He attains, truly attains—yet in this attainment, there is no sign or trace of the outcaste. Immersed in the sameness of all, purified by deep contemplation, the supreme Avadhuta speaks only the truth. Thus concludes the sixth chapter. Clad in a cloak pieced together from rags found on the street, the Avadhuta walks a path that lies beyond both virtue and vice. He dwells naked in an empty house, absorbed in pure, stainless, undifferentiated awareness. He is the aimless one—free from both purpose and purposelessness—skillful, yet beyond both right and wrong action. Purified by the very essence, unstained by anything of the world, no debate or argument can reach or disturb the Avadhuta. Freed from the bonds of hope and attachment, he stands established beyond all prescribed conduct and notions of purity. Peaceful and without distinctions, he abides in the pure, stainless essence. In such a state, how can there be inquiry into body or bodilessness? How can there be any questioning of attachment or detachment? The essence itself is pure, unmoving, sky-like, naturally manifest—beyond all such distinctions. Where form and formlessness are both absent, how can one search for the essence? Where the supreme reality is like the sky, how can there be any engagement with objects? The essence is an uninterrupted swan, sky-like, pure, and stainless; so, in this state, how could there be division, difference, separation, or transformation? All is the sole, uninterrupted essence. How could there be pride in union or separation? When all is supremely uninterrupted, there is no room for essence or non-essence. All is the one, stainless, sky-like essence, ever pure; so how could there be association or disassociation, or even the distinction between truth and untruth? The yogi is free from union and separation; the enjoyer is free from both enjoyment and non-enjoyment. Thus, he moves gently, gently, experiencing the innate bliss conceived by the mind. Always united with both knowledge and non-knowledge, how could one be bound by duality or non-duality? The natural, passionless yogi is the pure, stainless, undifferentiated enjoyer. Broken and unbroken, attached and unattached—he is free from all such pairs. In this undifferentiated, sky-like essence, how can there be essence or non-essence? Always established beyond all distinctions, liberated from all essence, how could there be life or death, or action through meditation or non-meditation? All this is but a magical illusion, like a mirage seen in the desert. The undivided, formless Shiva alone remains. From the very beginning of dharma to the end of liberation, there is utter freedom from desire. How then do the wise even imagine attachment or detachment? He finds, he finds—not at all, not at all—where there is no mark of desire, not at all, not at all. Immersed in undifferentiated absorption, purified by contemplation, the supreme Avadhuta speaks the very essence. Thus concludes the seventh chapter. O Lord, your pervasiveness has been diminished by the triad of time; your mind’s transcendence has been lessened by meditation; your speech’s transcendence has been curtailed by my praise—always forgive these threefold offenses. The true sage is one whose mind is unhurt by desires, restrained, gentle, and pure, possessing nothing. He is indifferent, moderate in food, peaceful, steady, and takes refuge in me. Unwavering, profound in self, steadfast, master of the six qualities, he is humble, yet honors others; capable, friendly, compassionate, and wise. He is merciful, free from malice, patient with all beings, rooted in truth, blameless in self, impartial, and helpful to all. The marks of the avadhuta should be discerned only by the most blessed, by those who know the essence of the Vedic words and their meanings, and by those versed in the teachings of the Veda and Vedanta. Freed from the bonds of desire, pure in beginning, middle, and end, always abiding in bliss—this is the mark of the letter ‘A’. One who is free from impressions, speaks without affliction, and dwells among those present—this is the mark of the letter ‘V’. With limbs dust-covered, mind shaken free, without affliction, released from concentration and meditation—this is the mark of the letter ‘Dhu’. One who holds contemplation of truth, free from thought and action, liberated from darkness and ego—this is the mark of the letter ‘Ta’. Those who recite and listen to these teachings, created by Dattatreya, the Avadhuta, the embodiment of bliss, will never again be subject to rebirth. Thus concludes the eighth chapter.