Rama, know this: whoever earnestly desires a goal and strives toward it with unwavering effort, surely attains it—unless, overcome by weariness, he turns back. If you, Rama, devote yourself to the company of the virtuous and to the study of true scriptures, you will reach the supreme state in a matter of days, not months. You ask, O best among those versed in scripture, what is that principal scripture, the knowledge of which removes all sorrow and awakens one to self-knowledge. For those whose hearts are set on self-realization, this alone is the highest scripture among all, known as the great Ramayana. From this supreme narrative arises a higher understanding; it is declared to be the very essence of all histories. Within this scripture, the state of liberation while living is described in its fullness; it is supremely pure and arises naturally, self-luminous. Through inquiry, the world that appears so persistent comes to an end—just as, upon waking and recognizing a dream, all the imagined objects of the dream vanish. Whatever exists here exists elsewhere; what is not found here exists nowhere. The wise know this scripture as the treasury of all the sciences of knowledge. Whoever listens to this daily, even if a child, attains the highest understanding and a mind filled with noble wonder—of this there is no doubt. If this teaching does not appeal to someone whose mind is unprepared because of 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. For, when this scripture is truly heard, the listener knows this for himself; these words are not spoken arbitrarily, like a curse or a boon. Know that 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 that lack such inquiry. Those whose minds are thus absorbed, whose very life-breath is fixed in this understanding, who awaken one another and speak always of that truth—such people rejoice and delight. For those established solely in knowledge, through investigation into self-knowledge, arises that very state of liberation while living, which is also called disembodied liberation. O Brahman, describe to me the characteristics of one liberated while living and one liberated after death, so that I may strive, guided by the vision of scripture and reason. He for whom this world, though engaged in activity, remains as vanished and abiding as space itself—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. 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'. Becoming the sun, it shines; as Vishnu, it protects the three worlds; as Rudra, it dissolves all; as Padmabhū (Brahma), it creates all. Becoming space, it sustains the currents of wind along with the stars, gods, and demons; becoming the mass of mountain ranges, it serves as the abode of the guardians of the worlds. Becoming earth, it upholds the unbroken existence of these worlds; becoming grass, shrubs, and creepers, it produces a succession of fruits. It shines in the forms of water and fire, blazing, melting, and flowing; as the moon, it generates nectar, as death, it produces poison and calamity. Light reveals hope, darkness spreads blindness; being void, it becomes the nature of space; being a mountain, it obstructs abundantly. It makes the moving as mind, the unmoving as the form of the unmoving; becoming the ocean, it encircles the earth as a bracelet encircles a woman's arm. Becoming the very form of the supreme sun, spreading radiance within, it remains tranquil, even as the flood of the world's fears surges. Whatever appears here, or will appear, or has appeared—whatever is seen in the three times—all that is truly only That. How, O Brahman, does it become so? My understanding is troubled; this vision is difficult to attain and hard to grasp—this is certain. This, O Rama, is called liberation; this is declared to be Brahman. This is described as nirvana. Listen, then, to how it is attained.