The Ever-Changing River

1. There is an ever-changing river, the hidden Ganga (the Primal Illusion). Simply by remembering it, the world becomes purified. This can be seen in one's actual experience, as it is not false.
2. It began moving in the unmoving stillness (Parabrahman). It moves downward with force, flowing continuously, yet it is not seen by anyone.
3. It has many bends, turns, whirlpools, bubbles, ripples, springs, and waves, and its flow gets split off in many directions.
4. There are places where it begins to dry out, and places where it flows intensively, and it has many streams, waterfalls and crosscurrents. In some places this restless water is narrow, some places shallow, and some places it is broad.
5. It has foam, it ebbs and swells, and in some places it runs uncontrolled. This water sprinkles around countless drops and small particles beyond measure.
6. There many things that get carried away in its torrents and cascades. There are many pebbles, stones, boulders and islands in its path, but the water flows around them.
7. The softest soil breaks apart and gets carried away. The hard parts remain where they are. Many such things like this can be seen in the world.
8. Some get carried away by the water, some are engulfed by whirlpools, and some become entangled in narrow bends getting dragged downwards.
9. Some are beaten down when hitting on the rocks, some get crushed, and many become swollen and filled with water. (The various states of beings in Illusion.)
10. Some select few are strong and swim to the origin of the river. With the glimpse of the river's origin, they became purified and obtained the greatness of that sacred form.
11. The abodes of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, and the abodes of all the other gods of the universe are all seen together in that flow when one has seen upstream of that sacred river Ganga.
12. There is no other water which is as pure and as ever-changing as that water. That water is the form of the one who pervades all, Lord Narayana, himself.
13. That great river flows in space, and it pervades everywhere, at all times. It permeates the heavens, the earth, and the netherworlds.
14. Up and down and in all directions, its water encircles everything. The knowledgeable know that it is the "Lord of the World."
15. It fills an endless number of vessels. It runs through everything, and is used in many things and in many beings for worldly life.
16. In one form it is bitter, in another it is sweet. In some things it is spicy, in some it is pungent, and in some it is salty.
17. Whatever it mixes with, it becomes unified with, and of the same substance. In deep places, it fills their depths.
18. It is the poison in poison, and it is the nectar in nectar. It is the fragrance in the fragrant smell, and the odor in foul odor.
19. It is intermixed with good and bad qualities and assimilates itself as those qualities. The greatness of that water cannot be understood without that water itself.
20. That water flows beyond any boundaries and one cannot understand whether it is a river or a lake. Many people have chosen to live only in this water (Illusion) and have remained there.
21. Those who went beyond this water to its origin turned back from there to see that the water had dried up and nothing was there.
22. The realized one who is void of any states of mind or attitudes, sees this through thorough inquiry and deep thinking. Ramdas, the servant of God asks, "How many times shall I tell you again and again?"