Here this deva experiences its greatness in dream. What was seen, it sees again; what was heard, it hears again; what was experienced in different places, it experiences again and again. The seen and the unseen, the heard and the unheard, the experienced and the unexperienced, the real and the unreal — it sees all; being all, it sees.

This verse describes the creative power of the mind in the dream state (svapna).

Eṣa devaḥ svapne mahimānam anubhavati — this deva experiences its greatness in dream. The deva is the mind (manas), so called because it is luminous (div, to shine). In dream, freed from external senses, the mind reveals its power: it creates entire worlds without matter.

Dṛṣṭaṃ dṛṣṭam anupaśyati — what was seen, it sees again. Dreams recycle past experiences. Stored impressions (saṃskāras) resurface as dream images.

Deśadigantaraiś ca — in different places and directions. The mind is not limited by space or time in dreams. We can be in places we visited years ago, or in impossible places.

Dṛṣṭaṃ cādṛṣṭam — the seen and the unseen. Notably: we also dream of things we have never experienced. The mind combines and creates novelty from fragments of memory.

Sac cāsac ca — the real and the unreal. In dreams we experience the impossible as if it were real: we fly, we speak with the dead, we inhabit different forms. The distinction between real and unreal dissolves.

Sarvaṃ paśyati sarvaḥ paśyati — it sees all; being all, it sees. The dreamer is simultaneously the observer and the observed, the subject and all objects. This is a clue about the nature of consciousness: it is not limited to one point of view. In dream, the mind expands to be all things it perceives.

This teaching invites reflection: and waking? Could it be another type of dream, just more stable?