The seeker, yearning to understand the supreme reality, pondered deeply: How can this ultimate truth here be described as bliss itself? Or, how could it possibly not be bliss? If the highest ‘I’ alone exists—spacious, boundless—how could that reality be of the nature of knowledge and realization? It was revealed: True knowledge is not bound by fire or wind, nor does it have the form of earth or water. Knowledge is untouched by coming or going, vast and open like the endless sky. In this understanding, the Self realized: I am neither of empty form nor of full form, neither pure nor impure in any aspect. I am neither defined by form nor by formlessness. My very nature is the ultimate reality itself. Thus, the call arose: Abandon, abandon the world! Yet, abandon also the very notion of renunciation. For the poison of renunciation and non-renunciation is, in its own way, pure, immortal, innate, and ever-constant. And with these words, the third chapter came to a close. In the silence that followed, it became clear: There is neither invocation nor dismissal—so how could there be flowers or leaves offered? How could there be meditations, mantras, or any worship of Shiva, whether in summary or in detail? The Self saw: I am free from bondage and liberation, untouched by purity or impurity, beyond union or separation in yoga. Truly, I am liberated, vast as the sky. All things arise, truly; all things arise, falsely. Yet, for me, such duality has never arisen. I am the dissolution into my own true nature, free from affliction. There is neither with color nor without color, neither within nor without; nothing divided within shines for me. I am the dissolution into my own true nature, free from affliction. For me, ignorance and knowledge have never arisen; even my nature as knowledge has not arisen. How, then, could I speak of knowledge or non-knowledge? I am the dissolution into my own true nature, free from affliction. I am not bound by righteousness or sin, nor by bondage or liberation. What is joined or unjoined does not appear to me. I am the dissolution into my own true nature, free from affliction. There is neither higher nor lower for me, nor any neutral state, nor friend or foe. How could I speak of benefit or harm? I am the dissolution into my own true nature, free from affliction. I am not a worshipper, nor am I of the nature to be worshipped. There is no instruction or action for me. How could I speak of consciousness? I am the dissolution into my own true nature, free from affliction. Here, there is nothing that is pervader or pervaded, no abode or non-abode. How could I speak of emptiness or non-emptiness? I am the dissolution into my own true nature, free from affliction. There is no perceiver or anything to be perceived, no cause or effect for me. How could I speak of the thinkable or unthinkable? I am the dissolution into my own true nature, free from affliction. There is neither divider nor divided, neither knower nor known for me. How could I speak of coming or going, dear one? I am the dissolution into my own true nature, free from affliction. There is no body, nor am I bodiless; I have neither intellect nor mind, nor senses. How could I speak of passion or dispassion? I am the dissolution into my own true nature, free from affliction. There is no mere appearance that is distinctly separate, nor is there appearance that is concealed. How could I speak of unity or division, friend? I am the dissolution into my own true nature, free from affliction. I am neither one who has mastered the senses nor one who has not. For me, restraint or discipline has never arisen. How could I speak of victory or defeat, friend? I am the dissolution into my own true nature, free from affliction. I am never of form or formlessness; I have neither beginning, end, nor middle. How could I speak of strength or weakness, friend? I am the dissolution into my own true nature, free from affliction. Whether something is mortal or immortal, poison or nectar, O dear one, it never arises for me. How could I speak of pure or impure, when I am the essence of liberation, free from all disease? There is no dream or awakening for me, nor any yogic posture, neither night nor day. How could I speak of the fourth or not-fourth state, when I am the essence of liberation, free from all disease? Know me as consciousness, freed from all and everything, untouched by illusion or non-illusion. How could I speak of rituals like twilight worship, when I am the essence of liberation, free from all disease? Know me as consciousness, united with all samadhis, freed from all marks and distinctions. How could I speak of union or separation, when I am the essence of liberation, free from all disease? I am neither a fool nor a scholar; silence or non-silence never pertain to me. How could I speak of reasoning or disputation, when I am the essence of liberation, free from all disease? I have neither father nor mother, no family or caste, no birth or death. How could I speak of attachment or delusion, when I am the essence of liberation, free from all disease? I have neither set nor always risen; radiance or absence of radiance never pertain to me. How could I speak of rituals like twilight worship, when I am the essence of liberation, free from all disease? Know me without doubt, undisturbed; know me without doubt, uninterrupted; know me without doubt, stainless. I am the essence of liberation, free from all disease. The wise abandon all meditations, they abandon all actions, good or bad. They drink the nectar of renunciation, O dear one, for I am the essence of liberation, free from all disease. He attains—indeed, he attains—where there is no sign of desire, absorbed in perfect sameness, purified by contemplation. The supreme avadhūta speaks the truth. With this, the fourth chapter came to a close. Om. Thus has been spoken that which is like the sky, beyond all inquiry of higher and lower. How could there be utterance of the imperishable syllable, when all play and non-play are negated? By the teachings beginning with ‘That Thou Art,’ the truth has been established in the Self: you are that—free from all limitations, equal to all. Why do you grieve, O mind, being all-equal? Free from above and below, equal to all; free from inside and outside, equal to all; if you are free from all singularity, why do you grieve, O mind, being all-equal? There is no inquiry into imagined concepts, nor any inquiry into cause and effect. Being all-equal, free from the junction of words, why do you grieve, O mind, being all-equal? There is no samadhi of knowledge or ignorance, nor samadhi of place or non-place, nor samadhi of time or non-time. Why do you grieve, O mind, being all-equal? There is no pot-space, nor any pot; there is no embodied soul, nor any soul; there is no division of cause and effect. Why do you grieve, O mind, being all-equal? Here, the state of liberation is ever-present, free from all distinctions of short and long; there is no division of circle or angle. Why do you grieve, O mind, being all-equal? Here, there is neither emptiness nor non-emptiness; neither purity nor impurity; neither all nor not-all. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal? There is no consideration of difference or non-difference; no inquiry into inner or outer connections. Free from enemy and friend, all is equal. Why do you grieve, O mind, when all is equal?