असत्त्वं सत्त्वम् आत्मानम् अमृतं मृतम् आत्मनः अमृत्युं मृत्युम् आत्मानम् अचरं चरम् आत्मनः
He considers himself as non-being or being, immortal or mortal, deathless or subject to death, unmoving or moving.
अक्षेत्रं क्षेत्रम् आत्मानम् असङ्गं सङ्गम् आत्मनः अतत्त्वं तत्त्वम् आत्मानम् अभवं भवम् आत्मनः
He considers himself as fieldless or as a field, unattached or attached, unreal or real, non-existence or existence.
अक्षरं क्षरम् आत्मानम् अबुद्धत्वाद् धि मन्यते एवम् अप्रतिबुद्धत्वाद् अबुद्धजनसेवनात्
He considers himself as imperishable or perishable, due to lack of understanding; thus, from lack of awakening and association with the unwise.
सर्गकोटिसहस्राणि पतनान्तानि गच्छति जन्मान्तरसहस्राणि मरणान्तानि गच्छति
He passes through thousands of cycles of creation ending in downfall, and thousands of births ending in death.
तिर्यग्योनिमनुष्यत्वे देवलोके तथैव च चन्द्रमा इव कोशानां पुनस् तत्र सहस्रशः
In animal wombs, in human existence, and likewise in the world of the gods, just as the moon among its phases, so again there by the thousands.
नीयते ऽप्रतिबुद्धत्वाद् एवम् एव कुबुद्धिमान् कला पञ्चदशी योनिस् तद् धाम इति पठ्यते
He is led, due to lack of awakening, in just this way, being of distorted understanding; the fifteenth phase is called the womb, that is said to be the abode.
नित्यम् एव विजानीहि सोमं वै षोडशांशकैः कलया जायते ऽजस्रं पुनः पुनर् अबुद्धिमान्
Always understand that Soma is produced by the sixteen parts of the lunar phases; again and again, the unwise is born.
धीमांश् चायं न भवति नृप एवं हि जायते षोडशी तु कला सूक्ष्मा स सोम उपधार्यताम्
But this one is not wise, O king; thus the subtle sixteenth part is to be considered as Soma.
न तूपयुज्यते देवैर् देवान् अपि युनक्ति सः ममत्वं क्षपयित्वा तु जायते नृपसत्तम प्रकृतेस् त्रिगुणायास् तु स एव त्रिगुणो भवेत्
It is not used by the gods, yet it connects even the gods; after destroying possessiveness, O best of kings, it is born. From the nature of the three qualities, it becomes threefold.
अक्षरक्षरयोर् एष द्वयोः संबन्ध इष्यते स्त्रीपुंसयोर् वा संबन्धः स वै पुरुष उच्यते
The connection between the imperishable and the perishable is accepted; or the connection between female and male—this is called the person.
ऋते तु पुरुषं नेह स्त्री गर्भान् धारयत्य् उत ऋते स्त्रियं न पुरुषो रूपं निर्वर्तते तथा
Without the person, here, a woman does not bear offspring; and without the woman, the man does not produce form likewise.
अन्योन्यस्याभिसंबन्धाद् अन्योन्यगुणसंश्रयात् रूपं निर्वर्तयेद् एतद् एवं सर्वासु योनिषु
From their mutual connection and reliance on each other's qualities, form is produced; thus it is in all wombs.
रत्यर्थम् अतिसंयोगाद् अन्योन्यगुणसंश्रयात् ऋतौ निर्वर्तते रूपं तद् वक्ष्यामि निदर्शनम्
Through union for pleasure and mutual reliance on each other's qualities, form is produced in season; I will now speak of an example.
ये गुणाः पुरुषस्येह ये च मातुर् गुणास् तथा अस्थि स्नायु च मज्जा च जानीमः पितृतो द्विज
The qualities of the man here, and likewise the qualities of the mother—bone, sinew, and marrow—we know to come from the father, O twice-born.
त्वङ्मांसशोणितं चेति मातृजान्य् अनुशुश्रुम एवम् एतद् द्विजश्रेष्ठ वेदशास्त्रेषु पठ्यते
And skin, flesh, and blood, we have heard, are born from the mother; thus it is, O best of the twice-born, as is taught in the Vedic scriptures.
प्रमाणं यच् च वेदोक्तं शास्त्रोक्तं यच् च पठ्यते वेदशास्त्रप्रमाणं च प्रमाणं तत् सनातनम्
Whatever authority is stated in the Vedas, and whatever is taught in the scriptures, the authority of the Vedas and scriptures is the eternal authority.
एवम् एवाभिसंबन्धौ नित्यं प्रकृतिपूरुषौ यच् चापि भगवंस् तस्मान् मोक्षधर्मो न विद्यते
Thus, the connection of nature and person is always so; and, O blessed one, therefore the law of liberation does not exist.
अथवानन्तरकृतं किंचिद् एव निदर्शनम् तन् ममाचक्ष्व तत्त्वेन प्रत्यक्षो ह्य् असि सर्वदा
Or else, if there is some other example made internally, tell me that truly, for you are always directly perceiving.
मोक्षकामा वयं चापि काङ्क्षामो यद् अनामयम् अजेयम् अजरं नित्यम् अतीन्द्रियम् अनीश्वरम्
We, desiring liberation, also long for that which is free from disease, unconquerable, ageless, eternal, beyond the senses, and without a lord.
यद् एतद् उक्तं भवता वेदशास्त्रनिदर्शनम् एवम् एतद् यथा वक्ष्ये तत्त्वग्राही यथा भवान्
What has been spoken by you as an example from the Vedic scriptures is indeed so; as I will explain, you are a knower of truth, just as you are.
धार्यते हि त्वया ग्रन्थ उभयोर् वेदशास्त्रयोः न च ग्रन्थस्य तत्त्वज्ञो यथातत्त्वं नरेश्वर
The text is indeed held by you from both the Vedas and the scriptures; but the one who knows the truth of the text is not as the king.
यो हि वेदे च शास्त्रे च ग्रन्थधारणतत्परः न च ग्रन्थार्थतत्त्वज्ञस् तस्य तद्धारणं वृथा
He who is devoted to holding the text in the Vedas and the scriptures, but does not know the true meaning of the text, his holding is in vain.
भारं स वहते तस्य ग्रन्थस्यार्थं न वेत्ति यः यस् तु ग्रन्थार्थतत्त्वज्ञो नास्य ग्रन्थागमो वृथा
He bears the burden, but does not know the meaning of the text; but he who knows the true meaning of the text, his acquisition of the text is not in vain.
ग्रन्थस्यार्थं स पृष्टस् तु मादृशो वक्तुम् अर्हति यथातत्त्वाभिगमनाद् अर्थं तस्य स विन्दति
One who is asked about the meaning of the text should speak, like me, for by approaching the truth, he finds its meaning.
न यः समुत्सुकः कश्चिद् ग्रन्थार्थं स्थूलबुद्धिमान् स कथं मन्दविज्ञानो ग्रन्थं वक्ष्यति निर्णयात्
No one who is eager for the meaning of the text but possesses only a coarse intellect—how can someone of dull understanding expound the scripture with certainty?
अज्ञात्वा ग्रन्थतत्त्वानि वादं यः कुरुते नरः लोभाद् वाप्य् अथवा दम्भात् स पापी नरकं व्रजेत्
A man who, without knowing the true principles of the scripture, engages in debate—whether out of greed or hypocrisy—such a sinner will go to hell.
निर्णयं चापि च्छिद्रात्मा न तद् वक्ष्यति तत्त्वतः सो ऽपीहास्यार्थतत्त्वज्ञो यस्मान् नैवात्मवान् अपि
And one whose judgment is flawed will not speak the truth of the matter; for he, lacking knowledge of the true meaning here, is not truly self-possessed.
तस्मात् त्वं शृणु राजेन्द्र यथैतद् अनुदृश्यते यथा तत्त्वेन सांख्येषु योगेषु च महात्मसु
Therefore, O king of kings, listen as it is observed here, as it truly is among the great souls in Sāṃkhya and Yoga.
यद् एव योगाः पश्यन्ति सांख्यं तद् अनुगम्यते एकं सांख्यं च योगं च यः पश्यति स बुद्धिमान्
Whatever the Yogis perceive, that is followed by Sāṃkhya; he who sees Sāṃkhya and Yoga as one is truly wise.
त्वङ् मांसं रुधिरं मेदः पित्तं मज्जास्थि स्नायु च एतद् ऐन्द्रियकं तात यद् भवान् इत्थम् आत्थ माम्
Skin, flesh, blood, fat, bile, marrow, bone, and sinew—these, O dear one, are the bodily elements you have thus described to me.