Yoga Sutras of Patanjali · 1.9

शब्दज्ञानानुपाती वस्तुशून्यो विकल्पः ॥९॥

śabdajñānānupātī vastuśūnyo vikalpaḥ

Imagination is verbal cognition that has no real object behind it.

— Yoga Sutras of Patanjali 1.9

Source: Sanskrit attributed to Patanjali (c. 2nd century BCE – 4th century CE). Public-domain English readings drawn from Swami Vivekananda's 'Raja Yoga' (1896) and Charles Johnston's 'The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali' (1912).