There was once a sage whose heart had attained a profound inner coolness. He did not sink into the shifting states of mind, nor was he confused in his actions amidst the world. Such a one, it was said, was truly tranquil. His mind, always engaged in his own duties, remained spotless, pure as the vast sky. This was the mark of tranquility. Among ascetics, scholars, sacrificers, kings, the strong, and the virtuous, it was not their status or power that made them shine, but their tranquility. In the minds of the great, who were endowed with virtues and absorbed in this tranquility, contentment arose naturally from their consciousness, as moonlight radiates from the cool-rayed moon. Equanimity, the boundary of all virtues, became their unique ornament, the sign of true manliness, and the abode of fearlessness in difficult times. It shone forth, resplendent. Rama, just as these great ones reached the highest state by relying on supreme, immortal, unstealable, noble-favored equanimity, you too should steadfastly follow that path for success. Yet, to walk this path, one must know the causes of things. With a mind purified by clear understanding of scripture and self-control, one must undertake inquiry. Through inquiry, the intellect becomes sharp and perceives the supreme state. Inquiry is the great medicine for the long-standing disease of worldly existence. The forest of calamity, whose many forms are nourished by endless desires, is cut down by the saw of inquiry and does not grow again. In moments of delusion, loss, hardship, and confusion, inquiry is truly the path of the wise. Without inquiry, there is no means for supreme peace; through inquiry, the noble mind abandons the unwholesome and attains the wholesome. Strength, intelligence, brilliance, discernment, and the fruits of action—all these arise in the wise solely through inquiry. With the great lamp of discernment, which distinguishes the appropriate from the inappropriate and fulfills all desires, one should cross the ocean of worldly existence, relying on expansive inquiry. The pure mind, like a noble lion of discernment, tears apart the great elephant of delusion whose heart has not been wounded. Even those who are deluded, and by the force of time attain the supreme state, reveal the unsurpassed manifestation of the lamp of inquiry. Kingdoms, abundant wealth, immense enjoyment, and eternal liberation—these, O Raghava, are the fruits of the wish-fulfilling tree of discernment. The noble thoughts of the great, which delight in discrimination, do not sink in adversity, just as gourds do not sink in water. Those who act with minds illuminated by the rising of discernment become vessels for exceedingly noble fruits. The creepers of suffering grow in the hearts of fools, in the forests where hope is obstructed and the trees of discernment do not exist. May the sleep composed of non-inquiry, dark as lamp-black and intoxicating like wine, come to an end for you, O Raghava. Even in great and prolonged calamities, a person devoted to true inquiry does not sink into delusion, just as a mass of light does not become lost in darkness. In the clear lake of the mind, one whose lotus of inquiry has truly blossomed shines like the snowy Himalayas. For one whose intellect lacks inquiry and has fallen into dullness, even thunderbolts rise in vain, like a Yaksha’s moon for a child. Rama, the person devoid of discrimination is to be abandoned far away, for he is like a mound of sorrow, a termite hill, and honey spoiled by rotten creepers. Those who are difficult to approach, of bad conduct, and hard to trust, shine only through lack of inquiry, like goblins in darkness. O descendant of Raghu, keep far away the undiscriminating person, who is like an old tree, unfit for good deeds. For a creature, the mind that is isolated and free from the compulsion of desire attains supreme contentment, like a full moon shining in itself. The discrimination that has arisen cools the entire body completely and adorns it exceedingly, like new moonlight beautifies the world. Reason shines forth as the pure white yak-tail fan for the banner of supreme truth, just as the moon glows in the night. The states of being that move with reason, dispelling the ten directions, shine like the sun, having destroyed the multitude of fears born of repeated existence. The phantom, imagined by the child's own deluded mind and bringing terror in the night, is dissolved by reason. All the phenomena of the world, lacking the movement of reason, are unreal; but when touched by the sword of reason, their false existence is cut away. The phantom of long-standing worldly existence, imagined by a person's own deluded mind and bringing endless suffering, is dissolved by reason. Know this state of pure, undisturbed, infinite, and unsupported oneness as the highest fruit of the powerful tree of reason. By that state, which is steadfast, noble, and radiant with the enjoyment of clear stability, desirelessness arises, like the coolness from the newly risen moon. With the great medicine of reason, established in the mind of the good, which bestows the highest state, one neither craves nor rejects anything. That ever-supported mind, having become a vast appearance, neither sets nor rises, like space that extends beyond all limits. It neither abandons nor grasps, neither suffers nor is pacified; simply witnessing, it abides in itself, perceiving the world within. It is not extinguished, nor does it remain within or without; it does not adopt inactivity, nor does it become absorbed in action. It disregards what has passed and follows what arrives; neither agitated nor utterly unperturbed, it shines like a full ocean. Such is the journey of tranquility and inquiry, leading to the supreme state of being, where the mind shines in its own fullness, untouched by the waves of change.