कर्मणा जायते प्रेत्य मूर्तिमान् षोडशात्मकः विद्यया जायते नित्यम् अव्यक्तं ह्य् अक्षरात्मकम्
By action, after death, one is born with a sixteenfold form; by knowledge, one is always born as the unmanifest, of imperishable nature.
कर्म त्व् एके प्रशंसन्ति स्वल्पबुद्धिरता नराः तेन ते देहजालेन रमयन्त उपासते
Some praise action, men devoted to little understanding; by it, they delight in the web of the body and worship.
ये तु बुद्धिं परां प्राप्ता धर्मनैपुण्यदर्शिनः न ते कर्म प्रशंसन्ति कूपं नद्यां पिबन्न् इव
But those who have attained higher understanding and see the subtlety of righteousness do not praise ritual acts, just as one does not drink from a well when a river is at hand.
कर्मणां फलम् आप्नोति सुखदुःखे भवाभवौ विद्यया तद् अवाप्नोति यत्र गत्वा न शोचति
By action one attains the fruits of pleasure and pain, birth and death; by knowledge, one reaches that state where, having arrived, one does not grieve.
न म्रियते यत्र गत्वा यत्र गत्वा न जायते न जीर्यते यत्र गत्वा यत्र गत्वा न वर्धते
There, having reached, one does not die; having reached, one is not born; having reached, one does not age; having reached, one does not grow.
यत्र तद् ब्रह्म परमम् अव्यक्तम् अचलं ध्रुवम् अव्याकृतम् अनायामम् अमृतं चाधियोगवित्
There is that supreme Brahman: unmanifest, unmoving, eternal, unchanging, effortless, immortal, and known by those united with knowledge.
द्वंद्वैर् न यत्र बाध्यन्ते मानसेन च कर्मणा समाः सर्वत्र मैत्राश् च सर्वभूतहिते रताः
There, they are not afflicted by dualities, nor by mental or physical actions; they are equal everywhere, friendly, and delight in the welfare of all beings.
विद्यामयो ऽन्यः पुरुषो द्विजाः कर्ममयो ऽपरः विप्राश् चन्द्रसमस्पर्शः सूक्ष्मया कलया स्थितः
There is one person composed of knowledge, O twice-born, and another composed of action; the wise, like the moon's gentle touch, abide in subtle measure.
तद् एतद् ऋषिणा प्रोक्तं विस्तरेणानुगीयते न वक्तुं शक्यते द्रष्टुं चक्रतन्तुम् इवाम्बरे
This has been spoken by the seer and sung in detail; it cannot be fully described or seen, like a wheel's thread in the sky.
एकादशविकारात्मा कलासंभारसंभृतः मूर्तिमान् इति तं विद्याद् विप्राः कर्मगुणात्मकम्
Know, O wise, that he is the embodied one of eleven modifications, composed of the aggregate of energies, and possessed of the qualities of action.
देवो यः संश्रितस् तस्मिन् बुद्धीन्दुर् इव पुष्करे क्षेत्रज्ञं तं विजानीयान् नित्यं योगजितात्मकम्
That god who is resorted to, in whom the intellect shines like the moon in a lotus, know him as the knower of the field, ever self-conquered through yoga.
तमो रजश् च सत्त्वं च ज्ञेयं जीवगुणात्मकम् जीवम् आत्मगुणं विद्याद् आत्मानं परमात्मनः
Darkness, passion, and goodness are to be known as the qualities of the living being; know the living being as the quality of the self, and the self as belonging to the Supreme Self.
सचेतनं जीवगुणं वदन्ति स चेष्टते जीवगुणं च सर्वम् ततः परं क्षेत्रविदो वदन्ति प्रकल्पयन्तो भुवनानि सप्त
They say the quality of the living being is conscious, and it acts; all is the quality of the living being. Beyond that, those who know the field declare, as they conceive the seven worlds.
प्रकृत्यास् तु विकारा ये क्षेत्रज्ञास् ते परिश्रुताः ते चैनं न प्रजानन्ति न जानाति स तान् अपि
The modifications arising from nature are known as the knowers of the field, but they do not know him, nor does he know them.
तैश् चैव कुरुते कार्यं मनःषष्ठैर् इहेन्द्रियैः सुदान्तैर् इव संयन्ता दृढः परमवाजिभिः
With these six—the mind and the five senses—he acts here, as a charioteer with well-trained, strong, and excellent horses.
इन्द्रियेभ्यः परा ह्य् अर्था अर्थेभ्यः परमं मनः मनसस् तु परा बुद्धिर् बुद्धेर् आत्मा महान् परः
Beyond the senses are the objects, beyond the objects is the mind, beyond the mind is the intellect, and beyond the intellect is the great self.
महतः परम् अव्यक्तम् अव्यक्तात् परतो ऽमृतम् अमृतान् न परं किंचित् सा काष्ठा परमा गतिः
Beyond the great self is the unmanifest, beyond the unmanifest is the immortal; beyond the immortal there is nothing—this is the highest limit, the supreme goal.
एवं सर्वेषु भूतेषु गूढात्मा न प्रकाशते दृश्यते त्व् अग्र्यया बुद्ध्या सूक्ष्मया सूक्ष्मदर्शिभिः
Thus, the self is hidden in all beings and does not appear; but it is seen by those of keen and subtle intellect, by those who perceive the subtle.
अन्तरात्मनि संलीय मनःषष्ठानि मेधया इन्द्रियैर् इन्द्रियार्थांश् च बहुचित्तम् अचिन्तयन्
Merging the mind and the six senses into the inner self by intelligence, not thinking of the many objects of the senses, one becomes tranquil.
ध्याने ऽपि परमं कृत्वा विद्यासंपादितं मनः अनीश्वरः प्रशान्तात्मा ततो गच्छेत् परं पदम्
Having made the mind, perfected by knowledge, supreme in meditation, one who is desireless and at peace then attains the highest state.
इन्द्रियाणां तु सर्वेषां वश्यात्मा चलितस्मृतिः आत्मनः संप्रदानेन मर्त्यो मृत्युम् उपाश्नुते
When the mind is swayed and memory falters, and the self yields to the senses, a mortal partakes of death.
विहत्य सर्वसंकल्पान् सत्त्वे चित्तं निवेशयेत् सत्त्वे चित्तं समावेश्य ततः कालञ्जरो भवेत्
Having destroyed all desires, one should establish the mind in purity; when the mind is thus settled in purity, then one becomes free from decay.
चित्तप्रसादेन यतिर् जहातीह शुभाशुभम् प्रसन्नात्मात्मनि स्थित्वा सुखम् अत्यन्तम् अश्नुते
With clarity of mind, the ascetic abandons both good and evil here; dwelling with a tranquil self in the self, he attains supreme happiness.
लक्षणं तु प्रसादस्य यथा स्वप्ने सुखं भवेत् निर्वाते वा यथा दीपो दीप्यमानो न कम्पते
The mark of tranquility is as follows: just as happiness arises in a dream, or as a lamp burns steadily in a windless place without flickering.
एवं पूर्वापरे रात्रे युञ्जन्न् आत्मानम् आत्मना लघ्वाहारो विशुद्धात्मा पश्यत्य् आत्मानम् आत्मनि
Thus, practicing self-restraint night and day, eating lightly and with a purified mind, one perceives the self within the self.
रहस्यं सर्ववेदानाम् अनैतिह्यम् अनागमम् आत्मप्रत्यायकं शास्त्रम् इदं पुत्रानुशासनम्
This teaching, imparted to the son, is the secret of all the Vedas, not based on tradition or scripture, but established by direct experience of the self.
धर्माख्यानेषु सर्वेषु सत्याख्यानेषु यद् वसु दशवर्षसहस्राणि निर्मथ्यामृतम् उद्धृतम्
Among all teachings of dharma and truth, whatever essence has been churned out as nectar over ten thousand years, that is here.
नवनीतं यथा दध्नः काष्ठाद् अग्निर् यथैव च तथैव विदुषां ज्ञानं मुक्तिहेतोः समुद्धृतम्
Just as butter is extracted from milk, and fire from wood, so too is knowledge for liberation drawn forth by the wise.
स्नातकानाम् इदं शास्त्रं वाच्यं पुत्रानुशासनम् तद् इदं नाप्रशान्ताय नादान्ताय तपस्विने
This scripture, the instruction to the son, should be spoken to those who have graduated, but not to the untranquil, the undisciplined, or the ascetic.
नावेदविदुषे वाच्यं तथा नानुगताय च नासूयकायानृजवे न चानिर्दिष्टकारिणे
It should not be spoken to one ignorant of the Vedas, nor to one who has not followed, nor to the envious, the dishonest, or the undirected in action.