O Rama, listen with a tranquil mind as the great sage Vasistha gently unfolds the mystery of existence. In truth, all notions of separate heaps, of other worlds or beings—whether auspicious or inauspicious—arise only as imaginations. These distinctions do not truly exist in the Self, nor in the wind; they are but fleeting concepts, not ultimate realities. You are neither Rama nor not-Rama; this is the state of Brahman, beyond all dualities. Free yourself from the pairs of opposites and, untroubled by affliction, become the doer who acts without attachment. Consider, O knower of beings, even if you perform countless actions and achieve much, what is there that you must still attain? Let your mind rest in non-doership, desiring nothing. Be established in your own clear and tranquil state, your mind steady and deep, like an ocean vast with patience. No matter how much effort is expended, what is truly sought cannot be attained by anyone through striving alone. Therefore, abandon all objects with the clarity of your intellect. Recognize your own true nature as the supreme reality—the consciousness-self. Whether one acts or refrains, whether in heaven or in hell, the mind experiences according to its disposition. There is neither joy nor its absence, neither movement nor stillness, neither existence nor non-existence; and the wise do not see any intermediate state among these. For those whose minds are unattached, there is neither bondage nor liberation. But for those who remain attached, the world appears unchanged, with its seeming fetters. In reality, there is no bondage, no liberation, no one bound, nor any binding; suffering arises only from lack of awakening and dissolves upon awakening. The notion of bondage and the notion of liberation are both mere imaginations. Abandoning all, free from ego, established in the self, act wisely in the world, O Rama, and remain at peace. Know that for all living beings, for all perceptions everywhere, and for all objects in their entirety, their origin is perpetually from Brahman. Worlds emerge from Brahman, abide for a while, and then merge back, always absorbed in their source, just as waves rise and fall in the ocean. This is Brahman alone, established—here there is neither impurity nor purity. Just as dust does not arise from the waves in water, so too, nothing foreign arises in Brahman. There is no second imagination here, O descendant of Raghu; apart from Brahman alone, just as apart from fire there is only heat. Brahman is free from suffering and attributes; this world, though born from Brahman, is the realm of suffering. O Brahman, sometimes your words seem unclear to me, and their meaning eludes my understanding. When Rama thus spoke, the sage Vasistha, lion among sages, reflected deeply on how best to instruct the descendant of Raghu. He saw that Rama’s mind had expanded greatly, though not yet fully purified; it had gained some clarity, but was still unsettled by the reality before him. Rama’s mind was well-developed, he knew what was to be known, and was wise—he had reached the far shore of the teachings on liberation through discrimination. No one has any fault, nor is there ignorance in the Self, O Raghava; but until these truths are spoken and understood, there is no true rest. For one whose understanding is only half-developed, it is not proper to declare all is Brahman; such a one, contemplating enjoyment with this view, perishes. Only for one who has attained the supreme vision does the desire for enjoyment fall away. At the time of final conclusion, it is fitting for Rama to hold that all is Brahman. At first, the disciple should be purified through qualities such as tranquility and self-control; only then should he be instructed that all this is Brahman, and that he himself is pure. If someone, ignorant and only half-awakened, declares that all is Brahman, he is ensnared in great suffering. But for one whose intellect is awakened, whose desires for enjoyment are exhausted, and who is free from expectation, it is appropriate to recognize: there is no impurity of ignorance. Having considered all this, the blessed sage Vasistha, remover of the darkness of ignorance and illuminator of the earth, spoke to Rama: “O Raghava, the notion of stain in Brahman—whether it exists or not—should be spoken of only at the time of final conclusion; you will know it yourself, O sinless one.” The one who knows this never deviates from equanimity, even when affected by smiling, wonder, delusion, joy, or anger. When it exists, illumination is like a lamp; when it exists, day is like the sun; when it exists, fragrance is like a flower. In the same way, the world arises spontaneously. This world is merely an appearance, or perhaps only seems to be seen; like the movement of the wind, it is neither truly existent nor non-existent, but remains as if in between. Here, that which is not of the nature of the Self perishes; but that which is of the nature of the Self can never perish. Having cut through the poisonous tree of worldly existence—whose form is adorned with buds of hope, shaken by the fierce serpents of suffering, blossoming with pleasures, and flowered with old age, shining with the creeper of craving—having broken the chains of the self with the sword of discernment, you are liberated, O Rama, and may roam freely, like an elephant released from its post. Then Rama asked, “How do these living beings arise from the state of Brahman? What is their extent and nature? Please explain this in detail, O Lord. How do the various kinds of beings arise from Brahman? How do they come to destruction, and how do they attain liberation? How do they grow, how do they remain, and how do they become hidden?” Vasistha replied, “Listen, O mighty-armed one, I will explain this to you step by step, O sinless one. The pure Brahmanic power of consciousness, by its own will, creates; being the source of all powers, it is itself knowable and becomes the very nature of creation. When imagination becomes dense, whatever it conceives by itself, that afterwards attains the status of reality in the realm of the mind. By mere intention of the mind, in an instant, like a city of the Gandharvas, this unreal appearance is produced, abandoning the divine vision. What remains is the essential nature of consciousness, perfectly empty; whatever is seen as existing is, for us, only like space. Having formed the intention of the lotus-born, one sees the form of the lotus-born; then, one imagines the world, beginning with one’s own progenitor. In this way, O Rama, this knowledge, accompanied by the humming of the countless fourteenfold classes of beings, has arisen as a creation of the mind. It is made only of mind, empty, with space alone as its body—a city made only of imagination, existing solely as delusion and unreality.