O Rama, listen with attention as the sage reveals the subtle workings of perception and the mind. There exists a third mode of perception, both moving and unmoving, which is nothing but a fixation of imagination. This imagination acts as a snare, binding the entire world of beings, just as birds are trapped in a net. Yet, one who views this world with a detached mind—seeing it as uncertain, both real and unreal, like a delusion experienced in a dream—does not sink into suffering. For those whose self-conceptions arise amidst these imagined forms, confusing the true and false natures, ignorance alone prevails. But know, defects like change do not touch the great Self, the supreme Self, just as dust cannot remain in pure water. This imagination, which colors the world with words and their meanings, arises only for the sake of worldly dealings and is never separate from the Self. Without practical engagement, the teachings of the scriptures cannot attain stability, much like threads cannot hold together without a fabric. The Self cannot be found while wandering the path of ignorance; it is attained only through self-knowledge, and this knowledge is drawn from the meaning of the scriptures. O Rama, the far shore of the river of ignorance is reached only by attaining the Self, for the Self is the imperishable, unchanging state. This ignorance, which causes delusion, has arisen from somewhere and has firmly taken hold, covering the true state and remaining established. Do not concern yourself, Rama, with the question of where this ignorance has arisen from; rather, let your inquiry be: how shall I destroy it? When ignorance has diminished and faded, O Raghava, you will fully know—without division—whence it came, what it was, and how it was lost. In truth, ignorance does not exist at all; it only appears when not examined. Who can know the form of an unreal delusion, and from where it arises? This ignorance has grown strong, taking on form only for the sake of causing harm; by destroying it forcefully, you will come to true understanding. Even those who are brave and wise throughout the three worlds are not truly so, if they are rendered helpless by ignorance. Therefore, in this hospital of disease, make every effort at treatment, so that ignorance will not again subject you to the pain of birth. Uproot ignorance completely—it is the sole companion of all misfortunes, the blossom of the tree of unknowing, the mother of the caravan of calamities. Forcefully cast aside this distorted vision, which brings fear, poison, unbearable suffering, and calamity, filling the heart with the dense darkness of delusion; then, you will reach the far shore of the ocean of existence. Listen, Raghava, to the remedy for the disease of ignorance, which is widespread and difficult to cure, but is destroyed simply by seeing through the false and agitated mind. Rama, hear now about the sattvic nature, which I am prepared to describe, so that you may examine the power of the mind. That which is immortal—Brahman, all-pervading, free from affliction, the reflection of consciousness, called the Infinite, beginningless, and devoid of confusion—truly exists. The vibration of this consciousness arises from a certain region, just as the movement of the moon’s ocean causes a swelling. Just as water within the ocean, through agitation, appears to become solidified, so too all power gathers in one place and becomes the power of vibration. Just as the wind moves in the sky by its own power, so the Self, by its own inherent energy, becomes active within itself. Like a lamp rising up by the power of its own flame, the Self shines forth in its own true form. Within the ocean, water sometimes shines and sometimes moves; so too, within the body of all powers, vibration appears with its own playfulness. As a sea of molten gold sparkles with circles of light, so the ocean of consciousness in the self flashes with pure pulsations. Just as the movement of a pearl is seen in the sky by the eye, so the radiant form of Brahman’s own power arises from consciousness. That power of consciousness, slightly stirred, shines purely in the great ocean of consciousness, just as a wave arises in the ocean itself. It remains not separate from the self, yet appears as if separate—like the brilliance of light within the depths of illumination, having attained density. For a moment, that goddess, flashing as all power, gathers her own power herself, just as the moon gathers its coolness. This consciousness-power, called illumination, arising from the supreme Self, draws together the powers of space, time, and action, its companions. Without knowing its own nature, though it pervades the infinite realm, it imagines its form as limited, though its true being is not distinguished. Whenever that supreme beloved conceives a form, immediately the perceptions of name, number, and so forth follow her. In this very state, consciousness remains distinct from the embodied self; yet, being infinite, it swiftly enters into it, like a wave from the great ocean. Just as the difference between bracelets and armlets is not truly distinct from gold, so the form imagined by consciousness is only a partial aspect of the self. Like one lamp lighting other lamps with its own flame, the form conceived by consciousness is a variation due to differences of place, time, and measure. Then, consciousness, stirred by the power of the movements of place and time, following thought, enters into the state of calculation. O mighty-armed one, the form of consciousness, imagined by conceptualization and situated in place, time, and action, is called the ‘knower of the field.’ They say the ‘field’ is the body, and that one knows it without division, both externally and internally; therefore, he is called the ‘knower of the field.’ This knower, fabricating desires, again assumes the state of ego; and the ego, when determined, is called the intellect associated with time. Thus, O Rama, the sage reveals the profound nature of consciousness, the workings of imagination and ignorance, and the path to uprooting delusion and reaching the imperishable Self.