As the sage, his mind and words utterly pure, spoke to Rama, a profound transformation took place within the prince. Rama, listening intently, felt as if he had been washed clean, his heart filled with the sweet nectar of wisdom. A cool serenity settled over him, gentle and luminous, like the full moon bathing the night in its soothing light. With deep respect, Rama addressed the sage: “O Lord, you who know all dharmas, master of the Vedas and Vedanta, your pure words have brought me reassurance and peace. Your teachings are noble, detached, gracious, and always appropriate; I never tire of hearing your voice. Yet, O Lord, in your discourse you have spoken of the origin of the lotus-born one—Brahma—as being of rajasic-sattvic nature by birth. But a doubt lingers in my heart, O great soul, you who dispel all doubts—please, I ask you to clarify this swiftly. “In some scriptures, it is said that Brahma was born from a lotus; in others, from the sky, from an egg, or from water. How, then, is the wondrous origin of the lotus-born one truly described in the sacred texts? “O Raghava, countless ages of Brahma have passed; hundreds of supreme Shankaras, thousands of Narayanas have come and gone. Even now, in many other marvelous and innumerable universes, thousands of beings engage in their own customs and enjoyments. And in the endless cycles of time, in worlds yet to come, many more universes will arise in great abundance. “O mighty-armed one, the origins of celestial beings—those born from the lotus and others—are described as manifold within the heavens, each emerging in different cosmic eggs. Sometimes, creation springs from Shiva; sometimes from the lotus-born Brahma; at other times from Vishnu, or even from sages themselves. Brahma may be born from a lotus, or from the waters, or from the cosmic egg, or even from the sky. “In some universes, the three-eyed one is the sun; in others, it is Indra; in some, the lotus-eyed one; and in others, again, it is the three-eyed Lord. In certain creations, the earth is filled with dense, impenetrable forests; in others, it teems with people; in yet others, it is covered with mountains. Sometimes the earth is made of clay, sometimes of stone, sometimes of smoke, and sometimes even of flesh. “Here itself, some worlds are of one kind, others entirely different; some interpenetrate each other, while others remain wholly distinct. In this vast expanse of Brahman’s reality, countless worlds arise and dissolve, like waves upon the ocean. Just as waves in the sea, mirages in the desert, or blossoms on a mango tree, so too are the glories of the universe in the Supreme. “One might count the motes of dust in a sunbeam, but not the hosts of worlds moving within the ever-shifting reality of Brahman. Like swarms of gnats rising and perishing again and again in the sugarcane fields during the rains, so do these creations of worlds come and go. No one knows from what time or for what reason these endless cycles of creation and dissolution arise. “Without beginning, they ceaselessly come and go, like waves on water—each new creation preceded by another, stretching back without end. The hosts of gods, demons, humans, and other beings continually arise and dissolve, just as the patterns of waves on a river—such are all the classes of beings. “Just as this cosmic egg of Brahma exists, so too do countless series of universes, exhausted by the thousands over time, like reeds swept away in a stream. Others exist now, possessing bodies in the present, beyond this city of Brahma, in the vast expanse of the Absolute. In that Absolute, many other glories of Brahma’s city will arise in the future, and in the past, many have perished—appearing and disappearing like spoken words. “In the Absolute, other lines of creation will arise and remain, just as pots are shaped from a mass of clay, or shoots and leaves emerge from a sprout. As long as there is water in the ocean, so are the waves made of water; likewise, as long as there is Brahman in the space of consciousness, so are the glories of the three worlds. “Though these worlds appear vast, transformed, and splendid, when observed deeply, they are nothing at all—emerging and submerging, neither truly real nor wholly unreal. They are inert, endowed with qualities, slender like the stalks of the śevala plant, wave-like in their nature—their bodies seen and then lost. “The countless worlds of creation display wondrous movements, transformations, and marvelous forms, each with its own appearance. Yet, O Rama, all these visions of creation are not separate from the Supreme Lord; they belong to the knower of truth, just as rains arise from water. Creations arise from the Divine, just as rains come from clouds; all are born from That alone, like visions from light. “All these visions of creation are not separate from the Supreme Lord; yet they appear distinct, like the spikes on the silk-cotton tree. Among these creations, O Raghava, some are excellent, some inferior, yet the Supreme remains, touched only by the subtlest impurity of space. “Sometimes, space first attains stability, and then Brahma is born from it—the progenitor arising from space. Sometimes, air first attains stability, and then Brahma is born from it. Sometimes, water first attains fullness, and then Brahma is born from it. Sometimes, the earth first expands, and from it, Brahma arises—the lord of creatures emerging from the earth. “When the four elements are compressed and the fifth increases in power, then, by the force of that, O Lord, the ruler performs the activity of the world.” Thus, Rama’s questions and the sage’s profound responses reveal the wondrous, infinite, and ever-changing nature of creation, all rooted in the one eternal Supreme.