Just as upon waking the form of the double moon does not remain, so, when Consciousness dawns, this universe does not remain at all.

The verse returns to the double moon analogy—already used in 5.1 and 5.12—with a syntactic variation that emphasizes non-permanence. “Na tiṣṭhati sarvathā”—it does not remain at all—is stronger than “na tiṣṭhati”—it does not remain. The duplication “sarva-thā” (in every way) is an intensification: it is not that it sometimes remains and sometimes does not; it is that under no circumstance does it remain as something independent.

“Cidbodhe”—when the dawn of Consciousness arises—uses the same root (budh) as “prabodhe” (awakening). The dawn of Consciousness is not a temporal event but the cessation of the ignorance that prevented seeing what is always present. There is no “before” without Consciousness and an “after” with Consciousness; there is only a “now” that seemed devoid of Consciousness and is revealed as always full of it.

The formula of the Aṣṭāvakra Gītā (I.18) resonates here: “For one who has awakened to reality, the universe is like a mirage.” It is not that the mirage disappears; it is that it no longer seduces. The desert traveler seduced by the mirage suffers; the one who knows it is a mirage walks peacefully. The jīvanmukta does not need the world to disappear; they need their thirst for the world to disappear. The world can stay; it is the thirst that dissolves.

The verse returns to the analogy of the double moon — already used in 5.1 and 5.12 — with a syntactic variation that emphasizes non-permanence. “Na tiṣṭhati sarvathā” — it does not remain at all — is stronger than “na tiṣṭhati” — it does not remain. The duplication “sarva-thā” (in every way) is an intensification: it is not that it sometimes remains and sometimes does not; it is that under no circumstance does it remain as something independent.

“Cidbodhe” — when the dawn of Consciousness arises — uses the same root (budh) as “prabodhe” (awakening). The dawn of Consciousness is not a temporal event but the cessation of the ignorance that prevented seeing what is always present. There is no “before” without Consciousness and an “after” with Consciousness; there is only a “now” that seemed devoid of Consciousness and is revealed as always full of it.

The formula of the Aṣṭāvakra Gītā (I.18) resonates here: “For one who has awakened to reality, the universe is like a mirage.” It is not that the mirage disappears; it is that it no longer seduces. The desert traveler seduced by the mirage suffers; the one who knows it is a mirage walks in peace. The jīvanmukta does not need the world to disappear; they need their thirst for the world to disappear. The world can stay; it is the thirst that dissolves.