Listen, O Rama, as the sage begins to reveal the profound truth about the nature of the world. He declares that what is called the world has never truly arisen, does not exist, and is not seen—much like how gold itself contains no inherent bracelet-nature, so why strive to remove what was never there? This teaching, he assures, will be explained in detail, with many reasons, so that it may be directly realized without doubt. He asks: If something was not produced in the beginning, how can it exist now? Can there be a river in a mirage, a second moon, or a planet where none exist? Just as there is no son of a barren woman, no water in a mirage, and no tree in the sky, so too there is no real delusion of the world. What is seen here, O Rama, is only the pure Brahman. This, he promises, will be explained to you ahead through reasoning—not merely words. He urges that what the wise declare through reason should not be disregarded by those of noble intellect. To ignore such wisdom is to remain ignorant and suffer. Rama asks: By what means is this truth known and established? The sage replies: When this is experienced through reasoning, nothing remains to be known. He explains that the fever of false knowledge, long entrenched and called the world, can only be dispelled through inquiry—not by the recitation of mantras. To guide Rama, the sage offers to tell him stories meant for the attainment of understanding. If Rama listens with attention, he will be liberated and wise. But if his mind is restless and he rises to depart halfway, then today nothing of the path of higher beings will come to him. The sage assures that whoever desires a certain goal and strives accordingly will attain it, unless they become weary and turn back. He encourages Rama: If you devote yourself to the company of the virtuous and to true scriptures, you will reach the supreme state in days, not months. Rama then asks: For awakening to self-knowledge, what is the principal scripture, knowing which there is no sorrow? The sage responds: For those whose focus is self-knowledge, this alone is the supreme scripture among all, known as the great Ramayana. From this supreme narrative arises a higher understanding; it is the essence of all histories. In this scripture, the state of liberation while living is described intact, supremely pure and arising naturally from itself. Through inquiry, the visible world, though appearing to persist, comes to an end—just as, upon recognizing a dream, the imagined objects vanish. Whatever exists here exists elsewhere; what does not exist here exists nowhere. The wise know this as the treasury of all the sciences of knowledge. He declares: Whoever listens to this daily, even a child, attains the highest understanding and a mind of noble wonder—there is no doubt of this. If someone’s mind is unprepared due to past misdeeds, let him study whatever scripture of knowledge he wishes. In this scripture, the state of liberation while living is directly experienced, just as health is experienced upon drinking a supreme medicine. When this scripture is heard, the listener knows this by himself; it is not spoken arbitrarily, like a curse or a boon. The suffering of worldly existence is pacified only by the great discourse of self-inquiry—not by wealth, charity, austerity, study of the Vedas, nor by hundreds of other efforts devoid of such inquiry. Those whose minds are absorbed in this wisdom, whose life-breath is fixed therein, who awaken one another and speak of that always—such people rejoice and delight. For those established solely in knowledge, through investigation into self-knowledge, arises the very state of liberation while living, which is also called disembodied liberation. Rama now requests: O Brahman, describe the characteristics of one liberated while living and one liberated after death, so that I may likewise strive, guided by the vision of scripture and reason. The sage replies: He for whom this world, though engaged in activity, remains as vanished and abiding as space—he is called liberated while living. He who has attained steadfastness in knowledge, who remains awake even as in deep sleep, who simply abides and acts—he is called liberated while living. He whose radiance of face does not rise or set in happiness or sorrow, who remains as he is, whatever comes—he is called liberated while living. He who is awake while abiding in deep sleep, for whom waking does not exist, whose awareness is without impressions—he is called liberated while living. He who, though acting in accordance with attraction, aversion, and fear, remains inwardly utterly clear like space—he is called a jīvanmukta, one liberated while living. He whose sense of ‘I’ is absent, whose intellect is not tainted, whether acting or not acting—he is called a jīvanmukta. He who sees, in the opening and closing of the eyes, the creation and dissolution of the universe, as if it were space—he is called a jīvanmukta. He who is as if an enjoyer and yet not an enjoyer, who has attained pure awareness alone, who abides inwardly like one awakened yet asleep—he is called a jīvanmukta. He who is always a seer and yet not a seer, living yet like one dead, who acts in the world yet is unmoving like a mountain—he is called a jīvanmukta. He from whom the world does not recoil, and who does not recoil from the world, who is free from delight and resentment—he is called a jīvanmukta. He whose calculation of worldly affairs is pacified, who, though possessing parts, is partless, who, though having a mind, is as if mindless—he is called a jīvanmukta. He who, though engaged in all kinds of activities, remains cool, whose self is full as if for the sake of others—he is called a jīvanmukta. And when the state of liberation while living is relinquished, and the body is destroyed by the force of time, consciousness attains bodiless liberation, just as the wind becomes still. The one liberated without a body neither arises nor sets nor ceases; neither existent nor nonexistent, neither distant nor near, neither ‘I’ nor other than ‘I’. Thus, O Rama, the sage guides you through reason and scripture to the highest knowledge, the end of suffering, and the realization of liberation—both while living and beyond the body.