Horse implies mind reined by ten senses. King is the Soul riding the Horse. Human body is the country ruled by many kings - Ignorance, Lust, Anger, Greed, Attachment, and Ego with their subsidiaries. Powerful King is one who overcomes all resistance, recovers entire bodily kingdom from opposing forces and sacrifices this Horse (Mind) at the eye centre to the Creative Power. There is no physical sacrifice.

1. ADVAITAC STORIES – PART TWO
Introduction
Tripura Rahasaya and Yogavaashishta are two of the best Advaitic texts gifted by the
Sages of the yore to the sincere seekers of Self-realization. The charm of these two books
lies in the fact that the abstract Truths of the Advaita are presented here through
intriguing narratives. Without the hardships of Yoga, penance and asceticism, any one
of any age or gender can reach the state of Self-realization just by comprehending the
hidden truths in the narratives.
Unfortunately these two scriptures are not very popular. Their unpopularity might be
due to the fact that most of the narratives present ordinary women playing the role of
wives as realized souls teaching their husbands the truths of Advaita. However, these
unique narratives contain highly abstract topics like space/time paradox, parallel
universes etc. Each narrative is indeed a ladder to Self-realization and highly
beneficial to any sincere seeker of Self-State.
It is sincerely hoped that spiritual students will attain the state of Self-realization sooner
than ever like Sri Rama and Sage Parashuraama who listened to these stories with
sincerity and realized the Self.
Om Tat Sat!

2. THE STORY OF GANDA HILL
GANDASHAILAKATHA
The Sacred City of Sundara in the country of Vanga was ruled by a wise King named
Susena. His younger brother Mahasena was extremely loyal and revered his brother
like Lakshmana devoted to Sri Rama. Under the righteous rule of the King the
citizens lived happily without any problem. They adored their King like God.
Once, Susena performed the Horse-Sacrifice or Ashva-Medha Sacrifice.
(This Sacrifice can be performed only by the most powerful of Kings. A suitable horse chosen
and dedicated for Sacrifice is allowed to roam wherever it pleases. The King himself or his
chosen representative follows the horse at a distance accompanied by a retinue. The horse is a
challenge to the kings in whose country it roams; many battles are fought until the horse is
successfully brought back and the Sacrifice performed.)
As ordained by the scriptures, the horse was left free to wander as it pleased. Many
valiant princes accompanied by a huge army followed the horse. They conquered many
a king who opposed them and at last reached the banks of River Irrawaddy. (The
Ayeyarwady River or Irrawaddy River flows from north to south of Burma (Myanmar).
It is the country's largest river –about 1350 miles or 2170 km long.)
One Royal Sage named GANA was sitting on the river bank absorbed in penance.
The princes and their army were too bloated in their heads by their victorious journey

3. and did not even bother to salute the Sage. They just ignored him and walked past
him with marked arrogance.
The Sage had a son aged about ten years. He was playing on the river bank when he
noticed the arrogant behavior of the Princes and their army. He was infuriated by the
insult rendered to his Father. He caught the horse and ran away. All the soldiers were
annoyed by the child’s prank and chased him. He was soon surrounded by the whole
of the army. The child ran towards a small hillock called GANDA situated nearby.
In front of their very eyes, the boy entered that hillock and vanished from sight. The
soldiers puzzled by this magical feat went round and round the hillock searching for
any hidden door. Finding no entrance anywhere, they started to break the hill in anger.
Immediately the boy came out of it with a huge army, fought them all and defeated
them in no time. He took many prisoners of war, including all the princes and re-
entered the hill. Some wounded soldiers somehow escaped from there and reported all
that had happened to King Susena. Susena became anxious about the whole thing.
He called his younger brother Mahasena and addressed him thus: “Dear brother! I am
highly anxious about the happenings at the banks of the River Irrawaddy. A Sage
should never be disrespected. These Sages who perform penance have more power
than even gods. You immediately go there where Sage Gana is performing penance.
Apologize to him profusely and ask forgiveness for the idiotic behavior of the princes
and their armies. Bring them back with his permission. The horse Sacrifice has to be
performed soon and there is no time to waste.
Do not in any way act arrogantly towards the Sage. Do not become the object of his
anger in any way. If enraged, these Sages have the power to reduce the whole world to
ashes. Approach him with respect. Appease him with proper worship. Your purpose is
to bring back the horse and the army. So be very careful as to how you behave.”
Mahasena accepted his assignment without hesitation and immediately left on his
mission. Soon he reached the place where Sage Gana was performing penance. The
Sage was deeply absorbed in contemplation. He appeared devoid of thoughts and
was like a deep calm ocean where there danced no waves. Mahasena was overcome by
devotion and saluted the Sage with all humility he could muster. He recited hymns in
praise of the Sage and praised him with wonderful words. The Sage was not moved.
But Mahasena continued his worship without a break. Three days passed this way.
The Sage’s son was watching all this unobserved by the visitor. He was highly
pleased. He approached Mahasena and said: “I am happy that you have shown respect
to my Father. Tell me what you desire and I will immediately fulfill it. I am the son
of this Sage Gana, the Supreme ascetic.”

4. Mahasena did not feel much enthusiastic about the words uttered by the boy. He said
he wanted to talk only to the Sage and was waiting for him to wake up from his
penance.
The boy patiently explained to him everything. “Listen O King! My father is now in
Kevala Nirvikalpa Samadhi – The contemplative trance state of Self without the
slightest vibration! He remains in that state for twelve years before he wakes up. Now
only five years have passed. You have to wait seven years for him to wake up. So
better tell me what you want! Do not think degradingly of me. I am in every way a true
son of my revered father. Nothing is impossible for a Sage in penance! I will fulfill any
request of yours. Ask!”
Mahasena understood the greatness of the boy and immediately saluted him with due
respect. He held the hands of the boy and pleaded: “O Child of the Great Sage! I want
only one thing! Please fulfill it! I want to request your father for something urgently.
Wake him from his contemplative state. Then I will ask him what I want to ask. I
cannot wait for seven years as you say!”
The boy patiently replied: “O King! Your request is hard to grant. But I cannot break
my promise to you too! But wait for at least an hour or so and be a witness to my Yogic
powers. My father is in deep trance. He cannot wake up by external efforts. I will
have to enter his inner faculty and wake him up”.
So saying he sat in a yogic posture; withdrew his senses; united the in-going and
outgoing breaths; exhaled all the air out; and was motionless for a while. He entered
his father’s mind in a subtle form by yogic power, created an agitation there and
returned to his own body.
Next moment the Sage woke up. He saw Mahasena sitting in front of him in a humble
posture. Mahasena recited hymns in praise of the Sage and saluted him. The Sage
understood immediately all that had happened. A gentle smile appeared on his face
and he called his son near him. Seating him on his lap with affection said: “Child! What
you have done is not the right thing. Anger is an obstacle to penance. We Rishis can
peacefully perform penance because the King protects us from all dangers. The King
is now performing a Sacrifice and we should not cause any hindrance to it wantonly. Be
a good boy and return the horse and the Princes immediately. Do not delay because
the Sacrifice needs to be completed in the appointed hour.”
The boy consented to his father’s command and immediately went to the hill. He
entered inside and brought back the horse and the princes. He handed them over to
Mahasena and sat happily on his father’s lap.

5. Mahasena ordered the Princes to return to the city with the horse quickly. He saluted
the Sage once again and enquired in wonderment: “O Lord! The hill is so small.
Moreover there is no visible entrance also anywhere on it. Then how was it possible
for your son to hide the horse and the army inside the hill?”
The compassionate Sage replied: “Listen O King! In the past, I was an emperor ruling
the Kingdom bound by oceans on all sides. I was an ardent worshipper of Tripura
Devi. Soon Her Grace descended on me and I got disinterested in all worldly affairs.
All the wealth and luxuries appeared worthless like trash to me. I handed over the
Kingdom to the care of my sons and retired to the forest. My wife also accompanied me.
We passed many years in austerities and penance.
But one day my wife was overcome with passion and embraced me when I was
absorbed in contemplative trance. She gave birth to this child. She was struck with
remorse. She woke me up, deposited the child in my hands and gave up her life. I
brought up this motherless child with extreme care and affection. When he grew up a
little he heard that I was an emperor in the past. He requested me that he too wants to
be an emperor.
I initiated him in Yoga. He practiced it diligently and attained Siddhis. By his own
power, he created a world inside this hillock and rules it. That is where he took the
horse and the princes. This is the secret of the hill”. The Sage smiled and embraced his
son affectionately.
Mahasena’s curiosity now knew no bounds. He asked the Sage eagerly: “Ah! What a
wonderful account! Such a small hill and a world inside it! Can I be permitted to see
it? Will you please grant my request?”
The Sage nodded his head and addressed his son thus: “Son! Take him wherever he
wants and satisfy his curiosity”. The Sage relapsed back into his Trance state.
The boy took Mahasena’s hand in his hand and went near the hill. As soon as he
reached the rocky wall, he just entered inside and vanished. Mahasena was stranded
outside. He stood there stupefied. He called out for the Sage’s son from outside the hill.
The boy shouted back from the inside. He came out and said: “Listen King; this won’t
do! You do not seem to possess enough Yogic power to enter the hill. We have to use
some other technique. I cannot disobey my father. You saw how I used my Yogic power
to wake up my father. You have to do something similar to it.
So leave your gross body in a hole and cover it with bushes, so it is safe from animals
and insects. Then enter the hill along with me only covered by Manomaya Kosha- the
mind sheath.”

6. The King prepared a hole and sat there. He covered the hole with bushes and controlled
his breath. Nothing happened. He called out to the boy and said: “I am not capable of
moving out of my gross body. If I forcibly block my breath I will die. Tell me how to
walk out of this body and obtain the subtle form!”
The boy laughed aloud and said: “You do not seem to know any proper Yogic
methods. I will help you. First close your eyes.”
The King closed his eyes and became unconscious within seconds by the Yogic power
of the boy. Then the boy entered the King’s inner faculty in a subtle form, dragged
the subtle form of the King which was desirous of seeing the Kingdom inside the
hill. The gross body of the King lay in the hole covered with bushes as if lifeless.
The boy entered inside the hill along with the subtle body of the King. Once inside he
woke up the sleeping mind of the King to the dream state. The King woke up to see a
wide expanse of space all around him. He was overcome with fear. He pleaded with
the boy not to forsake him in that infinite space to perish. The boy was amused by the
behavior of the frightened King and laughed aloud.
He consoled the King saying: “Do not be frightened. I will not forsake you. Just
observe everything fearlessly and enjoy the journey.”
The King gathered up courage and looked all around him. He understood that he was
now in his subtle body and had more freedom to float anywhere without meeting
any obstacle.
He looked up. Above him was the dark sky filled with innumerable stars. He
ascended into the night sky and looked down below. He floated towards the moon and
shivered in cold. He was frozen. He floated towards the sun and felt its scorching rays.
He was burnt. The boy used his powers to make the King feel normal.
Then guided by the boy, the King understood that the region where they were was a
counterpart of heaven. The boy took him to the summit of the Himalayas and the King
saw the Earth below it. The boy gave him yogic vision and now the King was able to
see the entire Earth. He could see distant lands and even other worlds beside this
one.
In some worlds there was only darkness; In some worlds everything was gold; there
were oceans and island continents traversed by rivers and mountains; there were
heavens peopled by Indra and the Gods, the Asuras, human beings, the Rakshasas
and other races of celestials.

7. He witnessed a huge court room where the boy was sitting on a diamond studded
throne as the Emperor of that world. The court room was filled with ministers and
other attendants.
He saw an enormous fortress where a huge army was waiting to do any bidding of
the emperor. He saw a beautiful city where people moved about doing their various
errands.
He also observed with wonder that the boy had divided himself as Brahma in Satya
Loka, Vishnu in Vaikunta and Shiva in Kailaasa while all the time he remained as his
original-Self, the emperor ruling in the present world.
‘Such a small hill; and inside it - a complete Universe with its own gods’! The King
was unable to understand the phenomenon. He felt overjoyed by all these amazing
sights. He wandered here and there like a child with a new toy and at last returned to
the presence of the boy beaming in happiness.
The boy looked at him with amusement for a few seconds and announced with an
expression less face: “Well done! Only a day has elapsed in all these sightseeing
adventures. But twelve thousand years have passed in your world by now. Let us
return to my father.”
The King was shocked by his statement. Before he could retort he was drowned in
senseless sleep. The boy came out of the hill with the subtle body of the King; united it
with the gross body in the hole covered with bushes and woke him up.
Mahasena opened his eyes and walked out of the hole. He looked around in utter
disbelief. The world had changed completely. The people were different; river was
different; trees were different; in fact it was in no way like the world he left behind
when he entered the hill! He collapsed on the ground exhausted by the sheer shock.
With choking voice he asked the boy: “O Great one! What has happened? Where are
we? Where are all the familiar scenes? In which world are we? How long have we
been inside?”
The Sage’s son laughed again and said: “O King! This is the same world we left behind!
We have been away for quite a long time. Countless changes have occurred here
meanwhile. In our world we spent just a day touring all the places. But in this world
our one day of that world equals some twelve thousand years; that is why everything
looks so different now!
People have changed a lot and so has the language, culture all changed! But it is
natural; nothing to be amazed about it. I have seen such changes myself many times.

8. See in that direction. My father is still sitting in his trance state. See that place..? That
is where you sat and recited hymns in his praise. See in the other direction. That is the
same hill we entered and came out now!”
The King held his head in his hands and closed his eyes in utter bewilderment. He
could not even scream. The shock was too much for him. Incoherent sounds came out of
his mouth. He managed to steady himself for a second and asked: “My brother? My
country? My wife, children..? Where are they?”
The boy was not able to understand the agony of the King. For him this time-change
was just a sport. It was his regular game. Go inside the hill and come out, the whole
world outside would be different. He used to enjoy the changed environment and
played there till its newness was exhausted. And getting bored of that world he would
enter the hill again. After a few hours when he reentered this world many thousand
years would have elapsed and he would again play for some time in the new world.
Since only a few hours passed in his life, he never aged. His father was there always
in a trance state. He could wake him up any time he wanted; so their life had no
problems. It was a common occurrence for them. The Sage safe guarded his own body
and the hill by the power of Yoga. But to the King who was used to only one life in
one world, all this was shocking. The boy was unable to understand his anxiety. The
King was weeping aloud now!
The boy felt compassionate and explained everything to him patiently. “O King! Your
brother is no more ruling your country. His progeny has increased to thousands. Even
your country does not exist anymore. Dark impenetrable jungles cover that area;
jackals, tigers and many other wild creatures wander there now.
The Vanga country with the city of Sundara is not there. But one VeeraBahu who is
born in your brother’s line rules the Country of Maalva, with his capital as Vishaala on
the banks of the River Kshipra. Another Susharma of the same dynasty rules the
country of Dravidas with his capital as Vardhana, situated on the banks of River
Tambrabharani. That is how the world changes in course of time. Nothing ever
remains the same even for a short span of time!
Rivers change their courses; mountains break down and raise elsewhere; lakes get
covered with grounds and new lakes appear elsewhere! Mountains subside; plains
heave high; deserts become fertile; plateaus change to sandy tracts; rocks decompose
and become silt; clay hardens sometimes; cultivated farms become barren and barren
lands are brought under tillage; precious stones become valueless and trinkets become
invaluable; salt water becomes sweet and potable waters become brackish; some lands
contain more people than cattle, others are infested with wild beasts; and yet others are
invaded by venomous reptiles, insects and vermin. Such are some of the changes that

9. happen on the Earth in course of time. But there is no doubt that this is the same
earth as we were in before.”
Mahasena could not believe what he heard. His head reeled. A wailing scream
escaped his throat and he fainted instantly. The boy felt anxious. He sprinkled some
cool waters on the King’s face and revived him. He made the King comfortably seated
under a shady tree. The King was weeping uncontrollably. He remembered his noble
brother and his family; he remembered his own wife and sons. He called out their
name again and again and shed tears.
The boy waited till the King poured out all his sorrow. The King had no more tears
left. He leaned on the tree trunk exhausted by sheer mental anguish. His eyes were
staring blankly at nowhere.
The boy sat next to him and said in a tender voice: “O King! You are sensible man!
What are you crying for? Who are you mourning for? What have you lost? What
purpose does your crying serve? Do not act childish! Do not act senseless! Steady
yourself and answer me; why are you immersed in such heavy sorrow? What use is
your grief? What do you think you have lost?”
The King was surprised by the boy’s enquiry. He answered in a slightly irritated tone:
“Why am I sad? As if you cannot understand it, being a great Yogi of unknown
powers! Can’t you see? I have lost everything; everything..!” The King burst out crying
once more.
Then after a while he composed himself and said: “Everyone feels sad when any
member of the family dies; nay even if an acquaintance dies. I have not lost just a
relation or friend; I have lost my whole world! I am in a strange world with nobody
to call my own! I am alone in this world now; I miss my brother, my wife, and my
children! Oh! What shall I do? What shall I do?” he again started weeping
uncontrollably.
The boy waited for some time and said: “O King! Do not get offended by my words.
My intention is not to hurt you. I just want to bring clarity into your thoughts. Why
should one cry if any one dies? Is it a custom or followed as a necessary ritual
generation after generation? Is it a great sin not to cry at death and destruction? Or do
you think you can get back everything by such grieving? Why should you weep at
all? What has happened to make you so sad?”
The King stared at the boy with slight irritation. He turned his face away and looked at
some far away mountain, as if not interested in further conversation. The boy was not to
be disconcerted. He continued his talks as before: “Ok! Let us agree that you have to
mourn for your close relatives and friends as a customary ritual like eating when

10. hungry or drinking when thirsty. You may have been habituated to cry at deaths. But
death has been happening always to everyone. Even your fore-fathers have died in the
past; why don’t you mourn for their loss?
Maybe you will tell me that you are mourning for those related by blood. Then do
the bacteria which existed on the bodies of your parents and others are also related to
you? They were part of your parents’ bodies too! Why don’t you cry for them too? They
were nourished by the blood of your parents. They are your relations too! Who are
you and who are they? Whose deaths cause you this unbearable grief?”
The King looked at boy. His interest was kindled. But he did not give any reply but
did not seem to mind the continuous chatter of the lad.
The boy continued: “You think you are this body made of flesh, blood and bones!
Your body is just a conglomerate of different substances! Even if one small part is
damaged, the whole body suffers. Every second old cells keep dying and new cells get
generated without a break. If all the bacteria, cells, and limbs are the ‘You’, then you
must cry when sweat pours out too, when excretions happen too! But you don’t mind
their loss!
Those whom you consider as mother, father, brother, wife, children etc. are bodies
too made of similar parts. The bodies are just a collection of atoms and dissipate into
the atmosphere when death occurs. Dust returns to dust! Bodies are just made of
earth and return to earth at death; earth resolves into energy! Nothing is lost!
Moreover the body you identify with as ‘you’ is actually ‘yours’ and not ‘you’! It is as
much ‘yours’ as the garment you wear is ‘yours’! There is no difference between both.
Can you doubt this statement? Neither this body nor any other body of any other
person has any relation to you.
But you call this body as yours; that is all! Just like any garment worn by others and
your own garment do not differ except for the ownership; just like you cannot
consider another person’s clothes as yours; you do not claim ownership of other
bodies too!
There is indeed no difference between a garment and a body. Why then mourn over
the loss of bodies, which are in no way different from garments? Whatever part of the
body you identify with as yourself is actually referred by you as ‘my’ body, ‘my’ eyes,
‘my’ life, ‘my’ mind and so on! Just tell me who you are!”
Mahasena was intrigued by this topic and started to think over the matter. But he
could not find any suitable answer to the query placed by the boy. He requested for

11. some free time to analyze the topic and got up. He wandered for some time alone on
the river bank thinking deeply about all that was said by the boy.
But unable to come to a conclusive answer, he returned and addressed the boy with
humility: “O Lord! I do not know who I am! I have thoroughly analyzed the topic, but
still cannot find out my true identity. I cannot tell you also why I cry for the dead ones;
it is just a natural reaction of the mind; I cannot account for it. O Master! I seek your
shelter.
Explain to me everything. Every one cries when someone dies; everyone is
overpowered by grief when his or her relative dies. And no one knows his or her
own Self; and no one mourns all deaths and losses. It is an individual preference! You
seem to know everything. Please accept me as your disciple and enlighten me about
everything.”
Being thus requested, the Sage’s son spoke to Mahasena: “Listen, O King! Misery is
synonymous with ignorance. All are deluded by the illusion cast by the Supreme
Queen Tripura. Ignorance of the Self alone is the cause of all miseries. As long as the
ignorance lasts; so long will there be misery. Misery is meaningless. Ignorance alone
takes the form of misery.
A person who is dreaming is alarmed by the happenings in the dream and suffers in
the dream; a fool is terrified by the serpents created in a magic performance. Similarly
a person who does not know his own Self is miserable and afraid of life.
A dreamer when awakened instantly loses all fear; a person who understands the
unreal nature of magic creations instantly laughs at his own foolishness; one who is
aware of his Self stops grieving about anything. O Valiant One! Batter down the
impregnable fortress of illusion and get rid of your sorrow; realize your own Self and be
always blissful! Take recourse to discrimination and do not act brainless!”
Mahasena now was stable enough in mind to argue back; he said: “Master! Your
examples are not correct. The unreality of the dreamer or a magic trick can be realized
to be illusory by waking up or after the show is over! But this hard concrete Universe
which you term as illusory is always there as a real experience. It cannot be disproved;
it exists as a continuous perception; you cannot wake up out of this illusion like
waking up from a dream; you cannot wait for the show to be over! The show ends
only with death!”
The Sage’s son answered:
S.S: No, the analogy is not wrong. You are now having a double delusion like a dream
inside the dream! Tell me your experience of the dream. Answer me from the
position of the dreamer and say whether the trees do not afford shade to the

12. pedestrians, and bear fruits for the use of others in the dream-world? For the
dreamer dream experience is real; he does not realize its unreality inside the
dream any time.
M.S: Dream is rendered false after waking up.
S.S: But in a dream or in deep sleep, the waking world is falsified; is it not so?
M.S: Waking state continues as it was after the dream is over; not so in dreams.
Dreams vary and differ every night! There is no continuity in dreams night after
night. The continuity is not evident in dream states.
S.S: But don’t you know that every moment you are seeing a different world in the
waking state? Is not the continuity broken up there? Do you suggest that the hills,
the seas and the earth itself are really permanent phenomena, in spite of the fact
that their appearance is constantly changing? Is not the dream-world also similarly
continuous with its earth, mountains, rivers, friends and relatives?
M.S: One cannot believe in the permanency of dream objects.
S.S: Extend the same reasoning to the nature of the wakeful world and know it to be
equally evanescent. The ever-changing objects like the body, trees, rivers, and
islands are easily found to be transitory. Even mountains are not immutable, for
their contours change owing to the erosion of waterfalls and mountain torrents;
ravages by men, boars and wild animals, insects; thunder; lightning and storms;
and so on. You will observe similar change in the seas and on earth. Analyze and
tell me whether it is not so?
M.S: Dream and wakefulness resemble each other in their discontinuous harmony
like a chain made up of links. There is no unbroken continuity in any object; one
new appearance presupposes the disappearance of a previous state; the new
appearance implies its later disappearance; but continuity cannot be denied in the
fundamentals underlying the objects; Clay becomes a pot; pot breaks again and
becomes pieces; but clay is the fundamental similarity in all the three states of the
pot. The Dream objects get falsified in the present wakeful state.
S.S: The fundamentals underlying the dream objects and waking state objects are
same. Both the dream pot and the waking state pot are made up of clay only.
M.S: Dream is an illusion; the fundamentals are also of illusory nature. Clay of the
dream pot is as illusory as the pot. But in the waking state the objects do not get
obliterated and are therefore real!

13. S.S: What is an illusion?
M.S: Illusion is determined by its transitory nature.
S.S: Transitory nature means appearance to and disappearance from the senses.
Right? But everything gets obliterated in deep sleep.
M.S: Dream state is false in waking state and waking state is false in dream state;
both are false in deep sleep state. Such mutual contradiction is unreliable as
evidence and so proves nothing.
S.S: It means Self-evident sight alone furnishes the full proof! This world experience
is self evident! Quite so, people like you do not have a true insight into the nature
of things.
Listen to my words. The present world is only similar to the dream world. Long
periods pass in dreams also. Therefore, purposefulness and enduring nature are in
every way similar to both states.
Just as you are obviously aware in your waking state, so also you are in your dream
state. These two states being so similar, why do you not mourn the loss of your
dream relations?
The wakeful universe appears so real to all only by force of habit. If the same be
imagined vacuous it will melt away into the void. One starts imagining something;
then contemplates it; and by continuous or repeated association resolves that it is true
unless contradicted. In that way, the world appears real in the manner one is used to it.
My world that you visited furnishes the proof thereof; come now, let us go round the
hill and see.”
Saying so, the Sage's son took the King, and went round the hill and returned to the
former spot. Then he continued: “Observe O King! The circuit of the hill is hardly two
miles and a half and yet you have seen a universe within it. Is it real or false? Is it a
dream or otherwise? What has passed as a day in that land, has counted for twelve
thousand years here, which is correct?
Think, and tell me. Obviously you cannot distinguish this from a dream and cannot
help concluding that the world is nothing but imagination. My world will disappear
instantly if I cease contemplating on it. Therefore convince yourself of the dream-like
nature of the world and do not indulge in grief at your brother’s death. Just as the
dream creations are pictures moving on the mind screens, so also this world
including yourself is the obverse of the picture depicted by pure intelligence. It is
nothing more than an image in a mirror.

14. Realize this and tell me. Will you anymore be elated by the accession of a dominion or
depressed by the death of a relative in your dream? Self is the Self-contained mirror
projecting and manifesting this world. Self is pure unblemished awareness. Do not
waste time! Realize the Self and attain transcendental bliss!”
Mahasena pondered over all the truths he heard from the boy. At last he got convinced
of the dreamlike nature of the world. He stopped sorrowing for his dead relatives.
He addressed the Sage’s son thus: “O Great one! You know this world and beyond. I do
not believe that there is anything that you do not know. Please answer me now. How
can you say that the whole Universe seen is pure imagination? However much I may
imagine, my imagination does not materialize. But you have created a Universe by
the force of your will. How do time and space differ in these creations? Please tell
me.”
On being thus asked, the Sage's son replied: The grossification of an imagination
depends upon the strength of the mind whether it is uniform or broken up by
indecision. We know that this world is a Creation of Brahma. This Universe is his
imagination. This looks real and permanent because the original desire is so
powerful. Whereas the world of your creation no one takes seriously, and your own
mistrust makes it useless.
How can we materialize conceptions?
• Lord Brahma naturally conceives this world and creates it because it is his ordained
function.
• Yakshas and Rakshasas (classes of celestial beings) possess magical gems which can
make true their wishes.
• Gods have the magical tree to bestow their desires. Yogis do it by the power of Yoga.
• Siddhas have attained miraculous power of hymns and create anything they want.
• Sages perform penance and gain power to do any impossible feat.
• Viswakarma can build any wondrous structure because the boons he possesses.
How can imagination become grossified?
• As long as the old idea is alive, a new idea cannot take root and materialize.
Suppose I ask you create a Universe inside this hill, you cannot do it because you
have a fixed notion that the hill is small and the Universe is big and will not fit
inside the hill.
• Your own doubt about your own creation proves an obstacle in grossifying your
imagination.
• One should forget the old associations in order to make one’s new conception
effective. The new conception will remain alive as a material as long as your will
holds it as true. Smallest doubt about its existence will immediately destroy it.

15. • Your will must be strong. Only then can the imagined world of yours can be stable.
Anything is possible that way.
• You must practice focusing your thoughts if you desire your creations to be stable.
And you were asking me also about the mystery of space and time.
• This world is full of varieties. What is good for one proves harmful to another.
• The Sun helps all to see but blinds the owls; water is the abode of fishes but drowns
man; fire burns a man but is food to tittiri (a species of bird); fire is ordinarily put
out by water but it flourishes in the middle of ocean at the time of dissolution.
• Similar discrepancies are evident elsewhere.
Similarly what we perceive also differs from person to person.
• A jaundiced eye sees everything yellow and myopia produces the double image of a
single object. Abnormal visions are thus the direct result of abnormal eyes.
• The Karandakas, in an Eastern island, are said to see everything red; so also the
inhabitants of Ramanaka isle see everything upside down.
• One hears many more strange stories of the kind, all of which are based on
abnormalities of vision. They can all be remedied by proper treatment.
• Other senses also give different experiences to different people.
Mental faculty also differs in everybody.
• Every one’s personal experience is unique. We can confirm the similarities only with
the help of language, but actually each person carries his own world in his mind.
• For a man waiting, time is lengthy; for a person who moves, time is shorter.
• For a person who walks, the distance proves to be longer. His conception of space
and time is longer than the person who travels by a horse.
• Even the space and time experienced by a horse rider is smaller for a person who
uses an air vehicle.
• Thus space and time experience is different for different persons and relative to
the mind of the observer.
• There is no absolute space and time fixed as such. We only create space and time
projections and place the objects nearer or distant.
I have conceived that only a few hours should pass for me inside the hill in
comparison with the hundreds of years outside the hill. It helps me pass time quickly
and my father can remain in penance for a longer time without being anxious about my
welfare. He knows I am safe inside the hill-universe. Every time I come out I see the
changes that have happened outside the hill and get entertained. I do not age also
because of living in the hill-universe.
The space and time inside the hill are my imaginations. I keep them alive as fixed
ideas in my mind. I believe and know for sure that there is a world inside it; whereas

16. others see it only as a rocky surface. They can never imagine a world inside it. So they
can never see it. If I stop imagining it, it will cease to exist.
You observe that there is an inside the hill world and outside the hill world. How do
these ideas of external and internal occur? Let us analyze now!
What do we mean by ‘external’?
• All that is outside of us is external!
• We conceive of the outside world as some picture on a screen.
• We perceive it; so it is outside; thus we imagine.
• But here we have a misconception and identify ourselves with the body.
• We always imagine the world to be outside the body.
How is it feasible?
• Like a pot seen outside in the world, this body also is seen by us outside only. It is
also a part of the picture seen on the outside screen limited by space time ideas.
• But because we have the misconceived idea of our identity we think that the world
is outside our body which is actually a wrong conception. Even our wrong
imagination makes it real for us.
• From generation to generation we maintain the wrong idea that the world is
outside our bodies.
How does it happen?
• When we say that the world is outside the hill, we remove the picture of the hill
from the outside world. We then project the world outside the hill with the hill as
the idea inside us.
• We thus have many external and internal space ideas. Inside the house, outside the
house, inside the cart, outside the cart etc.; each time we withdraw the picture of a
particular object and see the world as external to it.
• Body has become a permanent inner idea for us. We never project it as external; we
make it the centre of our perceptions and see the entire world as external to it. The
world all around the body alone is our external world.
• Each one keeps his or her body as the central point of his or her universe.
What our consciousness illuminates only becomes the picture of our universe.
• Each person is aware of only his or her universe. The illuminated objects are within
the vision of the illuminant. Body also is part of the illumined external world.
• All those which are illumined by the illuminator are objectified as existing outside
the illuminator. The illuminator and illuminated cannot be the same.
• The illuminant cannot be the object of his own illumination. How can the
illumination by which he sees be apart from him?

17. Light reveals all the objects. Light does not reveal itself. Light is self-revealing.
Illuminant illuminates all the objects including the body; illuminant does not need
another illuminator to illuminate him. He is self-luminous. He is the Self; he is the
illumination in perfection - only one, and the being of all. The illuminator projects the
conceptions of limited by space and time and illuminates them as if they are outside.
But he is all the three; the illuminant, illumination and the illumined.
The ideas of external and internal also are part of the illumination only. He extends
as time and space. How can then anything be ‘outer’ unless it is like a peak on a
mountain?
The whole universe is thus in the illumination which shines self-sufficient, by itself,
everywhere, and at all times. Such illumination is Her Transcendental Queen Tripura,
the Supreme. She is called Brahma in the Vedas, Vishnu by the Vaishnavites, Shiva by
the Saivaites, and Shakti by the Shaaktas. There is indeed nothing but She. She holds
everything by Her prowess as a mirror does its images. She is the illuminant in relation
to the illumined.
The object is drowned in illumination like the image of a city in a mirror. Just as the
city is not different from the mirror, so also the Universe is not apart from
consciousness. Just as the image is part and parcel of the clear, smooth, compact and
one mirror, so also the universe is a part and parcel of the perfect, solid and unitary
consciousness, namely the Self.
There is no solid world outside one’s mind. Space is just a void projected by the
mind to locate objects. The universe is, always and all-through, a phenomenon in the
Self. How then the Pure Consciousness being void, is dense at the same time?
A mirror is dense and impenetrable and contains all the images within itself as itself.
Pure consciousness is dense and impenetrable and yet displays the universe by virtue of
its self-sufficiency. Pure consciousness is all-pervading, dense and single; it holds the
mobile and immobile creation within it; wondrously variegated; with no immediate
or ultimate cause for it.
Whatever be the amount of reflections appearing in the mirror, the mirror is never
tainted by them. It continues to reflect as clearly as always. In the same way the one
consciousness illumines the waking and dream states; but is never affected by them
and stays as pure as ever.
O King! Analyze again your dream experience and imaginations of the mind. Though
they are perfect in detail, they belong only to the mind. Consciousness permeating them
obviously remains unblemished before creation or after dissolution of the world; even
during the existence of the world, it remains unaffected as the mirror by the images.

18. The mirror reflects the space inside it as external to itself. Though unperturbed,
unblemished, thick, dense and single the absolute consciousness being self-sufficient
manifests within itself what looks ‘exterior’.
This is the beginning of ignorance and also the beginning of creation. It is the
darkness! Starting as an infinitesimal fraction of the whole, this ignorance manifests as
the idea that something exists outside it. It is a property of the ego-sense.
The unmanifested vaasanaas prepare a stage for their manifestation through this first
seed of ignorance. Each Vaasana projects outside a field of experience for its own
manifestation and ego-sense appears as the experiencer seeing a world outside him or
her. There is no identity with the original consciousness. It is now simple, insentient
energy. The present creation is the mental product of Brahma or Hiranya Garbha,
appointed as the Creator by the will-force of the Primal Being, Sri Tripura Devi.
Time, space, gross creations, etc., appear in it according to the imagery of the agent. A
certain period is only one day according to my calculation whereas it is twelve
thousand years according to Brahma: the space covered by about two miles and a half
of Brahma is infinite according to me and covers a whole universe. In this way, both are
true and untrue at the same time.
Similarly also, imagine a hill within you, and also time in a subtle sense. Then
contemplate a whole creation in them; they will endure as long as your concentration
endures - even to eternity for all practical purposes, if your will-power be strong
enough. That is why I say that this world is a mere figment of imagination. Therefore
what looks like the external world is really an image on the screen of the mind.
Consciousness is thus the screen and the image, and so yogis are enabled to see long
distances of space and realize long intervals of time. They can traverse all distance in a
moment and can perceive everything as readily as a gooseberry in the hollow of one's
palm.
Therefore recognize the fact that the world is simply an image on the mirror of
consciousness and cultivate the contemplation of ‘I am’, abide as pure being and thus
give up this delusion of the reality of the world. Then you will become like myself
and be self-sufficient.
On hearing this discourse of the Sage's son, the King overcame his delusion; his intellect
became purified and he understood the ultimate goal. Then he practiced Samadhi, and
became self-contained, without depending on any external agency, and led a long
and happy life. He ceased to identify himself with the body, and became absolute as
transcendental space until he was finally liberated.
Om Tat Sat!