न तत्र रथा न रथयोगा न पन्थानो भवन्ति, अथ रथान्रथयोगान्पथः सृजते; न तत्रानन्दा मुदः प्रमुदो भवन्ति, अथानन्दान् मुदः प्रमुदः सृजते; न तत्र वेशान्ताः पुष्करिण्यः स्रवन्त्यो भवन्ति, अथ वेशान्तान्पुष्करिणीः स्रवन्तीः सृजते; स हि कर्ता ॥ १० ॥
na tatra rathā na rathayogā na panthāno bhavanti, atha rathānrathayogānpathaḥ sṛjate; na tatrānandā mudaḥ pramudo bhavanti, athānandān mudaḥ pramudaḥ sṛjate; na tatra veśāntāḥ puṣkariṇyaḥ sravantyo bhavanti, atha veśāntānpuṣkariṇīḥ sravantīḥ sṛjate; sa hi kartā || 10 ||
10. There are no chariots, nor animals to be yoked to them, nor roads there, but he creates the chariots, animals and roads. There are no pleasures, joys, or delights there, but he creates the pleasures, joys and delights. There are no pools, tanks, or rivers there, but he creates the pools, tanks and rivers. For he is the agent.
There are no objects such as chariots there, in dreams. Nor are thtre animals to be yoked to them, such as horses; nor roads for the chariots. But he himself creates the chariots, animals and roads. But how does he create them, since there are no trees etc., which are the means of the chariots and so forth? The reply is being given: It has been said (par. 9), ‘He takes away a little of this all-embracing world, himself puts the body aside, and himself creates.’ The modifications of the mind are a little of this world, i.e. are its impressions; the former, detaching the latter—in other words, being transformed into the impressions of chariots etc.—and being stimulated by the individual’s previous work, which is the cause of their perception, appear as the sense-objects; this is expressed by the words ‘and himself creates,’ and also by the clause, ‘He creates the chariots,’ etc. Really there are neither activities of the organs nor lights such as the sun that help them, nor objects such as the chariots to be illumined by them, but only their impressions are visible, having no existence apart from the palpable modifications of the mind that are stimulated by the individual’s previous work, which is the cause of the perception of those impressions. The light with constant vision that witnesses them, the light of the self, is perfectly isolated in this state, like a sword separated from its sheath.
Likewise there are no pleasures, kinds of happiness, joys such as those caused by the birth of a son etc., or delights, which are those very joys magnified, but he creates the pleasures, etc. Likewise there are no pools, tanks or rivers there, but he creates the pools etc. in the form of impressions only. For he is the agent. We have already said that his agency consists in merely being the cause of the work that generates the modifications of the mind representing those impressions. Direct activity is then out of the question, for there are no means. Activity is impossible, without its factors. In dreams there cannot be any factors of an action such as hands and feet. But in the waking state, when they are present, the body and organs, illumined by the light of the self, perform work that (later on) produce the modifications of the mind representing the impressions of the chariot etc. Hence it is said, ‘For he is the agent.’ This has been stated in the passage, ‘It is through the light of the self that he sits, goes out, works and returns’ (IV. iii. 6). There too, strictly speaking, the light of the self has no direct agency, except that it is the illuminer of everything. The light of the self, which is Pure Intelligence, illumines the body and organs’ through the mind, and they perform their functions being illumined by it; hence in the passage quoted the agency of the self is merely figurative. What has been stated in the passage, ‘It thinks, as it were, and shakes, as it were’ (IV. iii. 7), is here repeated in the clause, ‘For he is the agent,’ in order to furnish a reason.