O Rama, you are truly great—dispassionate, wise, and established among people. Within you, truth settles effortlessly, just as saffron water is absorbed by a pure white cloth. Your intellect, ever intent on attentive listening and the discernment of the highest truth, penetrates the subtle meanings of my words, just as sunlight streams into clear water. Therefore, whatever I share with you should be carefully treasured in your heart. If you are not prepared to receive these teachings with such care, you should not question me, for I do not speak in vain. The mind, O Rama, is fickle—like a restless monkey leaping through the tangled forest of worldly existence. With steady effort, restrain it within your heart and listen closely to the supreme truth. Avoid, for a long time, the company of those who lack discernment, who are ignorant, and who delight in unvirtuous company. Only the virtuous are truly worthy of honor. Constant association with the virtuous gives rise to discernment, and from the tree of discernment blossom two fruits: the enjoyment of life and ultimate liberation. At the very threshold of liberation, four gatekeepers are spoken of: tranquility, inquiry, contentment, and, as the fourth, the company of the virtuous. Whether you cultivate two, three, or all four, do so diligently, for they forcibly open the gates to the palace of the king called liberation. Even at the cost of your life, take refuge in at least one of these; when one is mastered, all four come under your control. Discernment is the vessel, the adornment, and the very form of the scriptures, knowledge, austerity, and brilliance—just as the sun is the source of all light. But when the mind becomes dense and dull in those who do not reflect, their awareness becomes immobile, like water frozen solid by cold or like a stone. But you, O Raghava, endowed with noble qualities and insight into the scriptures, stand with an awakened inner being, like a lotus blossoming in the sunrise. You are truly worthy to listen to and comprehend this vision of knowledge, with attentive ears—like a creature enchanted by the sound of a lute. Through the practice of dispassion, discipline, and the wealth of even-minded nobility, one attains that state, O Rama, where there is no destruction. At first, for the sake of liberation from worldly existence, one should cultivate discernment through study of the scriptures, association with the virtuous, and the practice of excellent austerity and self-restraint. With effort, uproot folly—the root of the poisonous tree of worldly existence, the source of all calamities, and the blackening ointment of the night of delusion. Know this alone to be the supreme destruction of folly: when the scriptures are regarded, even with a mind only slightly refined. When the serpent-pit of vain hopes and folly writhes in the heart, the mind contracts in pain, like leather shriveling in fire. Yet for the wise, perception of reality becomes clear, like beholding the flawless, full moon in a cloudless sky. One whose mind, endowed with delightful discernment, skillfully contemplates both past and future, is called a true person. With a mind pure and expanded, cooled by the radiance of noble reflection, you shine with a virtuous and spotless heart, like the sky illumined by the moon. O Raghava, you are worthy of respect; your mind is fulfilled, and you know how to ask. You understand what is spoken, and so I am eager to continue. Establish in yourself a mind free from rajas and tamas, inclined toward pure sattva, and remain steady to listen to this knowledge. All the virtues of a questioner are present in you, and the virtues of a speaker are in me, just as the splendor of gems is found in the ocean. You have attained dispassion, born of discernment and detachment, O sage, just as the moonstone attains coolness from the rays of the moon. From childhood, you have long practiced noble qualities, pure and enduring, like the continuous, unbroken stalks of a lotus. Therefore, listen as I narrate this story; you alone are truly fit to receive it. Just as the water-lily cannot fully blossom in purity without the moon, so too is this tale incomplete without your presence. Whatever undertakings there are, whatever perceptions may arise, all of these, upon realization of the supreme state, come entirely to rest. If the mind of the seeker does not find repose in true knowledge, then who in this world could possibly endure the burden of endless anxieties? When the supreme is attained, all movements of thought dissolve, just as boulders on a mountain are swept away by the flood of the sun at the end of an age. O Rama, the unbearable disease of worldly existence, poisoned by delusion, is pacified by the purifying mantra of yoga, just as the antidote of Garuda neutralizes poison. Just as Hari, Hara, Brahma, and the rest remain free from curiosity and disturbance, so too do the best of men, whose inner light is realized, abide in the world with awakened understanding. When delusion is exhausted, when the dense cloud of ignorance disperses, when truth is recognized and the self is realized as it is—whether through reasoning with the wise or by seeing the reality of existence and non-existence in those whose forms have faded—then this worldly wandering becomes a delight and a play. When the essence of mind is clear and radiant in the heart, when all perceptions and creations appear as a unified experience, and when the workings of the mind come to rest in tranquility, then, with the truth seen by wisdom, this worldly wandering is indeed a delight and a play. The body is like a chariot, its firmness the strength of the frame; the movements of the senses are like the motion of horses; the subtle vibration is from the wind. But I, unmeasured, infinite, and without distinction, am not any of these. Whether as the embodied one I seem to roam the world, or as the supreme, with pure understanding, seeing the truth—this wandering in the world is but a play. Relying on this vision, those whose souls are strong and whose intellects are clear move about untroubled, as if newly arisen. They do not grieve, they do not beg, nor do they desire good or bad. They do everything, yet do nothing at all. They remain established in their own nature, help others to be established in themselves, and move about—free from notions of rejection or acceptance, abiding in the Self. They come and yet do not come; they go to the forest and yet do not go; even when not acting, they act; even when not speaking, they speak. Whatever undertakings there may be, and whatever perceptions arise—those that seem to be accepted or rejected—all are dissolved upon attaining the supreme state. Thus, O Rama, the wise live in the world, moving through it in freedom, delight, and peace.