The Dream Narrative

Dreams. Illusions. Reincarnation. Karma.Dreams are a serious matter in Indian myth and religions, especially Hinduism. But are they maya (illusion), lila (God’s play), or an awakening to our real selves? Are we living in a dream dreamt by the Author of the universe as we know it? Are dreams, then, an insight into the reality of that universe? Do they prove the ‘nothingness’ of the world we see or the substantial reality of ‘illusion’ itself?. In this dazzling short book, one of the world’s great scholars of Hindu texts and myths tries to unravel the dream adventure—encompassing dreaming, forgetting, rebirth and karma—with the help of fascinating stories from the Yogavasishtha (regarded as the greatest text ever written on the subject), the Mahabharata, the Bhagavata Purana and the Matsya Purana.