From the Archives of Swami Jyotirmayananda
Sri Swami Jyotirmayananda, senior-most living direct disciple of Swami Sivananda, uses the story of King Bali in Yoga Vasistha, Upashama Prakarana, Section 22 to ask a plain and serious question: can any action give everlasting bliss?
King Bali has ruled the three worlds, yet power itself has become empty. Enjoyment repeats itself. Achievement rises and fades. The mind begins to ask whether there is any action that can end the restlessness behind all other action.
The answer is direct: karma can refine the mind, but it cannot manufacture the Infinite.
When Worldly Power Becomes Empty
King Bali is not shown as someone who failed in worldly terms. He has authority, pleasure, and command. Still, he sees the same pattern repeating: food, sleep, possession, display, and desire. What once seemed attractive begins to feel small.
Swamiji points out that sense enjoyment depends on a certain lack of thoughtfulness. When inquiry awakens, the glamour of objects weakens. The heart is not rejecting life out of bitterness. It is asking for a joy that does not rise and fall with circumstance.
Why Karma-Based Attainment Is Not Fulfillment
Karma means action and the result produced by action. It can bring position, pleasure, change, recognition, and even refined states of mind. But every result born of action belongs to time and space. Because it begins, it also passes.
This is the central teaching of the lecture. Everlasting bliss cannot be produced as an object, because it is not an object. It is not something added to the Self. Realization is not becoming something new. It is recognizing what is already true.
Realization Is Not Becoming
Swamiji returns to the real “I am.” The body changes, the mind changes, and moods pass like clouds. Yet the witness of these changes remains. That deeper identity is not made by action and is not lost through action.
This shifts the whole purpose of spiritual practice. Practice is not a transaction where the seeker buys infinity through effort. Practice clears confusion. It steadies the mind so that the ever-present Self can be known without distortion.
Karma Yoga Purifies the Heart
Karma Yoga does not mean that action is useless. It means action is redirected. Work offered to God purifies the heart, weakens ego, and prepares the mind for knowledge. In that purified mind, devotion ripens into freedom.
Swamiji links this movement with bhakti and mukti. Devotion is not sentiment alone. It is the heart becoming clean, steady, and turned toward Truth. Action then becomes part of the path, not a substitute for liberation.
The King, the Minister, and the Mind
King Bali remembers the teaching of his father, Virochana: the king is Brahman, and the minister is the mind. The mind manages the entire process of bondage. It builds the sense of world, body, desire, and fear.
Conquering outer worlds is not enough. The mind must become calm, transparent, and surrendered to the Self. When the minister is understood, the kingdom is no longer ruled by confusion. The seeker begins to rest in Brahman.
Scholar’s Corner
This Study Guide is based on Yoga Vasistha, Upashama Prakarana, Section 22, as taught by Sri Swami Jyotirmayananda. The lecture centers on King Bali’s reflection and his recollection of Virochana’s instruction about Brahman and the mind.
Key teaching terms include karma, Karma Yoga, bhakti, mukti, moksha, Brahman, smriti, samadhi, and prajna. Verse numbers should be confirmed against the edition used before live publication.
Sanskrit Glossary
- Karma: Action and the result produced by action.
- Karma Yoga: The path of selfless action offered to God for purification of heart.
- Bhakti: Devotion that turns the heart toward God.
- Mukti: Liberation or freedom.
- Moksha: Spiritual liberation from bondage and ignorance.
- Brahman: The Absolute Reality, the real Self beyond change.
- Smriti: Spiritual recollection or remembrance.
- Samadhi: Deep absorption in Truth.
- Prajna: Higher wisdom or direct insight.
Watch the Full Lecture
Watch the full lecture here: https://youtu.be/xkAb-SaBgc4
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