January 21, 2026
sā nānāto ‘pyanānāto yathā ‘ṇḍarasabarhiṇaḥ
advaitādvaitasattātmā tathā brahmajagadbhramaḥ (31)
VASIṢṬHA continued:
Time, space and other factors in this so-called creation (which is in truth another aspect of the same consciousness) are none other than consciousness. When it is realised that all these are but thoughts and notions and that the self is one and indivisible, how then are these regarded as unreal? In the seed there is nothing but the seed, no diversity. At the same time there is the notion of potential diversity (of flowers, fruits) supposedly present in the seed. Even so, cosmic consciousness is one, devoid of diversity; yet the universe of diversity is said to exist only in notion.
The stone is single; the notion of numerous lotuses arises only in relation to that single stone. Even so the notion of diversity arises in consciousness without causing diversity. But just as water in mirage is and is not simultaneously, even so is diversity in relation to the infinite consciousness. All this is indeed Brahman, the infinite consciousness. Even as the notion of the existence of lotuses in the stone does not destroy the stone, Brahman is unaffected by world-appearance which exists as the very nature of Brahman in Brahman. There is no essential difference in truth between Brahman and the world: they are synonyms. When the reality is thus seen, Brahman alone is seen.
Even as all that is seen as water in the world is naught but hydrogen and oxygen gases, even so the world-appearance is but Brahman alone. The one consciousness appears as the mind, the mountains, etc., even as the multicoloured feathers and the wings of the peacock are present in the egg of the peacock. This power or faculty is potentially present in the infinite consciousness. Whatever is now seen as the diverse objects of the universe, if it is seen with the eye of wisdom (the eye that is wisdom), then, only Brahman or the infinite consciousness will be seen. For that is non-dual though apparently diverse, just like the notion of diversity in the fluid in the peacock’s egg. The notion of Brahman and the world is therefore both dual and non-dual. That which is the substratum for all these notions of unity and diversity – that is the supreme state.
The infinite consciousness pervades the entire universe, and the universe exists in the infinite consciousness. The relationship is one of diversity and non-diversity – just as the numerous parts of the peacock are in the one egg-substance. Where is the diversity in all this?