Wheel of Time spares none and continues to rotate. Rama is seeking help of two great sages of his time. Time does not spare gods, demigods and even the three principal gods (creator, preserver and destroyer) then where do we stand as human being of limited intellect. It is high time that we pause and reflect on this issue. On our own we cannot stop the Wheel of Time. Imagine the momentum the Time has in pushing us ‘down and out’ to fulfil our desires. We are always keen to repeat pleasurable experiences and Time makes us do and undo the same thing over and over again. This has been going on for aeons and since we do not stop desiring, we are unable to stop the Wheel of Time. We shall have to seek the help of realized persons now, of our time, who have been successful in doing so.

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Yoga Vashishtha of Valmiki
Book I, Chapter 24
The Ravages of Time
Book I, Chapter 24
The Ravages of Time
Rama continued:
1Time is a self-willed sportsman, like a prince,
who is inaccessible to dangers and whose powers
are unlimited.
2This world is like a forest and a sporting ground of
time where the poor deluded world-lings are caught in
his snare like bodies of wounded stags.
3The Ocean of universal deluge is merely a
pleasure-pond for time, and its undersea fires
bursting there are merely lotus flowers.
4Time makes his breakfast of this vapid and stale earth,
flavoured with the milk and curd of the seas of those
names.
5His wife Chandi with her train of Matris (the
Furies) ranges all about this wide world like a
ferocious tigress.
6The earth with her waters is like a bowl of wine in the
hand of time, dressed and flavoured with all sorts of
lilies and lotuses.
7In the hand of time, the lion with his huge body
and startling mane, his loud roaring and

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Yoga Vashishtha of Valmiki
Book I, Chapter 24
The Ravages of Time
tremendous groans, seems like a caged bird of
sport.
8Mahakala (Transcendent Time), like a playful young
cuckoo, appears in the figure of the blue autumn sky,
warbling as sweet as the notes of a lute of gourd (in the
music of the spheres).
9The restless bow of death is found flinging its
sorrowful arrows with ceaseless thunder claps on
all sides.
10This world is like a forest in which sorrows
range about like playful apes, and time like a
sportive prince in this forest, is now wandering,
now walking, now playing and now killing his
game.
*******
Recap
[Rama’s observations herein above are a lesson for all
seekers of Truth. “Time is a self-willed sportsman,
like a prince, who is inaccessible to dangers and
whose powers are unlimited.”
Wheel of Time spares none and continues to rotate.
Rama is seeking help of two great sages of his time.
Time does not spare gods, demigods and even the three

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Yoga Vashishtha of Valmiki
Book I, Chapter 24
The Ravages of Time
principal gods (creator, preserver and destroyer) then
where do we stand as human being of limited intellect.
It is high time that we pause and reflect on this issue.
On our own we cannot stop the Wheel of Time. Imagine
the momentum the Time has in pushing us ‘down and
out’ to fulfil our desires.
We are always keen to repeat pleasurable experiences
and Time makes us do and undo the same thing over
and over again. This has been going on for aeons and
since we do not stop desiring, we are unable to stop the
Wheel of Time.
We shall have to seek the help of realized persons now,
of our time, who have been successful in doing so.]
*******
Meaning
[Ravages: A destructive action; cause extensive
destruction or ruin utterly; to cause extensive damage.
Deluded: To deceive the mind or judgment of.
Deluge: A heavy rain; the rising of a body of water and
its overflowing onto normally dry land; an
overwhelming rush or number.
Vapid: Lacking taste or flavour or tang; lacking
significance or liveliness or spirit or zest.
Impetuous: Characterized by undue haste and lack of
thought or deliberation; marked by violent force; liable
to act without consideration; rash; impulsive.]

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Yoga Vashishtha of Valmiki
Book I, Chapter 24
The Ravages of Time
Chandi: Chandi is the name by which the Supreme
Goddess is referred to in Devi Mahatmya. Chandi is
defined as 'the angry, terrible or passionate one' or "the
violent and impetuous one".
She is considered as Durga itself, who had
killed Mahishasura and Shumbha Nishumbha.There
are various more stories regarding the incarnation of
Devi Chandi.
"The great goddess was born from the energies of the
male divinities when the gods became impotent in the
long-drawn-out battle with the asuras. All the energies
of the gods became united and became supernova,
throwing out flames in all directions. Then that unique
light, pervading the Three Worlds with its lustre,
combined into one, and became a female form."
"The Devi projected an overwhelming omnipotence.
The three-eyed goddess was adorned with the crescent
moon. Her multiple arms held auspicious weapons and
emblems, jewels and ornaments, garments and
utensils, garlands and rosaries of beads, all offered by
the gods. With her golden body blazing with the
splendour of a thousand suns, seated on her lion
vehicle, Chandi is one of the most spectacular of all
personifications of cosmic energy."
In other scriptures, Chandi is portrayed as
"assisting" Kali in her battle with demon Raktabija.
While Kali drank Raktabija's blood, which created new

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Yoga Vashishtha of Valmiki
Book I, Chapter 24
The Ravages of Time
demons from his own blood on falling on the ground;
Chandi would destroy the armies of demons created
from his blood and finally killed Raktabija himself.
Furies: They are the goddesses that walk in the
darkness, the goddesses of transformation -- the Furies.
Called the Erinyes by the Greeks, the Furies are the
Roman goddesses of vengeance and retributive justice.
The Furies are often viewed as angry and ferocious. In
time, the Furies came to be known as those responsible
for avenging offenses by children against their mothers
and, eventually, fathers as well.
They also heard complaints from the old about insults
from the young as well as from guests who had been
insulted by their hosts, hospitality being extremely
important in the ancient Greek world.
The Furies are powerful goddesses of transformation.
They represent psychological torments associated with
a guilty conscience. Impartial and impersonal, they
symbolize accepting responsibility for past actions and
the search for redemption for past wrongdoing so we
may live freely.
Further evidence of the regenerative symbolism of the
Furies is their depiction as gorgons. The serpent is a
powerful symbol of rebirth and renewal. It is an image
that appears repeatedly in myth. Serpent goddesses

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Book I, Chapter 24
The Ravages of Time
often symbolize death and rebirth, the bridge between
the worlds.
The Furies are transformed from the Angry Ones to the
Benevolent Ones and teach us an important lesson in
forgiveness and growth.
These dark sisters, goddesses of retribution, are not
easy goddesses. They challenge us to take a deep look
at ourselves and confront our attitudes not only towards
death, but towards ourselves and others.
They teach us to let go of our anger and make a
conscious decision to take action that will result
in a significant change in our lives. It means
release from guilt, living without fear, and taking
responsibilities for our lives. Only then can we be
transformed from the Angry Ones to the Kindly Ones.
[Note: Chandi and the Furies are powers within us to be
invoked by transformation of our Angry Nature to the Kindly
Nature under the guidance of a true, living and realized
Teacher of our time.]
[Supernova: A nova millions of times brighter than
the sun; a star that explodes and becomes extremely
luminous in the process.
Gorgons: Greek Mythology - Any of the three sisters
Stheno, Euryale, and the mortal Medusa who had
snakes for hair and eyes that if looked into turned the
beholder into stone.]
*******