October 17, 2026
animīlitanetrasya yasya viśvaṁ pralīyate
sa kṣībaḥ paramārthena hā śete sukhamātmavān (29)
VASIṢṬHA continued:
He to whom joy is no joy and sorrow is no sorrow, he is a liberated one. He whose heart is not agitated even while being engaged in pleasure is a liberated one. He is a liberated one who rejoices in pure consciousness itself, as well as in the objective world.
RĀMA asked:
If the liberated one does not find pleasure in pleasure and sorrow in sorrow, then surely he is insentient and insensitive.
VASIṢṬHA continued:
Because his awareness is totally absorbed in consciousness, he does not experience pleasure unless he makes an effort to do so. He is said to rest in consciousness. His doubts have been dissolved and his contact with all the objects of the world is flavoured by wisdom. The world has lost its “taste” for him, though he is still active in it, doing what needs to be done from moment to moment.
On account of the fact that the liberated ones thus rest in the self or consciousness, they appear to be asleep though they are engaged in activity. In fact, they are not insentient nor insensitive. Because they treat this world-appearance as if it were a long dream, they are considered to be “asleep”, not because they are insentient. They rest in that truth or supreme peace which is utterly dark as night to the ignorant: therefore they are considered to be asleep, but they are not insentient. Since they are disinterested in the world of the ignorant, they are considered to be asleep in the world. They rejoice in the self at all times; hence they are not insentient. They have risen above sorrow.
Having roamed this saṁsāra and experienced all kinds of pleasure and pain, the jīva has the good fortune to come into contact with a holy one and cross this ocean of saṁsāra. He sleeps in great peace even without a bed. Though he is engaged in intense activity here, he enjoys the peace of deep sleep. This is a great wonder. This “sleep” cannot be disturbed by anything. He is truly intoxicated who does not see “the world” even though his eyes are wide open. He enjoys the bliss of deep sleep. He has dispelled the notion of the world from his heart and he has reached fullness. He has quaffed nectar and he is at peace. His delight is independent of pleasure. He has turned away from greed. He knows that in every atom there is a universe. He is engaged in diverse and intense activity, though he does nothing. He is aware that this world-appearance has the same reality as a dream, thus he has entered into the peace and the bliss of deep sleep. His consciousness is more expansive than even space. By a supreme self-effort, he has realised self-knowledge and he lives as if he were seeing a long dream in pure space. He is fully awake and enlightened, though he appears to be asleep; he enjoys the greatest delight, though he appears to be asleep. He has reached the highest state.