Hear now the account of the Supreme, the essence beyond all change and blemish. Brahman is described as unborn, undecaying, untouched by any obscuration, and eternal. It is everlasting and auspicious, stainless and without beginning, beyond the grasp of mere intellectual knowledge. It is blameless, free from all conceptual constructions, the very cause behind all causes, the experience that cannot be known by ordinary means, yet is itself the knowing—the inner knower of all. When the great dissolution comes and all things return to their source, what remains is formless Brahman—of this there is no doubt. But questions arise: How can this be mere emptiness? How can it not be radiant? How can it be without darkness or space? How can it lack consciousness, or the principle of living beings, intellect, or even mind itself? How could there be nothing at all, or everything at once? Such questions, in their very asking, reveal the play of delusion. You have asked a most subtle and difficult question, yet I shall clarify it, as the sun dispels the darkness of night. At the end of a great aeon, what remains as pure existence is not simply void. Listen, and I shall tell you what that truly is. Just as a carved figure is hidden within an uncarved pillar, so too does the universe abide within Brahman; thus, that state is not void. In this way, the vast experience called the world appears—whether it is real or unreal—so where, then, is emptiness? Just as a pillar with an uncarved figure is not devoid of that figure, so too, dear one, the world is Brahman; therefore, that state is not void. Consider a ripple on gentle water: it neither truly exists nor does not exist. In the same way, this world has entered both emptiness and non-emptiness within Brahman. In the realm of space, time, and direction, one can carve a doll from a tree; but in the inert substratum of Brahman, by whom and how could any inner confusion arise? Thus, such analogies only partially resemble the true state of the world; no comparison is ever wholly adequate. This world never arises from anything else, nor does it ever truly cease. In this way, only pure Brahman abides in its own nature. The concept of ‘emptiness’ is imagined only in relation to ‘non-emptiness’; but since true non-emptiness is impossible, how can there be either emptiness or non-emptiness at all? The radiance in Brahman does not arise from any material element; so how could sun, fire, moon, stars, or anything similar exist in that imperishable reality? The absence of the light of the great elements is called darkness; but since there is no absence of the great elements here, there is never any darkness. Its illumination is only the direct experience of one whose nature is like space; whatever is within is known by that alone, and not by anything else. That state, free from both darkness and light, is the ageless abode. Know it to be like the space within a vessel, containing the existence of the world. Just as there is no real distinction within the fruit called bilva, so too there is not the slightest separation between Brahman and the world. As a wave exists within water, or a pot within clay, so too wherever the existence of the world is found, how can it be of the nature of mere space? The analogies of clay and water, though possessing form, are not truly equal; Brahman is pure like space, and the world exists within it in the same way. Therefore, just as consciousness-space is even purer than space, so too, whatever is contained within it—such as the world, words, and their meanings—shares that very nature. Just as sharpness within a ray is not perceived except by the one who experiences it, so too, in the supreme space of consciousness, pure consciousness is not known apart from the objects of cognition. Therefore, even consciousness appears as inert, since in itself it is devoid of objects; the existence of the world is just like that, compelled by the very nature of that reality. Forms, light, and mental constructions are made only of that; nothing else. Thus, the entire universe, as it stands, is either in deep sleep or in the fourth state (turiya) alone. Thus, the yogi whose mind is tranquil, who abides in deep sleep-like awareness even while engaged in worldly activity, remains established in Brahman, which is without appearance and is the source of all appearances. Just as fluidity remains in water, whether it takes form or not, so too does the universe exist in the Supreme, whether manifest or unmanifest. From the Full arises the full; from the formless, the formless spreads forth. The universe appears from Brahman, yet that universe is devoid of any objective reality. From the Full arises the full, and what is established is ever full; therefore, the universe is unborn, and whatever appears to be born is that very fullness. Where cognition cannot arise, how can there be any sense of objectivity? Where there can be no experiencer, how can there be sharpness in a mirage? This, though appearing as real, is in fact unreal, arising in the supreme consciousness from the mind; in the absence of a reflection, how can there be the status of a reflection? It is subtler than even the subtlest atom, purer, more refined, supreme, and peaceful—more so than even the space within the sky. Because it is not limited by directions, time, or anything else, it is exceedingly vast; it is beginningless and endless, an appearance without anything to be illuminated. Where only the essence of consciousness is found, how could there be the form of mind, shaped by the wind of latent impressions? Because consciousness alone arises there, there is truly no living being; neither intellect, nor mind, nor senses, nor latent tendencies exist. Thus established, even though it is full of dissolution and beginning, that ageless state remains; from our perspective, it is peaceful, empty, and greater than space. What is the nature of ultimate reality, whose form is infinite consciousness? This is now explained again for the growth of understanding. At the time of the great dissolution, what remains as the cause of all causes is the supreme Brahman—listen. When one has dissolved oneself, with the cessation of the mind’s activities, the form that is indescribable—that is the form of that reality.