Passing beyond the path of the clouds and the region of the wind, she journeyed onward, crossing the solar way and surpassing even the path of the moon. Moving further, she left behind the northern course of the Pole Star and the realm of the Sādhyas, transcending the world of the Siddhas and ascending beyond the earth itself, she reached the sphere of heaven. Her path led her into the inner domain of Brahma’s world, through the radiant sphere of the Tuṣitas, past the world of the cows, the world of Śiva, and the realm of the ancestors. She moved far beyond the distant, bodiless gods, traveling farther than far, until at last she encountered some obstruction. Pausing, she gazed back upon the vast expanse she had traversed. Below her, nothing remained visible—not the moon, nor the sun, nor the stars, nor any other thing. All had vanished from sight. Before her stretched a profound, unmoving darkness, filled with the hollows of space, resembling the deep belly of a single ocean, as dense as the heart of a mountain. A question arose: “O goddess, where has the radiance of the sun and the others gone? How has this darkness, unmoving as the belly of a rock and dense enough to grasp, come into being?” The answer came: “You have come to the very edge of the sky’s path, where even the radiance of the sun and the other lights are no longer seen. Just as a firefly cannot be seen from the depths of a dark well, so too, from here, the sun below appears as nothing at all. Indeed, we have reached such a distant place that the sun itself is but a tiny speck, invisible from this vantage.” She then asked, “From here onward, what path lies ahead, and what is it like? How will the descent be? Tell me, O goddess.” The reply was given: “Beyond this, before you, lies the outer shell of the cosmic egg, from which arise particles known as ‘diamond dust’ and the like.” As they conversed, they arrived at the shell of the cosmic egg, moving around its dense, circular wall as bees circle a mountain. Effortlessly, they passed through it as if passing through the sky itself, for what is established in certainty moves with the nature of a diamond, unobstructed. With clear, unobstructed vision, she saw beyond the watery covering, beholding the exceedingly radiant realms that exist outside the cosmic egg. Beyond the egg, she saw the element of water, ten times greater, enveloping the cosmic sphere as the skin covers the kernel of a nut. Beyond that, fire extended tenfold, then air, ten times greater still, then space, and finally, the supreme ether. In this supreme ether, there is no notion of middle, beginning, or end—just as the story of a barren woman’s son cannot arise, so too these distinctions do not exist. That ether is pure, tranquil, beginningless, free from confusion, devoid of beginning, end, or middle, abiding in the vast Self. If, by supreme strength, the lord of Śiva or Garuda-bannered one were to rise up in that expanse, through meditation upon it, one would reach the very end of the pure ether. Likewise, the wind, moving with single-pointed speed, arrives there. Here, earth, water, fire, air, and even space each surpass the previous tenfold, transcending the lower elements in an instant. He beheld the supreme ether, immeasurable, and saw this entire world within it as if it were a mere atom. She beheld countless creations veiled within cosmic eggs, shimmering in the ether like motes of dust in sunlight. In the great ether-ocean, in the waters of supreme emptiness, she saw bubbles and clusters arising from the nature of great consciousness-fluid. Some of these were falling downward, some moving upward, others drifting sideways, and some remained motionless, fixed in their own awareness. Wherever and however awareness arose in each, in that very place and manner, their form appeared. Yet, truly, in that expanse there is neither above nor below, nor coming nor going—it is a wholly different state, the very arrival of our own body. There, awareness arises and subsides again and again by its own nature; by one’s own thoughts, it dissolves, just as a web of childish imaginings fades away. What, then, could be below, above, or across in that radiant expanse? For here, there is no fixed position at all. In this vast, limitless expanse, the cosmic eggs of Brahman, with all their coverings, shine forth like tiny bubbles in the sky. All objects move about without independence; the earth portion of the cosmic egg is called ‘below,’ but otherwise, it is void. For ants wandering on a round clod in the sky, the ten directions are designated simply as downward for their feet and upward for their backs. For some, the earth in their hearts is covered by a web of trees and anthills; the clear sky is encircled by the sun, moon, gods, and demons. This world, with its villages, cities, and mountains, has arisen from the desert element and is enveloped, like a ripe myrobalan fruit by its skin, by the undiminished. Just as elephants roam in the Vindhya forest, so in that supreme expanse, the rivers of universes flow. In that, is everything; from that, is everything; that is everything and everywhere, all-pervading even in the smallest particle. In that ocean of supreme light, composed of pure consciousness, waves called universes continually arise and subside. Some, empty within, remain as the nights of the dissolution of all thoughts; like waves in the ocean, they are cast into the ocean of emptiness. For some, at the end of the cycle, an inner rumbling sound arises, but it is neither heard nor known by others, whose taste is absorbed in their own nature. In others, at the very beginning, the desire to manifest arises, like a tender shoot emerging from the seed-capsule moistened by creation.