When considered, is it not that self-deluding thought alone that: - creates in the rope the appearance of the snake, which cannot be other than that thought itself, as if it were different to the rope; - sustains its appearance as the cause of its suffering; - and will eventually destroy its appearance by means of clear self-knowledge gained by turning within to know ‘who am I?’.
Guru Vachaka Kovai (The Garland of Guru’s Sayings) by Sri Muruganar - V. 88 (pdf)
Sadhu Om:
In this verse the repeated words ‘that thought itself’ denote the mind or ego, the primal thought ‘I’, which thinks all other thoughts. This thought comes into being due to avichara (‘non-investigation’ or failure to attend only to itself), thereby creating the appearance of this world, it continues to exist due to avichara, thereby sustaining the appearance of this world, and it will finally cease to exist due to vichara (‘investigation’ or attending only to itself), thereby destroying the appearance of this world. Therefore this world is not created by God, who is our real self, but only by our ajnana or ignorance of self, which is a result of avichara, pramada or self-negligence.
