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New Multi-Spectral Imaging of 6th-Century 'Yoga-Vasishtha' Palimpsest Reveals Lost Verses on Mental Sovereignty

📅 April 8, 2026 📰 Pune Scholarly Review
New Multi-Spectral Imaging of 6th-Century 'Yoga-Vasishtha' Palimpsest Reveals Lost Verses on Mental Sovereignty

Using advanced multi-spectral imaging, researchers at the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute have uncovered hidden text beneath a 14th-century liturgical book. The underlying layers, dated to the 6th Century, contain fragments of a variant 'Yoga-Vasishtha' that focus specifically on the concept of Manas-Samrajya or 'Mental Sovereignty'.

These lost verses provide a radical interpretation of the mind's power to construct reality, moving beyond mere illusion (Maya) to a proactive philosophy of cognitive liberation. The discovery suggests that early iterations of this philosophical classic were more focused on the psychology of agency than previously thought.

Original source: Pune Scholarly Review