Listen, O Raghava, to the subtle workings of mind and Self, as revealed in these ancient teachings. Just as water, when mingled with sweetness, becomes sweet, or a seed soaked in poison turns bitter, so too does the mind take on the qualities with which it associates. When the mind is blessed with a great and auspicious disposition, it becomes vast and noble; just as one who enters the domain of Indra’s mind may attain the state of Indra, even within a dream. Yet, when the mind is caught in petty desires, it shrinks and becomes feeble, much like a healthy person who, deluded by the idea of ghosts, imagines seeing them at night. When the mind is expansive and pure, no impurity can remain; but if it is expansive yet impure, clarity is lost. The results that arise mirror the mind’s condition—expansive and impure brings one result, expansive and pure brings another. Even when diminished by circumstances, the truly excellent person never abandons the noble path. Ever diligent, he is like the moon, which, though it wanes, always moves toward fullness, never ceasing in its journey. In truth, there is neither bondage nor liberation here, no one bound nor one binding; all this is but an illusion, a magical vine of false appearance. This world, built of non-being, is like a city of Gandharvas—an ethereal mirage, appearing as real as the illusion of seeing two moons. Doubt arises, whispering, “I am not infinite, I am insignificant,” yet such uncertainty dissolves in the certainty, “I am infinite, I am supreme.” Even the conception, “I am all-pervading, pure in my own self,” is but a bondage imagined by the mind’s own constructions. The state that transcends bondage and liberation, free from all notions of duality or unity, is the very essence of Brahman, the highest truth. Only when the mind is pure and unattached to all perceptions does it become as if mindless, and only then does the vision of Brahman dawn. When the mind is washed by the waters of auspicious contemplation, it acquires the vision of Brahman, just as a white cloth takes on the color of the dye in which it is immersed. When, through true conviction, all things are regarded as “I” and “mine,” and the distinctions of acceptance and rejection are exhausted, what remains to be said of bondage or liberation? For the purified mind, the body, guided by scriptural wisdom and dispassion, sheds and regains its radiance like a noble gemstone. When the mind attains unity with an object, that oneness, born of imperfect knowledge, is fleeting and perishable. But when the mind abandons all external and internal perceptions and remains absorbed within itself, that is the attainment of the supreme goal. The clear perception of the seen and the seer is ultimately unreal; know that the absorption of the mind in that is its true nature, nothing else. Since beginnings and endings are subject to destruction, what lies in between is also unreal. Thus, when the mind is misled by false knowledge, it suffers, even though the object of desire is in hand. If one does not see that “this world is the Self,” suffering arises; but for one who does, this very visible splendor bestows both enjoyment and liberation. To think, “the water is one thing, the wave another,” is ignorance of diversity. But to know, “this wave is only water,” is the knowledge of unity. From ignorance springs suffering, appearing as things to be accepted or rejected; in the absence of this, through knowledge, only the infinite remains. Since the forms of the mind are imagined by thought and are unreal, tell me, Raghava, when the unreal is destroyed, what affliction can remain? Just as a relative without affection is regarded with a mind free from attachment and aversion, so too should you behold the cage of appearances as your own Self. Just as one remains untouched by pleasure or pain from a relative without affection, so too is one established in the knowledge of the Supreme, untouched by the world. That beginningless, auspicious knowledge, which is the middle ground between seer and seen—when one is established in that, the mind is at peace, like dust settling when the wind has ceased. When the wind of the mind is stilled, the dust of the body settles, and in the city of worldly existence, the mist of confusion does not rise again. When the rain of latent impressions has ceased and their support is exhausted, tranquility arises; when dullness and the trembling of the heart are gone, and the mire of ignorance has dried up, peace prevails. In the great forest of the heart, where the vines of craving have withered and the clusters of the senses have diminished, the dense mass of false knowledge is wounded. The mist of delusion dissolves like night at dawn; dullness departs, as poison vanishes when neutralized by mantra. On the mountain of the body, the rivers of the nine openings no longer flow abundantly; the bright-winged, powerful flocks of thoughts do not rise up. The cavity of one’s own consciousness attains supreme purity; the sun of the soul rises, shining brilliantly at the great dawn. Freed from the heavy mass of dense delusion, having attained supreme solitude, the directions of hope and desire shine forth, washed clean and tranquil. The pure, joyful blossom of the sky shines intensely, cooling all quarters like the moonlight of the autumn sky. The ground of discernment, radiant with prosperity, attains its utmost fruitfulness and is filled with supreme bliss. A world arises, adorned with mountains and forests, supremely beautiful in its light—pure, clear, and cool. The lake of the heart becomes tranquil, greatly pure and clear, its lotus cavity shining with unblemished clarity. The bee of self-conceit, restless and tainted, departs from the core of the heart’s lotus, never to return. One becomes free from expectation, all-pervading, master of all, devoid of impressions, with a peaceful mind, lord of his own bodily city. With the lamp of Self, attained through inquiry, shining in the mind, and a steadfast intellect after all agitation has ceased, he observes the paths that are free from decay and fear. Free from fever, he shines in the city of the body, established in the radiance of Self.