Idaṁ ca para-loka-sthᾱnaṁ ca; atha yathᾱkramo'yaṁ para-loka-sthᾱne bhavati, tam ᾱkramam ᾱkramya, ubhayᾱn pᾱpmana ᾱnandᾱṁś ca paśyati. sa yatra prasvapiti, asya lokasya sarvᾱvato mᾱtrᾱm apᾱdᾱya, svayaṁ vihatya, svayaṁ nirmᾱya, svena bhᾱsᾱ, svena jyotiṣᾱ prasvapiti; atrᾱyam puruṣaḥ svayaṁ-jyotir bhavati: In dream, what happens is that the mind experiences everything out of its own substance. It has no apparatus from outside. It does not take the assistance of objects from the world external. There is nothing there, really speaking, except itself. But it projects itself into space, time and objects, and creates an imaginary world of its own. And yet, in this imaginary world it can experience all the consequences of its desires. There is love and hatred; there is pleasure and pain, etc. in the state of dream. Just as a person equips himself well before embarking upon a journey, with all requirements or necessities, so does the mind takes with itself its property when it enters the state of dream. What is its property? Whatever it thought and felt, that alone was its property. That which got absorbed into its own being in the form of impressions of perception of objects - these are the things that it takes with it when it enters the dream state, and these are the things it will take along also when the body dies. When the individual dies, casts off the body, what is taken is the mind, only the impressions, only the impulses, only the desires in their subtle forms. Nothing of the external world is taken. The factor that determines the nature of the future birth is the character of the impulses that are hidden in the mind, so that certain aspects, certain parts, some part of the stock of the impulses of the mind are released for action in the next birth. The stronger ones come first, and the weaker ones are kept aside for later opportunities. Some of the impulses, some of the stock of Vāsanās or Samaskāras of the mind (not all of them), get released in the next birth, and these allotted impulses become the model for all the experiences one passes through in the next birth. Just as molten lead cast in a crucible takes the shape of the crucible, experience takes the form of the predominant impulses in the mind.

Our experiences therefore are not borrowed or imported from objects outside. It is therefore not true that our pleasures and pains are caused by things outside. They are caused exactly by the nature of the impulses that are already in the mind, which we have brought with us from the previous life. Just as the quantity of water that you can lift from the ocean depends only upon the size of the vessel that you dip into it, and also the shape that the water will take depends again on the shape of the vessel which is dipped into the ocean, likewise, whatever we experience in this life is cast into the mould of the impulses that we have brought with us from previous lives. So, it is pointless to complain that external objects or things are not in order, and that they could have been better for our satisfaction. They are quite all right. Things are quite in order. There is nothing wrong with things, but we are unable to adjust ourselves with the existing order of things due to certain prejudices that we have already brought with us when we cast off the previous body and took this new body. Having taken this body, the individual experiences the consequences of its good deeds and bad deeds. Virtuous deeds are capable of producing pleasures, and the other ones produce pain. Pain is the consequence of having done something wrong in the previous birth or, at times, in this very birth. Meritorious deeds produce pleasure. Merit, or virtue, is that attitude of ours which tends towards universality, in some degree, and therefore there is, naturally, pleasure. Anything that is a step taken in the direction of universality is a step taken in the direction of truth, or reality. And reality is bliss (Ānanda). So, any virtuous action, any generous feeling, any righteous attitude is capable of producing pleasure, satisfaction, Ānanda. On the other hand, pain comes as a consequence of evil deeds, and evil deeds are those which are selfish in their nature, which deny universality, which go contrary to the nature of reality, and assert a false independence of body and ego. So, actions performed in the previous lives bring about the pleasures and pains of the present life - pᾱpmana ᾱnandᾱṁś ca paśyati.

Sa yatra prasvapiti, asya lokasya sarvᾱvato mᾱtrᾱm apᾱdᾱya, svayaṁ vihatya: In the state of dream the body is cast aside, as it were, for all practical purposes. It is not taken into consideration. The existence of the body is not at all noted in the state of dream. It is there, lying as if it is a corpse. But, the totality of the impressions produced by the perceptions and experiences in waking are collected together by the mind, and a part or an aspect of this totality is brought into action in dream. It does not mean that in a particular dream we experience everything of waking life. Only certain things are brought into focus in the dream state according to an arithmetic of its own. So, sarvᾱvato mᾱtrᾱm apᾱdᾱya, svayaṁ vihatya, svayaṁ nirmᾱya, svena bhᾱsᾱ, svena jyotiṣᾱ prasvapiti, the force or the energy required for action in dream is the mind alone. It does not come from any food that we eat, or nourishment that comes from anywhere, or from any contact that we have with other people or the support that we get. It is nothing of this kind. The mind has no support from anybody in dream. Yet, it can work this miraculous drama all by itself, by putting on the attire of any person, or taking the shape of any object, anything, small or big. Not merely that, it can take the shape of the whole world. It can become a world by itself in dream. It can be the creator, almost, of a Brahmānda comparable to the Brahmānda it is aware of in the waking life. So, in a particular density of action and thought, the mind revels in dream and it becomes its own light. No other light exists for the mind in dream except itself. (The light of the mind is borrowed, again, from the Ātman, as is well-known. It does not require any comment.) Sarvᾱvato mᾱtrᾱm apᾱdᾱya, svayaṁ vihatya, svayaṁ nirmᾱya, svena bhᾱsᾱ: By the light of its own self, by the luminosity of its own self, it, the mind, or the Puruṣha, sleeps and dreams. And here the Puruṣha, the individual, becomes resplendent. The whole luminosity of dream is the luminosity of the mind. Even if there is a blazing sun in dream, it is the mind shining. That brilliance of the dream sun that you may witness in that condition is manufactured by the mind alone. It can become the coolness of water, the heat of the fire, the sweetness of dishes and what not. Anything and everything, it can become - svena bhᾱsᾱ, svena jyotiṣᾱ prasvapiti; atrᾱyam puruṣaḥ svayaṁ-jyotir bhavati. It is a wondrous miracle, indeed, this role that the mind plays in dream.

10. na tatra rathᾱḥ, na ratha-yogᾱḥ, na panthᾱno bhavanti; atha rathᾱn, ratha-yogᾱn, pathaḥ sṛjate; na tatrᾱnandᾱḥ, mudaḥ pramudo bhavanti, athᾱnandᾱn, mudaḥ, pramudaḥ sṛjate; na tatra veśantᾱḥ puṣkariṇyah sravantyo bhavanti; atha veśᾱntᾱn, puṣkariṇiḥ sravantīḥ sṛjate. sa hi kartᾱ.

In that state of dream, there is nothing tangible in the physical sense. There is no physical object, yet we see physical objects. In that state of dream, there are no vehicles, and yet we can drive in vehicles. Na tatra rathᾱḥ, na ratha-yogᾱḥ, na panthᾱno bhavanti: Chariots do not exist in dream, and yet we can sit in a chariot and drive. There are no horses to pull the chariots. Yet, we can manufacture horses. The mind becomes the horses and also the chariots. What a wonder! The mind becomes the vehicle; the mind becomes the horse; the mind becomes even the rider in the chariot. It can become everything. All things it becomes at one stroke. There are no real chariots in dream; there are no animals that pull the chariot; there is no road, and yet the mind can manifest all these in dream, out of itself. A fine track is constructed by the mind like an engineer. What a miracle, indeed! Atha rathᾱn, ratha-yogᾱn, pathaḥ sṛjate: It creates all these necessities for the fulfilment of its own desires. As there are no external objects of sense, there should be no occasion for enjoying anything or suffering anything in dream, one might think. How is it that we enjoy and suffer in dream if joys and sorrows are brought about by factors outside, as we think generally? If person and things outside are the causes of our pleasures and pains, why is it that we have pleasures and pains in dream, also? This is an indication that our conviction that things outside are responsible for our pleasures and sorrows, is wrong. If we can be happy and unhappy in dream without anyone's help, why should we not be like that in the waking state, also? How do you know that you are not in a similar state even now? What is the ground for your assumption that people outside are the causes of your sorrows or your joys? It is a false assumption, indeed. It is the mind that creates circumstances of pleasures and pains due to the appurtenances of Samskāras that it has brought from previous lives. So you are the cause of your joy, and you are the cause of your sorrow. Do not complain against other people and other things. Do not bring about a discomfiture in the creation of God, saying that God could have created a better world. Nothing of the kind; these are only stupid imaginations of the individual who does not know what is really happening. As in dream, so in waking, as in waking so in dream. There is a great joy felt by the mind when it beholds a desirable object. The joy increases when the object is possessed, and the joy becomes intense when it becomes its own. These are our ideas in the waking state, but such objects do not exist in dream. And yet, we have these three states of joy, even in dream. We feel the presence of an object coming near us in dream. We feel like possessing the object, and having possessed it, we enjoy it. But, no real object was there. It was the mind that became the object. It was the mind that drew itself near the dream object and made it look as if the object was approaching it, and the mind had the joy of seeing a friend or the sorrow of seeing an enemy in that dream object. Both were manufactured by itself. It was the friend, it was the enemy, and this was its experience. If this could be the condition in dream, why should it not be similar in waking also? Perhaps we are in a similar state even in waking life.

Na tatrᾱnandᾱḥ, mudaḥ pramudo bhavanti, athᾱnandᾱn, mudaḥ, pramudaḥ sṛjate; na tatra veśantᾱḥ puṣkariṇyah sravantyo bhavanti: In the state of dream, there are no real pools of water, but you can see pools of water. You can take a bath in dream. There are no tanks, but you can see tanks. There are no rivers, but you can perceive rivers. So, you can have a bath to your satisfaction in the dream river, and you can be highly satisfied even by a thing which was not there. Even so, you can be satisfied even in the waking life by a thing which is not really there. It is actually even doubtful if the objects in the waking life also really exist, any more than the objects in dream. Atha veśᾱntᾱn, puṣkariṇiḥ sravantīḥ sṛjate. sa hi kartᾱ: The mind is the supreme doer and actor in this drama. The mind itself fabricates every scene and itself enacts every role.

11. tad ete ślokᾱ bhavanti:
    svapnena śarīram abhiprahatyᾱsuptaḥ suptᾱn abhicᾱkasīti;
    śukram ᾱdᾱya punar aiti sthᾱnam, hiraṇmayaḥ puruṣa eka-haṁsaḥ.

Tad ete ślokᾱ bhavanti: The Upaniṣhad says there is a saying, an old maxim in this respect. What is this old saying? Svapnena śarīram abhiprahatyᾱsuptaḥ suptᾱn abhicᾱkasīti; śukram ᾱdᾱya punar aiti sthᾱnam, hiraṇmayaḥ puruṣa eka-haṁsaḥ. This is a verse. Up to this time we have been reading only prose. Now a verse comes. Svapnena śarīram abhiprahatyᾱsuptaḥ suptᾱn abhicᾱkasīti: In dream, the physical body is completely ignored. It is as if it does not exist at all. And the mind keeps itself awake, while the body is asleep. Keeping itself awake, it also awakens the sleeping impulses, or unfulfilled Samskāras of desires - suptᾱn abhicᾱkasīti. It becomes the witness of the activity of the impulses which were sleeping up to this time. Those impulses which could not manifest themselves in waking life are revealed in action in the dreaming condition. So, the mind that is keeping itself vigilant in dream, awakens also the impulses into action and witnesses their panoramic activity. And then what happens? How does it do it? Śukram ᾱdᾱya punar aiti sthᾱnam: It takes the quintessence of all the experiences of the previous condition, namely the waking life, enjoys it in dream, and returns once again to the original state of waking. Having played this enactment of dream with the material of the minute essences of waking experience, it does not continue this condition for a long time. It returns once again to the waking life or it may go back to sleep - punar aiti sthᾱnam, hiraṇmayaḥ puruṣa eka-haṁsaḥ: This is a luminous being indeed, self-conscious, infinite essentially and a lone traveller. This soul is a lone traveller - eka-haṁsaḥ: It is always alone. It has nobody outside it. But it appears to be coming in contact with persons and things, tentatively, and these persons and things, which it comes in contact with in life, are the forces of Nature which either get attracted towards it or are repelled by it according to its own inner structure. The structure of the mind sometimes attracts the forces of Nature; then we have friends in the world. Sometimes, the structure of the mind repels the forces of Nature; then we have enemies in the world. So, friends and enemies are due to the nature of the mind alone. They are not objective existences by themselves.

12. prᾱṇena rakṣann avaraṁ kulᾱyam bahiṣ kulᾱyᾱd amṛtaś caritvᾱ, sa īyate amṛto yatra kᾱmam, hiraṇ-mayaḥ puruṣa eka-haṁsaḥ.

The body is protected even when the mind has been withdrawn from it in dream. The mind is careful enough to see that the body is not destroyed. It is there, protected by the activity of the Prāṇas. While the mind has withdrawn itself into a different world of action called dream, the Prāṇas are kept as watchmen and caretakers to see that the body does not decay or die. So, the body which is of an inferior character compared to the mind - it is really speaking "an ass", a "brother donkey", as Saint Francis used to say - is protected by the Prāṇas in the state of dream, when the mind gets out of the body, as it were. For the time being, in dream, you are out of the gross body. Out of the body in the sense that you are not in contact with the demands of the body and are not conditioned by the activities of the body. In that sense we may say that in dream the mind is acting independently, disconnecting itself from the limitations of body and senses - prᾱṇena rakṣann avaraṁ kulᾱyam bahiṣ kulᾱyᾱd amṛtaś caritvᾱ.

This mind which thus independently acts, moving out, as it were, from the body, is immortal in its nature, because immortality is what it absorbs from the Ātman. And all its desires, it tries to fulfil there. What desires you cannot fulfil in waking, you can fulfil in dream by creating a mental world of your own and manufacturing those objects which you need but which you could not have in waking life. Whatever you need, you can manufacture out of your own mind, and then, of course, your desires are fulfilled. This is what the mind does by subtly alienating itself into objects of sense which are not physical but psychic - sa īyate amṛto yatra kᾱmam, hiraṇ-mayaḥ puruṣa eka-haṁsaḥ.