Rāma, having listened with deep attention, asked the Lord about the nature of ego: “O Lord, what truly is ego, and how can it be abandoned? When a person gives up ego, whether with the body or without, what remains?” The Lord replied, “O Raghava, understand that in all the three worlds there are three kinds of ego. Two of these are excellent and worthy, while the third must be renounced. Listen as I explain them to you. “The highest form of ego is the awareness: ‘I am all this universe; I am the supreme Self, the imperishable; there is nothing else apart from me.’ This is the noblest sense of ‘I,’ and it leads not to bondage, but to liberation. It is found in the liberated while still living, and though we call it ‘ego,’ this is only a convention, not a reality. “The second, also supreme, is the sense: ‘I am entirely distinct from everything, subtler even than the hundredth part of a hair.’ This awareness, too, is for the sake of liberation, not bondage. It persists in the liberated, but again, the term ‘ego’ is only imagined, not actual. “The third kind of ego is the mere conviction, ‘I am only these hands, these feet, and so on.’ This is the worldly, insignificant ego. It is harmful and must be abandoned, for it is the enemy of all beings. When a creature is struck by this ego, it cannot flourish again. “This powerful enemy bestows seeming dominion, but in truth, it diminishes the mind and drags it into suffering. When this harmful ego is long abandoned, the being who retains only the higher forms of ego attains liberation, O Blessed One. “For those who are shaped by this worldly ego, the idea ‘I am this body’ must be rejected. The great ones hold instead, ‘I am not the body.’ The first two forms of ego, though accepted, are unworldly and harmless; the third, being worldly and the cause of suffering, must be abandoned. “It is by this difficult egoity that the chains of bondage are forged; even the stories of those bound by it are tales of suffering. If one abandons this third, worldly ego from the mind, what benefit does he attain? Know, O Brahman, that by completely renouncing this bringer of sorrow, the more one stands apart from it, the more one attains the supreme. “If a person contemplates these higher states of ego and remains steadfast in them, he attains the supreme state, free from sin. Yet, if he abandons even these subtle traces, remaining utterly free from all egoity, he ascends to the highest. “At all times and with all effort, the wise must renounce this difficult, worldly egoity for supreme bliss and knowledge. There is nothing higher than abandoning the evil ego rooted in the body, disease, and demerit—this alone is the supreme state. “Having abandoned this gross, worldly egoity in thought, whether remaining still or engaged in action, a person does not fall downward. O wise one, for one whose sense of ego has become completely pacified, the pleasures of the world lose their sweetness, just as flavors laced with poison do not appeal to one who is truly satisfied. “When a person no longer delights in enjoyments, true welfare lies ahead; when darkness is dispelled, what else could the mind pursue? O Raghava, by simply abandoning the pursuit of ego, and through the singular effort of one’s own resolve, one crosses the ocean of worldly existence. “Establish this awareness firmly: ‘I am not; nothing is mine; nothing at all exists apart from me; all is truly myself.’ With such understanding, the great soul attains the supreme state.” The Lord then continued, “Now, Raghava, listen as I tell you what happened in the city of Shambara, which stood like a great mountain, after Dama and the others had departed. “When Shambara’s forces were destroyed and all order lost, devastation prevailed, just as the sky is emptied when the autumn clouds scatter. Having been defeated by the gods, that demon Shambara spent a few years in thought. Then, intent again on slaying the gods, he began to reflect: “‘Those demons like Dama and the rest, whom I created by my own illusion, I foolishly took to be real. In battle, this inner sense of ego was falsely imagined. Now, I will create other demons, born of illusion, and grant them knowledge of the science of the Self, endowed with discernment. Then, having realized the truth and arisen from false imagination, they will not embrace egoism and will overcome the gods.’ “Thinking thus, the lord of the demons produced new chiefs by his illusion, just as the ocean brings forth bubbles. These new beings—named Bhīma, Bhāsa, and Druṭa—were omniscient, knowers of what is to be known, free from passion and sin, noble in mind, and acting as single agents according to their attainment. They regarded the whole world as mere grass and were intent on purification. “These demons, having reached the earth, covered the sky and roared like thunderclouds in the monsoon. They fought the gods equally for many years, but because of their discernment, they never fell into egoism. “Whenever the thought ‘this is mine’ arose within them, they dispelled it through inquiry—‘Who am I?’ When only the unreal body and pure consciousness remained established as ‘Who is this I?’, then, through such inquiry, neither fear nor any such affliction arose in them. “They realized that this unreal body does not truly exist; only pure consciousness abides in the Self. There is no real ‘I,’ nor any other. Having ascertained this, they became asuras in name only. “These beings, without ego, were fearless of old age and death, imitating the realized and following those established in the present. With unattached minds, even when slain by others who had no sense of doership, they remained freed from the net of tendencies, their tasks accomplished, and without any sense of agency.