A Discourse on the Philosophy of the Manifest and the Unmanifest:

Dream, Awakening, Dream Sarasvatichandra surrendered to sleep. Soon after, Alakhpuri came with the text of the commentary. He placed dry leaves as a marker on the relevant pages, kept the text next to the sleeping man and left. Sarasvatichandra woke up, found the text and began to read it.⁶⁷ Now we shall reveal the secret of lakshya-alakshya, that is the relationship between the manifest and the unmanifest. What can be seen and perceived is the manifest and what cannot be perceived is the unmanifest. When we speak of perception or the lack of it, we speak of ordinary persons because the knowledgeable see and perceive much more. The statement: “When it is night for all others, the disciplined soul is awake” indicates this difference. Great souls have their sights fixed on goals that are diametrically opposite of those of the average individual. Great souls have higher perception. Those who can perceive even the unmanifest, the yogis, have been described in the verses. The first verse says: “Neither am I born, nor do I die.” Just as the sky is distinct from space, we must recognise that the unmanifest soul is beyond birth and death. Similarly, it is neither in bondage nor free. It is only a figure of speech when we describe something as unfree and something else as free. In essence, there is no difference. In other words, it is the worldly being that is either bound or free, but not the soul. The Creator who is omnipotent appears in different forms. But these different forms are perceived as distinct by this-worldly, embodied beings. It is an illusion to say that an archer takes aim of the head and dislodges it from the body. In essence, the archer, the aim and the dislodging of the head are all manifestations of the unmanifest. Samsara, or living in this world, means to lead a good life. It has been described as akin to the movement of the arrow but not as the arrow itself. The moment of commencement of this movement is the moment of freedom. Being, universe, bondage and freedom are all illusory. The common element in them is termed the manifest. Similarly a body with hands and feet is either called purusha or being. A lump of clay can be moulded in many shapes and forms. Similarly, the manifest appears in countless forms and is made up of many such illusions. It is neither in a state of bondage nor in a state of freedom. It is said that each manifest being goes through many cycles of bondage and freedom. This implies that one is born again and again. This is a contradiction in terms. The world and the worldly being both are integral to the manifest, just as the state of dream is integral to the state of awakening. This is called illusion. Illusion is also a part of the manifest. In verses two and three, the