March 20, 2026
evaṁ jagadbhramasyā ‘sya bhāvanaṁ tāvadātataṁ
śilībhūtasya śītena salilasyeva rūkṣatā (2)
ŚIKHIDHVAJA asked:
If all this – from the Creator to the pillar – is unreal, how has this real sorrow come into being?
KUṀBHA replied:
This delusion of the world-existence attains expansion by its repeated affirmation: when water is frozen into a block it serves as a seat! Only when ignorance is dispelled does one realise the truth; only then does the original state manifest itself. When the perception of diversity is attenuated, then this saṁsāra ceases to be experienced and you shine in your own original glory.
Thus, you are the supreme primordial being. This body, this form, etc., have come into being on account of ignorance and misunderstanding. All these notions of a creator and of a creation of diverse beings have not been proved to be real. When the cause is unproven how can one take the effect to be real?
All these diverse creatures are but appearances like water in the mirage. Such a deceptive appearance ceases on being enquired into.
ŚIKHIDHVAJA asked:
Why can it not be said that the supreme self or the infinite consciousness (Brahman) is the cause whose effect is the Creator?
KUṀBHA replied:
Brahman or the supreme self is one without a second, without a cause and without an effect for it has no reason (motivation or need) to do anything, to create anything. It is therefore not the doer, neither is there any action, instrument nor seed for such activity. Hence it is not the cause for this creation or the Creator.
Hence, there is no such thing as creation. You are therefore neither the doer of actions nor the enjoyer of experiences. You are the all, ever at peace, unborn and perfect. Since there is no cause (reason for creation), there is no effect known as the world; the world-appearance is but delusion.
When thus the objectivity of the world is seen to be unreal, what is experience and of what? When there is no experience, there is no experiencer (the egosense). Thus, you are pure and liberated. Bondage and liberation are mere words.
ŚIKHIDHVAJA said:
Lord, by the wise and well-reasoned words which you have uttered I have been fully awakened. I realise that, since there is no cause, Brahman is not the doer of anything nor the creator of anything. Hence, there is no mind nor an egosense. Such being the case, I am pure, I am awakened. I salute my self, there is naught which is the object of my consciousness.