How many lives does one live?- An interesting story

http://www.boloji.com/hinduism/089.htm

I admit, it is hard to understand yoga vashista. But it does make sense when one reads it some attention. It was interesting to read it for me personally atleast.

Can you tell me how many lives Leela may have led? and what the point of this story is?

 

Bill and Leela's Excellent Adventure

or

The hitchhiker's guide to the spirit world

 

the story may sound crazy kookoo if you don't understand it.

The story is essentially about creation of this reality, the universe and the indefinite nature of space and time and our transcendence to this material world. Basically, it says that what you see is a mere reflection within consciousness. Entire worlds can exist within Arundhati's (leela's) home and Vashista and Arundati can live many lives within that home. All these lives can also simulatenously occur.

Saraswati explains it like this:
"O king (Vidhuratha), at the very moment of your death in the very place of your death, all this you are seeing has manifested. All this is where the holy man Vashista lived, in the village on the hill. That is his world, and in that world is the world of king Padma, and in that world of king Padma is the world that you are in. Living in it you think, 'these are my relations, these are my subjects...' All this took no time to happen, even as in no time during a dream a whole life's drama is enacted. In reality, you are unborn and do not die." -The concise yoga vashista page 61.

The goddess saraswati here is basically stating that all these lives are reflections within consciousness and this consciousness is situated in one place and they all happened simulatenously. (Leela's husband was born and grew up, ruled a kingdom and died and also Vidhuratha lived a good 70 years of his life, in about Eight days after Vashista passed away). So what the hell am I babbling about? It is like a drama , you do not have any relation to your life, yet the mind forms relations, and a notion of attachment and suffering in life comes about.

So this brings me to my answer to the question I have asked , because I like asking and answering at the same time, don't blame me for something krishna has given me
We live innumerable lives and all of them are happening simultaneously, as they are reflected in our consciousness. So how many leelas , arundathis, minister's daughters, Padmas, Vidhurathas and Vashistas are there? Innumerable. SO which one of them is the real one? :leaving: