The wound and its virtue

Janaka, a king who lacks nothing, discovers that his contentment is a spell that hides itself: ‘what sorcerer… as to make me believe I am not spell-bound at all’ (V.9.9), the Denial wound named from the inside. Its virtue appears as Ease when he returns to rites and rule ‘awaking as if it were in his sleep’ (V.11.2), needing neither the world nor its effacement to settle the question.

What it trains

The Siddhas’ song of a Being that is neither seer nor seen, and Janaka’s resolve to efface the ‘conception (sankalpa) of the world’ from his mind (V.9.56), loosen the king’s fixed identity without asking him to leave his office.

In other yogas

  • Bhagavad Gītā · BG 3.20

    Kṛṣṇa names Janaka as one who reached perfection through action itself; the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha shows how, as the king first sits like a statue and then performs his duties with an intellect that neither action nor inaction can touch (V.10.18; V.11.2).

  • Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad · MāU 8–12

    The Siddhas’ mantra, spelled from a to h with the dot m and breathed in every breath (V.8.13), echoes the Māṇḍūkya’s reading of Oṃ sound by sound, A, U, M and the soundless fourth, as a map of the self from waking to what lies beneath it.

  • Vijñāna Bhairava Tantra · VBT

    The Tantra includes a dhāraṇā of absorption in the delight of song and music until the mind becomes one with it; Janaka’s turning begins exactly so, held by a song that was not even meant for him (V.8.7).

IEAF: Integrative Emotional Alchemy Framework (Gallardo, Frontiers in Psychology, 2026). FP20: the Fundamental Peace Scale. ITM: the Integrative Transformation Model. Parallels in other yogas are contemplative correspondences, not claims of influence.

The tale

Janaka, king of the Videhas, is blessed with every prosperity and an unbounded understanding. One spring evening he wanders in a forest of flowering creepers and singing kokilas, leaves his attendants behind, and climbs to a grove on the slope of a hill. There, from a bower of tamāla trees, he hears mingled voices, as of invisible Siddhas. They are singing of what they adore: the Being that is neither the viewer nor the view; the light that shone before the light of the sun; the reality in which all things arise and into which they return; the self that ‘we continually inspire and respire in our breathings’; the God in the cavity of the heart, whom those who seek outside neglect like a jewel in their own hands. At last they sing of the pure happiness of quietism and the repose of those who rest in their natural temperament.

Hearing this, Janaka is cast down. He returns home in silence, leaves his household below, and climbs alone to the highest balcony. From there he watches birds flying at random in every direction and sees the hurry of men in them. He laments: his life is a short span, his royalty shorter; he trusts what cannot last like a boy who takes a painted moon for real. ‘Ah! what sorcerer is it that hath thus bewitched me by his magic wand, as to make me believe I am not spell-bound at all.’ What is far, the object of sense, seems near; what is nearest, his own soul, seems far. Many Indras and millions of Brahmās have passed away; the world is a dream by night. It is the conception of the world in his mind that presents it to him, so he will efface that conception. He has found the robber of his soul, his own mind, and will string its scattered pearl on the thread of reason.

While he muses, the chamberlain enters: the maidservants wait with perfumed water, the Brahmins at the altars; it does not become the best of men to be late for their duties. Janaka does not stir. He reflects that royalty and rites are as passing as a mirage, and sinks into mute silence until his restless mind becomes still and he sits ‘like a picture in painting or as a statue’. The chamberlain, knowing the ways of kings, says nothing more. In that stillness Janaka reasons that acts and their absence bring nothing lasting, that the body may move or rest and the pure intellect within loses nothing; he wants nothing he lacks and will not throw away what he has.

Then he rises and performs the day’s rites as usual, without the sense of being their agent, as the sun gives the morning without knowing it. He does his duties ‘awaking as if it were in his sleep’. That night, his thoughts withdrawn from their objects, he speaks to his mind: rest from your roving; you and the world are both unreal, so there can be no true bond between you; enjoy the silent joy within, like one sitting in the still depth of the ocean with the waves rolling far above.

From then on Janaka attends to the affairs of state, neither elated by good news nor dejected by bad, unmindful of the past, heedless of the future, enjoying the present with a cheerful mind. Vasiṣṭha calls him liberated in his living state and says he remained ‘in his hypnotic state of sound sleep (abstraction)’, his thoughts abstracted from everything around him, while he reigned over the Videhas. What he gained, Vasiṣṭha insists, came neither from a preceptor’s lectures nor from scripture nor from pious acts, but from his own reflection; and he turns the story into instruction for Rāma on governing the mind and dropping both liking and disliking.

The text speaks

Passages from Mitra’s translation (1891–99), cited by book, chapter and verse.

“Some caroled:—We adore that Spirit, which begins with the letter _a_ and ends in _h_ with the dot _m_ (_i.e._ _aham_ or _ego_); and which we continually inspire and respire in our breathings.”
V.8.13The Siddhas’ song carries a breath-linked mantra into Janaka’s ear.
“Ah! what sorcerer is it that hath thus bewitched me by his magic wand, as to make me believe I am not spell-bound at all.”
V.9.9Ordinary waking life recognised as an enchantment that hides itself.
“It is the conception (sankalpa) of the world, in my mind, that causes its existence and presents its appearance before me, I will now try to efface this conception from my mind, and forget this world altogether.”
V.9.56Janaka’s self-given suggestion: perception follows conception, so change the conception.
“Thinking in this manner, Janaka remained in mute silence, and his restless mind became as still, as it made him sit down like a picture in painting or as a statue.”
V.10.18Spontaneous immobility at the turning point, unbroken by the chamberlain’s call.
“He discharged his duties as they presented themselves to him, without any concern or expectation of their rewards. He did them awaking as if it were in his sleep.”
V.11.2Full function inside a sleep-like abstraction: the model of eyes-open trance.
“Remaining thus in his hypnotic state of sound sleep (abstraction), his thoughts are quite abstracted from all objects about him.”
V.12.13Mitra’s explicit use of ‘hypnotic’ for the jīvanmukta’s ordinary state.
“The presence of the Holy Light, is not to be had either by the lectures of a preceptor, or the teaching of the sástras; it is not the result of meritorious acts, nor of the company of the holy men; but the result of your own intellection.”
V.12.17The tale’s claim that change is self-generated.

What the trance sees

IND

Induction

V.8.6–18; V.9.1–3

In the textAlone in a fragrant grove, Janaka hears voices ‘as that of some invisible aerial spirits’, including the self ‘which we continually inspire and respire in our breathings’; he is at once ‘dejected in his mind’, withdraws in silence and climbs alone to his balcony.

In the clinicIndirect suggestion received as overheard speech, the principle of Erickson’s interspersal technique (Erickson 1966): material not addressed to the subject bypasses resistance; the breath-linked mantra adds a pacing induction.

CAT

Catalepsy

V.10.18–19

In the textHis ‘restless mind became as still, as it made him sit down like a picture in painting or as a statue’, while the chamberlain stands waiting in silence.

In the clinicSpontaneous catalepsy, the immobility and loss of response to outside demands that classical hypnotists took as a sign of deepening trance.

PARTS

Parts / ego states

V.9.60; V.11.4–18

In the textJanaka names his mind ‘the robber of my soul’, then at night addresses it as ‘O my friendly mind!’ and ‘O wicked mind!’, asking it to rest from its wanderings.

In the clinicEgo-state therapy (Watkins & Watkins 1997): an aspect of the self is personified, addressed and negotiated with, moving from accusation to alliance.

DIS

Dissociation

V.11.1–2

In the textHe performs the rites ‘without the sense of his agency in them’, ‘awaking as if it were in his sleep’; the gloss: ‘He did his acts by rote, but wot not what he did in his insensibility of them.’

In the clinicAutomatic, non-volitional performance of complex behaviour, the classic suggestion effect (Weitzenhoffer 1974), with the executive sense of authorship withdrawn.

EMG

Emergence / re-alerting

V.10.2–9; V.11.1

In the textThe chamberlain urges him to rise for the day’s duties; Janaka stays in meditation until his reasoning is complete, then ‘rose up for performance of his daily rites as usual’.

In the clinicSelf-paced emergence: the subject finishes the inner process before re-alerting, as Ericksonian practice allows time for the unconscious to complete its work before returning.

PHS

Post-hypnotic carry-over

V.12.1–14

In the textThereafter he governs ‘without being subject to the feelings of joy or sorrow’, remaining ‘in his hypnotic state of sound sleep (abstraction)’ while attending to affairs of state.

In the clinicPost-hypnotic carry-over into an eyes-open, fully functional state, close to active-alert hypnosis (Bányai & Hilgard 1976).

WIT

Witness position / dis-identification

V.12.8; V.13.40

In the textHe ‘preserved his equanimity amidst the conflicts of his soul and sensible objects’; Vasiṣṭha draws the rule: ‘so must thou do all thy acts outwardly, and without thyself mixing in any.’

In the clinicObserving-self stance (Deikman 1982, The Observing Self): participation in events while identity rests in the awareness that observes them.

Read upward — stage 1 at the bottom, stage 7 at the top

  3. Integration zone
    Post-trance integration — sustained non-reactivity carried into behaviour; what was seen in depth becomes how one lives.

A note on what this map claims. The alignment between stages of knowledge and trance depths is a clinical map — a heuristic correspondence proposed for research, not a claim of identity between contemplative attainment and hypnotic depth.

Bhūmikā 5 · Asaṃsakti

Janaka ‘became liberated in his living state’ (V.12.9) and acts without the sense of agency, neither elated nor dejected (V.11.1; V.12.10–11): functioning without clinging is asaṃsakti. He still perceives and governs the world, so objects have not melted (6).

Zone · Somnambulistic

He walks, speaks, performs rites and governs while in what Mitra calls a ‘hypnotic state of sound sleep (abstraction)’ (V.12.13): an eyes-open, fully functional trance. The statue-like stillness of V.10.18 is a deeper passage inside it.

In Mitra’s words

In Calcutta in the 1890s, the translator chose the vocabulary of hypnotism to name these states. More →

  • bewitched / spell-boundAh! what sorcerer is it that hath thus bewitched me by his magic wand, as to make me believe I am not spell-bound at all.V.9.9
  • like a statueThinking in this manner, Janaka remained in mute silence, and his restless mind became as still, as it made him sit down like a picture in painting or as a statue.V.10.18
  • awaking as if in sleep / insensibilityHe did them awaking as if it were in his sleep. Gloss:—He did his acts by rote, but wot not what he did in his insensibility of them; and such acts of insensibility are free from culpability or retribution.V.11.2
  • slumber of fixed mindednessHe was however not gladdened by the gladsome tasks and tidings, but was indifferent to them as in his slumber of fixed mindedness in his maker.V.12.2
  • hypnotic state of sound sleepRemaining thus in his hypnotic state of sound sleep (abstraction), his thoughts are quite abstracted from all objects about him.V.12.13
  • insoucianceReasons and Rules of Restraining the Mind from the instance of Janaka’s _insouciance_.V.13 (argument)
  • utter oblivionYour utter oblivion of the world, will prevent the revival of your mind; and stop the reappearance of ignorance which is concomitant with the mind.V.13.37
  • unawakened / insensibleAs long as the mind is unawakened, it is insensible of every thing (in its true light); and though it perceives the visibles, yet this perception of them is as false as the sight of a city in our fancy.V.13.61
  • psychic fluidThose whose self-consciousness is not disturbed, by the currents of their passions and desires; have their spiritual souls like an unperturbed stream (of psychic fluid).V.13.72

In the therapy room

Indications

  • Success-related existential crisis: the leader with ‘all prosperity’ who suddenly finds it empty
  • Executive burnout and the need to return to work without the old over-identification
  • Harsh inner critic, worked with by dialogue with the mind as a part
  • Single-session reflective work that must end in full return to function

Cautions

  • Janaka’s resolve to ‘kill’ his mind (V.9.60) and Vasiṣṭha’s ‘utter oblivion of the world’ (V.13.37) must not be offered as suggestions to depressed or suicidal clients
  • Acting ‘by rote… in his insensibility’ is not a goal for clients with dissociative symptoms; aim for engaged equanimity, not numbness
  • The overheard invisible voices may be unsettling for clients with auditory hallucinations; adapt the frame
  • Equanimity toward ‘favourable or unfavourable circumstances’ is not indifference to harm done to others
From the bookThe full clinical note

Indications. The success-related crisis of the person who has everything and suddenly finds it empty, as Janaka has "all prosperity" (V.8.1). Executive burnout, where the task is to return to work without the old over-identification. A harsh inner critic, worked with by dialogue with the mind as a part (V.11.5–18). Single-session reflective work that must end in full return to function.

How to use it. Overheard teaching is a usable format: a recorded talk or reading played in the room as if for someone else, or a story told about a third person. Janaka's question, "what spell am I under that makes me believe I am under none?", can be offered as a reflective prompt, not a diagnosis.

Cautions. Janaka resolves to "kill" his mind (V.9.60), and Vasiṣṭha recommends "utter oblivion of the world" (V.13.37); neither phrase should be offered as a suggestion to a depressed or suicidal client. Screen for suicidal ideation before using the tale with anyone in a crisis of meaning. Acting "by rote … in his insensibility" (V.11.2) is not a goal for clients with dissociative symptoms or depersonalisation; aim for engaged equanimity, not numbness. Invisible voices may unsettle a client with a history of auditory hallucinations; for such clients, use a named speaker and an ordinary room. And equanimity towards "favourable or unfavourable circumstances" (V.12.11) is not indifference to harm done to others.

The practice

The Overheard Song

  1. Leave the attendants behind: put down phone and tasks, and walk or sit alone somewhere green (V.8.6).
  2. Listen to a chant or remembered verse as if overhearing it, and let one line catch; breathe ‘aham’ on the in-breath and ‘hamsa’ on the out-breath (V.8.13).
  3. In imagination climb to a high balcony and watch birds flying at random; let your own hurry appear in them (V.9.3–5).
  4. Ask Janaka’s question softly: what spell am I under that makes me believe I am under none? (V.9.9).
  5. Speak to your mind as to a friend and ask it to rest from its roving, as one sitting still in the depth of the ocean while waves pass far above (V.11.5–16).
  6. Let an outside call come, the chamberlain at the door, and notice you need not answer until the inner sentence is finished; rest still as a statue (V.10.18).
  7. Return: rise, take up the next ordinary duty fully but lightly, reorient to time, place and name, and open the eyes.

Practise with a qualified professional if you have a history of dissociation, trauma or psychosis.

From the book · to be read aloudThe full guided script

The Overheard Song

Fifteen minutes. Best done in the early evening, alone.

Before you begin. This practice is suitable for most healthy adults. If you have ever heard voices others could not hear, or have a dissociative disorder or a history of depersonalisation, practise it with a clinician. If you are currently low or hopeless, do not practise it alone. Never practise while driving. Sit, rather than lie down.

How to return at any moment. Open your eyes, press your feet down, say your name and the day aloud.

Put the phone away. Leave the attendants behind.

Sit somewhere green if you can, or near a window. Let a recorded chant or a remembered verse play quietly, as if for someone else in another room. You are not its audience. You are only passing.

Let one line catch. Do not choose it. Notice which one stays.

Now breathe with it. On the in-breath, silently: a-ham. On the out-breath: ham-sa. The breath goes in and out; the words ride on it. Let the chant fade, and keep only the breath.

Close your eyes. In imagination climb a stair to a high balcony. Below, birds fly at random, in every direction. Watch them for a while. Somewhere in their hurry, see your own.

Ask softly, once: What spell am I under that makes me believe I am under none? Do not answer. Let the question rest where it lands.

Now speak to your mind as to an old friend who has been working too hard. Friend, rest from your roving. Feel yourself sitting at the bottom of a quiet sea, the waves passing far above. They do not reach you here.

Let a call come, from the door, from tomorrow's list. Notice that you need not rise until the inner sentence is finished. Sit still as a statue. Finish it.

(Silence: two minutes.)

Now rise inwardly, as the king rose to his rites. Feel the seat under you and the feet on the floor. Breathe more fully.

I will count from one to five. One: the breath full. Two: hands and feet warm and your own. Three: the sounds of the room. Four: a deep breath in, shoulders rolling once. Five: eyes open, alert, here.

Say your name, the day and the place. Name three things you see. Then take up the next ordinary task fully, but lightly, as if it were done in a kind of sleep, and done well.

Meta Pets World · Your ally · Meta Pet 43

Janaka and the song that breaks the spell

Breakthrough card
43BreakthroughI am ready for my breakthrough.

Janaka has everything and hears nothing of his own enchantment: that is Breakthrough's Shadow, Deafness. A song not meant for him reaches him, and on the balcony he sees what he could not hear, the Gift of Insight. He returns to his duties awake inside them, and the light, Vasiṣṭha insists, came from his own reflection: an Epiphany no one handed him.

  1. Shadow · what you avoidDeafness

    Deafness is the spell that hides itself: ‘what sorcerer is it that hath thus bewitched me… as to make me believe I am not spell-bound at all’ (V.9.9). A king can be deaf to his own life while hearing every report of state.

  2. Gift · what is hidden in itInsight

    Insight arrives when he sees that perception follows conception: ‘It is the conception (sankalpa) of the world, in my mind, that causes its existence’ (V.9.56). Then he sits still ‘as a statue’ until the inner sentence is complete (V.10.18).

  3. Essence · what you embodyEpiphany

    Epiphany is not a flash that fades but a way of reigning: he does his duties ‘awaking as if it were in his sleep’ (V.11.2), and the light is ‘the result of your own intellection’ (V.12.17).

Psst. Today the best teaching is the one nobody aims at you. Leave your attendants at the gate, listen sideways, and let one line find you. Then climb to your balcony and look.

— Felicia
Today’s contemplation

If Janaka’s breakthrough was hearing the spell he lived in, what breaks through you when you stop believing you are under none?

To close the night

Tonight, write one honest sentence about a spell you lived under today without noticing it.

The Ally Journey · about 15 minutes

Light trance, eyes open if you prefer. For the full, deeper script, see “The practice” above and its cautions.

  1. Threshold. Put the phone face down, sit somewhere you can see a little sky or green, and take three slow breaths: in through the nose, a longer breath out.
  2. The tale in one line: a king overhears a song in a grove and wakes inside his own life (V.8–13).
  3. Meet Breakthrough. Look at the card’s art for a few breaths, then read the affirmation aloud: ‘I am ready for my breakthrough.’
  4. Shadow. Where were you deaf this week? Recall one moment when someone, or your own body, was telling you something and you kept the volume down. Name it in five words.
  5. Gift. Breathe ‘aham’ silently on the in-breath and ‘hamsa’ on the out-breath, five times. Then ask Janaka’s question softly: what spell am I under that makes me believe I am under none? Let one answer come.
  6. Essence. Rest for three breaths as if sitting in the still depth of the ocean while waves roll far above, and say the affirmation once more, slowly.
  7. Return. Press your feet into the floor, open and close your hands, look round the room and name three things you see. Eyes fully open. Write tonight’s honest line, or note it for later.
Open the card in Meta Pets World Alchemical Journey in the app Begin a 30-day Bond The card on this siteVisit Brigid All sixty-four allies →

The 30-day Bond

After the song is overheard, what in you keeps listening when no one is singing?

The Sister · Brigid

Irish · Kildare, Ireland · Awen — I-A-O

Visit Brigid, the Irish druidess and midwife of Kildare, whose ‘Awen’ names the breath of inspiration that arrives unasked, as the Siddhas’ song arrived for Janaka.

Guided Meditation

#43 · Breakthrough

Voice & guidance: Prof. Luis Miguel GallardoWatch on YouTube (ES also available)
For facilitatorsA session with “Janaka and the Song of the Siddhas” and Breakthrough

Aim. To help the client recognise the ordinary trance they are living in and return to their duties with engaged equanimity rather than over-identification.

ITM 2 Conscious Recognition. The tale’s hinge is Conscious Recognition, the moment the spell is heard as a spell (V.9.9), and every later step grows from that recognition.

The session (60–75 min)

  1. Arrival and Umbral: three slow breaths together; ask what has felt hollow lately in a life that looks full (8 min)
  2. Tell the tale in a 4-minute version, from the grove to Janaka reigning awake; point the client to the tale page for the full retelling (6 min)
  3. The card: Breakthrough’s art, affirmation and koan; ask which word in the koan catches (7 min)
  4. Shadow inquiry on Deafness: what has the client stopped hearing, from others, from the body, from their own doubt? Map one recurring ‘spell’ in their working day (12 min)
  5. Trance practice: ‘The Overheard Song’, following the full guided script on the tale page, at light to medium depth only; include the mind-as-friend dialogue and the chamberlain’s call, and keep the return thorough (18 min)
  6. Gift and Essence integration: the client names one duty to take up tomorrow ‘fully but lightly’ and one sentence to say to their own mind at night (10 min)
  7. Closing and Bond: assign the 30-day Bond with the varied koan and the nightly honest sentence; reorient to time, place and name before leaving (6 min)

Integration questions

  • What line from the practice ‘caught’ you, and why that one?
  • When you spoke to your mind as a companion, did it answer as a robber or as a friend?
  • Which duty tomorrow could you perform awake, without the old weight of being its author?

In a circle

In a circle, play or sing a short chant at the edge of the room, not addressed to anyone, so that each person overhears it. After the Umbral, tell the tale and invite everyone to write privately the ‘spell I am under that I believe is none’. Guide the practice at light depth for the whole group, keeping the chamberlain’s call as a gentle bell. Share in pairs rather than in plenary, one sentence each about a duty they will return to awake; close with the affirmation spoken together and a clear reorientation.

Cautions

  • Never offer Janaka’s resolve to ‘kill’ the mind or ‘utter oblivion of the world’ as suggestions to depressed or suicidal clients; screen for self-harm first.
  • Acting ‘by rote… in his insensibility’ is not a goal for clients with dissociative symptoms; aim for engaged equanimity, not numbness.
  • Overheard invisible voices may unsettle clients with auditory hallucinations; adapt the frame or use a remembered verse instead.
  • Equanimity towards circumstances is not indifference to harm done to others.

Training and certification in the Meta Pets Method: metapetsworld.org/facilitators ↗

The correspondence between tales and Meta Pets is contemplative: the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha does not contain the Meta Pets; each tale enacts its ally’s arc. Felicia is an artificial-intelligence companion; her words are contemplative reflections, not clinical advice.

The song

From the cycle The Sixty-Four Tales

Awake as if Asleep

Ahaṃ haṃsaḥ

Figure — Janaka, king of the Videhas, who overhears the Siddhas in a grove and wakes inside his own life.

Where in the text — Book V (Upaśama-prakaraṇa), Mitra chapters 8–13.

Hypnotic phenomenon the song enacts — IND by overheard suggestion, carried into PHS: the Siddhas' song is heard from outside, through leaves, never addressed to the king or the listener; it works on him over an evening, a day and a night; and at the end he sings it himself, eyes open, at the walking tempo of the day's work.

Mantra — Ahaṃ haṃsaḥ (अहं हंसः). Source: the breath-mantra the Siddhas sing in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha itself (V.8.13, Mitra: "that Spirit, which begins with the letter a and ends in h with the dot m (i.e. aham)… which we continually inspire and respire in our breathings. (Aham) hansah"); the ajapā haṃsa mantra of the breath, as taught in the Haṃsa Upaniṣad. Meaning: "I am haṃsa": the self breathed out (ham) and breathed in (sa), in every breath, unsaid.

Lyrics (English)

Performance: the Siddhas' chorus is never in the room. Mix it far off, through leaves, a little out of focus, so the listener overhears it as Janaka did. The king sings close and alone. After his second verse the music thins to one held chord and near-silence; the chamberlain's line is spoken into it. The bridge is the first time the king's voice and the Siddhas' meet. In the outro the chorus comes into the room, at the same walking tempo as the king's day, and he sings it with them.

Verse 1 (the king, alone) One spring evening I left my people behind among the red-flowered creepers and the kokilas, and climbed alone to a grove on a hill. From a bower of tamāla trees came voices, many voices, and no one there to see.

Chorus (the Siddhas, far off, through the leaves) Light before the light of the sun, God in the hollow of the heart, the gem lying in your own hand — breathed out, breathed in, in every breath, every breath.

Verse 2 (the king, from the balcony) I walked home in silence, the way a stream runs under trees, and climbed alone to the highest balcony. Birds flew everywhere, anywhere: that was us, hurrying. What sorcerer has charmed me with his wand so well I think I am not charmed at all?

Chorus (repeat; the Siddhas a little nearer)

Verse 3 (one held chord; near-silence) (spoken, the chamberlain) "Sire, rise. The maids are waiting with the perfumed water." I sat like a picture in a painting, like a statue; he said no more, knowing the ways of kings. Then I rose and did the rites of the day the way the sun gives the morning, not knowing it: awake as if asleep. At the dead of night I told my mind: "Rest, my friend, like one deep in the ocean, the tide rolling far above your head."

Bridge (mantra) (the king and the Siddhas, for the first time together) Ahaṃ haṃsaḥ (I am the breath going out, the breath coming in) Ahaṃ haṃsaḥ

Outro (the chorus in the room now, at the walking tempo of the day) Since then I rule the Videhas. Good news does not lift me; bad news does not drop me. I take this hour with a cheerful heart; no teacher brought this light: it came from my own looking. (the king with the Siddhas) Breathed out, breathed in, in every breath, every breath.

Letra (castellano cantable)

Interpretación: el coro de los Siddhas nunca está en la sala. Mézclese lejos, a través de hojas, algo desenfocado, para que el oyente lo oiga de pasada como lo oyó Janaka. El rey canta cerca y solo. Tras su segundo verso la música se reduce a un acorde sostenido y casi silencio; la frase del chambelán se dice dentro de él. El puente es la primera vez que la voz del rey y la de los Siddhas se encuentran. En el final el coro entra en la sala, al mismo tempo de paso que el día del rey, y él canta con ellos.

Verso 1 (el rey, solo) Una tarde de primavera dejé atrás a mi gente entre enredaderas de flor roja y los kokilas, y subí solo a un bosque en una colina. De un cenador de tamālas salían voces, muchas voces, y nadie a quien ver.

Estribillo (los Siddhas, lejos, entre las hojas) Luz antes de la luz del sol, Dios en el hueco del corazón, la joya que tienes en tu propia mano: sale el aliento, entra el aliento, en cada aliento, cada aliento.

Verso 2 (el rey, desde el balcón) Volví a casa en silencio, como corre un arroyo bajo los árboles, y subí solo al balcón más alto. Los pájaros volaban a cualquier parte: éramos nosotros, con prisa. ¿Qué hechicero me encantó con su varita tan bien que creo que no estoy encantado?

Estribillo (se repite; los Siddhas algo más cerca)

Verso 3 (un acorde sostenido; casi silencio) (hablado, el chambelán) «Señor, levantaos. Las doncellas esperan con el agua perfumada.» Me quedé como figura de un cuadro, como una estatua; él no dijo más: conocía a los reyes. Luego me levanté e hice los ritos del día como el sol da la mañana sin saberlo: despierto como dormido. En lo hondo de la noche le dije a mi mente: «Descansa, amiga, como quien está en el fondo del mar, con la marea rodando muy por encima.»

Puente (mantra) (el rey y los Siddhas, por primera vez juntos) Ahaṃ haṃsaḥ (soy el aliento que sale, el aliento que entra) Ahaṃ haṃsaḥ

Final (el coro ya en la sala, al paso del día) Desde entonces gobierno a los Videhas. La buena noticia no me alza; la mala no me hunde. Tomo esta hora con el corazón alegre; ningún maestro trajo esta luz: vino de mi propio mirar. (el rey con los Siddhas) Sale el aliento, entra el aliento, en cada aliento, cada aliento.

One line to carry

EN: A king overhears a song and wakes inside his life. ES: Un rey oye un canto ajeno y despierta en su vida.

Libreto note

Nobody teaches Janaka. On a spring evening he leaves his attendants and, from a bower of tamāla trees, overhears voices singing of the light before the sun and the self breathed in every breath. It is not meant for him, and so it goes in. On his balcony he sees human hurry in the scattered birds and asks the hypnotist's own question: what sorcerer has charmed me so well that I think I am not charmed? The chamberlain calls; he sits like a statue; then he does the day's rites "awaking as if it were in his sleep", and rules. The choir stays outside the song until he sings it himself, eyes open, at the pace of the working day.

Source check

Source check (Mitra, Book V)

  1. "On a vernal eve" in a forest of creepers "with bunches of crimson blossoms" and singing kokilas; "leaving his attendants behind him", a grove "on the steppe of a hill"; "within a bower of támala trees, a mingled voice as that of some invisible aerial spirits" — ch. 8, vv. 4–7.
  2. The Siddhas' song: the light "which exists from before the light of vision… derived from the light of the sun"; the Spirit "which we continually inspire and respire in our breathings. (Aham) hansah"; the God "within the cavity of their hearts" neglected like "the gem… which is placed in their hands" — ch. 8, vv. 10, 13–14.
  3. Home in silence "as a stream glides in its silent course under the beachening trees"; "ascended alone to the highest balcony"; "flights of birds, flying at random… the hurrying of men"; "like a boy believing the painted moon as real"; "what sorcerer is it that hath thus bewitched me by his magic wand, as to make me believe I am not spell-bound at all" — ch. 9, vv. 2–4, 8–9.
  4. The chamberlain: maidservants "with their water pots, filled with water perfumed", the Brahmins waiting; Janaka sits "like a picture in painting or as a statue"; the chamberlain "uttered not a word any more… from his knowledge of the dispositions of kings" — ch. 10, vv. 2–9, 18–19.
  5. "As the sun rises every day to give the morn, without his consciousness of it"; "He did them awaking as if it were in his sleep"; at "the dead of night" to his mind: "O my friendly mind!"… "like one sitting in the undisturbed depth of the Ocean, with the rolling tide and waves above his head" — ch. 11, vv. 1–4, 9, 16. Ruling "without being subject to the feelings of joy or sorrow"; "hypnotic state of sound sleep"; "unmindful of the past, and heedless about the future… with a gladsome heart and cheerful mind"; the light "not… by the lectures of a preceptor, or the teaching of the sástras… but… your own intellection" — ch. 12, vv. 10–17.

Read the full text

Source: Vihari-Lala Mitra, The Yoga-Vasishtha Maharamayana of Valmiki (1891–99), public domain.

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luismiguel@shooliniuniversity.comThe FP20 scaleWorld Happiness FoundationORCID 0009-0005-3222-6092

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