The Infinite Folded Into the Small: A Study of Space in the Ramayana and Yoga Vasishtha - Worlds Within Worlds: Swayamprabha's Cave and Leela's Canopy Universe The Ramayana and the Yoga Vasishtha are separated by very different purposes. One is an itihasa, a recorded history of Bhagavan Rama's life. The other is a philosophical dialogue between sage Vasishtha and prince Rama, meant to awaken discrimination and self-knowledge. Yet both texts contain a strikingly similar idea: that a small, enclosed space can hold within it a universe of boundless size. Swayamprabha's cave in the Kishkindha Kanda and the canopy in Leela's palace hall in the Yoga Vasishtha both describe this folding of the vast into the small, and reading them together deepens the meaning of each. The Cave of Swayamprabha While searching for Sita, Hanuman and the vanara search party, weary and lost, enter a dark cave in pursuit of an animal. Inside, they do not find a narrow tunnel but an entire hi...