Vasishtha continued:—Then repeating aloud the sacred syllable _Om_, and reflecting on the Universe contained in it; the sage obtained his internal peace, after he had got rid of his thoughts and was freed from his desires. (The meditation of _Om_ or _on_ presented all existence to his mind, and it is shown in the definition of that word in the Introduction of this book). 2. He cogitated on the several _mátrás_ or moments, which compose the utterance of that mystic syllable; but leaving aside all its attributes, he meditated only on the reality of the pure and imperishable One. 3. He abstracted his mind from his internal and external organs, as also from his grosser and finer feelings and the sensibilities of his heart and body. He dismissed of whatever there is in the three worlds and converted all his desires to indifference. 4. He remained unmoved in his body, and as the thoughtful Platonic (chintámani), rapt in his abstraction; He was full in himself as the full moon, and as still as the mount Mandara after its churning was over. 5. He was as the motionless wheel of the potter’s mill, and as the calm ocean undisturbed by waves and winds. 6. His mind was as the clear firmament, without its sun shine and darkness; and his heart was bright, without the light of the sun, moon and stars. His intellect was unclouded by the fumes, dust and cloud of ignorance, and his soul was as clear as the autumnal sky. (The gloss points out the combination of many figures in this tetrastich sloka). 7. Then raising his voice from the ventricle, to the topmost _pranava_ in the cranium of his head; his mind transcended the region of the sensations, as the wind oversteps the area of fragrance (which remains below.) 8. His mental darkness then fled from his mind, as the gloom of night is dispelled by the dawning light of morn, and as the percipience of sapience, puts down and extinguishes the sparks of anger in the bosom. 9. He then beheld the reflexion of a flood of light within himself, which he found to be ceaseless in its brightness; and unlike the light of the luminaries, which is repeatedly succeeded by darkness. 10. Having attained to that state of ineffable light, and inextinguishable effulgence; he found his mental powers to be quickly burnt down by its glare as the straws are consumed by the touch of fire. 11. In a short time he lost his consciousness of that light, as a new born child loses in no time, its knowledge of whatever it perceives by any of its sensible organs. 12. It was in a twinkling or half of that time, that this sedate sage stopped the course of his thought, as the current wind stops its motion in a moment. 13. He then remained as fixed as a rock, with his inattentive and mute gaze on what passed before him; and retained his vitality like a motionless dreamer in his sleep. (Pasyanti in the text means a patient spectator).