Listen, O Rama, to the nature of the jīvanmukta, the one liberated while living. Even while acting in accordance with attraction, aversion, and fear, such a one remains inwardly utterly clear, like the vastness of space. The sense of ‘I’ is absent in him, and his intellect is not tainted; whether he acts or refrains from action, he is free, untouched by the sense of doership. He perceives, in the simple opening and closing of his eyes, the creation and dissolution of the universe, as effortlessly as space itself. Though he appears to enjoy, he is not an enjoyer; he has attained pure awareness, abiding within as one awakened, yet as if asleep. Always a seer, yet not a seer; living, yet like one dead; acting in the world, yet unmoving as a mountain—such is the jīvanmukta. From him, the world does not recoil, nor does he recoil from the world. He is free from delight and resentment, and his calculations of worldly affairs are pacified. Though possessing parts, he is partless; though having a mind, he is as if mindless. Engaged in all kinds of activities, he remains cool, his self full as if for the sake of others. When the jīvanmukta relinquishes even the state of liberation while living, 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, neither ceases nor persists; he is neither existent nor nonexistent, neither distant nor near, neither ‘I’ nor other than ‘I’. In this bodiless state, consciousness becomes the sun and 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 stars, gods, and demons; as the mass of mountain ranges, it is the abode of the guardians of the worlds. Becoming earth, it upholds the unbroken existence of these worlds; as grass, shrubs, and creepers, it produces a succession of fruits. It shines as 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; as the ocean, it encircles the earth like a bracelet encircling 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. O Brahman, how does it become so? For my understanding is troubled; this vision is difficult to attain and hard to grasp—this is certain. This is called liberation, O Rama; this is declared to be Brahman. This is described as nirvana; listen to how it is attained. Whatever is seen as an object, endowed with the sense of ‘I’ and ‘mine,’ is realized by the intellect as non-arising, even though it appears to exist. When the disembodied liberated ones attain the three worlds, O best of the wise, it is considered that they have reached the state of creation itself. If the three worlds exist, let them proceed to their own reality; but where the very meaning of ‘three worlds’ does not arise at all—there, where the state of ‘three worlds’ is reached, how can the notion of ‘Brahman’ even arise? Therefore, no other conception of the world is possible there. For one who truly knows reality, it is a fact that the world is nothing but Brahman alone—undivided, peaceful, mere appearance, pure as the sky. Just as, when examining a golden bracelet, one never perceives anything called ‘bracelet-ness’ apart from the pure gold itself, so too, apart from water, nothing is seen in a wave; what is called ‘wave-ness’ is seen by people like you, but in truth, it does not exist there. Apart from air, there is never any such thing as ‘movement’ anywhere; air is always just movement, and therefore the world does not exist. Just as emptiness is the nature of space, heat is the nature of a desert, and light is the nature of fire—so too, Brahman is the very nature of the three worlds. O sage, by what reasoning does the utter absence of the perceived world bring about liberation? Please instruct me in that supreme method. When, through mutual dissolution, both the seer and the seen are resolved, and duality ceases, what remains is nirvana. Therefore, tell me how it is that the world, as the seen, never truly arises, and how Brahman abides in its own nature. By what means is this known through reasoning, and how does this become established? O sage, when this is realized, nothing else remains to be accomplished. For a long time, this epidemic of false knowledge has taken root; surely, by the mantra of inquiry, it is completely uprooted and pacified. It cannot be instantly and completely cut off in a moment; just as with equal effort, one ascends and descends a mountain. Therefore, by the discipline of practice, by reasoning, and by logical analysis, the delusion regarding the world is pacified; listen as I explain how this is so. I will tell you a story, O Rama, for the sake of awakening knowledge; if you listen to it, O noble one, you will indeed be liberated and wise. Now, I shall explain to you the section on origination; whatever arises, O Rama, is transcended by one who is liberated. Thus, this world-delusion appears as if it has arisen, though its nature is truly unborn; this will now be explained by me in the section on origination. Whatever is seen here—this world, whether moving or unmoving, all in every form, with gods, demons, and kinnaras—its true nature shall be revealed.