“The realized being knows that nothing exists apart from Brahman.”
The verse: Yoga Vasistha 3.95.4
The quote above is our paraphrase. This is the verse as it reads in the Vihari-Lala Mitra translation (1891–99):
“Wherefore it is not right on the part of the enlightened to say that such and such things are produced from Brahma, when there is nothing that exists apart or separate from him.”
About the text: Yoga Vasistha
The Yoga Vasistha is a long Sanskrit philosophical work, traditionally attributed to Valmiki, in which the sage Vasistha teaches Prince Rama through stories and dialogue. Its six books teach liberation through self-effort and insight. Scholars date it anywhere from about the 6th to the 14th century, and it probably grew over time.