Hyperbole in Vasistha's Yoga

One may revolve on the wheel of birth and death for a thousand lifetimes: this will not cease till one has fully mastered the mind and till that mind has come to a state of supreme peace and equanimity. - The Story of Prahlada, Vasistha's Yoga, V:43

This quote is from the last two paragraphs of Verse 43 of Chapter 5 in Vasistha's Yoga, which is the metaphorical Story of Prahlada.

The literal meaning of the above sentence implies the concept of reincarnation. Yet it is hyperbole because it does not mean that a person is fated to "revolve on the wheel of birth and death (Samsara) for a thousand lifetimes".

Rather, it implies that a person may feel like as though she is repeating the same pattern of behavior, and that "this will not cease" until she "has fully mastered the mind" through "contemplating the changeless consciousness which is infinite", ibid.

This mastery of the mind where "the mind has come to a state of supreme peace and equanimity" is achieved by abandoning one's illusions about objective phenomena as clearly stated in the rest of the quote:

...Abandon all illusory appearances of objective phenomena, whether they appear within you or outside you. Contemplate the sole reality of consciousness for the cessation of repeated birth, Taste the pure consciousness (which is, in truth, the essence of all that exists) by resolutely renouncing objectivity of consciousness, (all the concepts and percepts) and contemplating the changeless consciousness which is infinite. You will surely cross this river of world-appearance and rebirth. - ibid.

Hence, the purpose of hyperbole here is to inspire and thus motivate the disciple to apply the physical exercises in yoga to achieve "a state of supreme peace and equanimity".