12.225
Vyāsa said.
All beings, both moving and stationary, that exist on the earth, in the end, are dissolved and attain the state of earth.
Then, after everything movable and immovable has dissolved, the earth, devoid of wood and grass, appears like the back of a tortoise.
When the earth's essential quality, fragrance, is completely taken away, then the earth is ready for dissolution.
The waters from there, full of waves and great sound, fill all this and both remain and move about.
O dear, when light takes on the qualities of water, then the waters, having acquired those qualities, cease in the light.
The sun, which is situated in the middle, is concealed by the flames of its rays; yet, all this is indeed filled, and the sky blazes with those rays.
Even the wind takes on the qualities and form of the light; when the wind subsides, then the great light is stirred by the wind.
Then, having reached the root, the wind, which is the origin of itself, moves about in the ten directions—downward, upward, and across.
When space absorbs even the quality of wind, namely touch, and the wind subsides, then the wind remains in space but does not make any sound.
The quality of space is sound; the mind is characterized by manifestation. For the mind, both the manifest and the unmanifest pertain to Brahman; this is the process of reabsorption.
The self, having assumed the quality, the mind perceives the moon. When the mind ceases, the inner self remains as the essence of the moon.
But over time, resolve brings him under control. Resolve devours the mind and even that unsurpassed knowledge.
Scripture says: Time destroys knowledge and strength. Time devours strength, but a wise man brings time under his control.
The wise perceive the sound of space within themselves; that is the unmanifest, supreme, eternal, unsurpassed Brahman. Thus, all beings ultimately merge back into Brahman.
As it has been properly declared, this is undoubtedly so; having realized the essence of knowledge, it is to be understood by yogis who are supreme selves.
Thus, expansion and contraction repeatedly occur in Brahman, the unmanifest, at the beginning of a thousand yugas, both at the start of the day and of the night, in the same manner.
