O great sage, listen with attention to this wisdom concerning the nature of suffering and the path beyond it. The pains you see in the world—those felt now and those yet to come—arise wherever faults and impurities have taken root. Suffering manifests in countless forms, seeping into the lives of all beings. Most people, ignorant yet believing themselves wise, do not pause to consider their past sufferings. They mistake the mere satisfaction of hunger for happiness, not realizing that food is simply a means to remove hunger and illness, not an end in itself. In the same way, just as medicine is not taken for pleasure but to cure disease, so too do cold, heat, wind, rain, and other such changes affect embodied beings according to their time and season. There is no doubt—this is all suffering. Yet, the unlearned do not recognize it, not even in the realms of the gods. Even in heaven, impurity, decay, and similar afflictions persist. Beings there are tormented by various diseases and by the passions of desire, hatred, and fear. Their condition is like a tree whose roots have been severed—it is only a matter of time before it falls to the ground. In the same way, when the accumulated merit that supports a heavenly existence is exhausted, the denizens of heaven must fall back to earth. Their foundation is the desire that leads to suffering, and their wealth is nothing but the enjoyment of transient pleasures, which are themselves a form of suffering. For those who fall from heaven, the pain is severe. Even for the gods, to descend from such heights is bitter. And in hell, suffering is certain, for there one must endure the torments of hellish states. Suffering arises not only for those in heaven or hell, but also for all people, especially those who fail to perform their prescribed duties according to their caste and station. Just as a deer, terrified by the fear of death and deprived of its home, cannot find rest, so too does a great ascetic, deeply devoted to meditation and fearful of the cycle of worldly existence, find no sleep. Suffering is evident everywhere: among insects and birds, wild animals, cattle, elephants, and horses. Seeing this, one should understand that the highest happiness belongs to the renouncer, who turns away from the world. Even celestial beings, those who preside over the ages, those attached to their lofty stations, the Manus and others—all are touched by suffering, O virtuous ones. Among gods and demons, rivalry brings only pain. The same is true among kings, among the rākṣasas, and indeed throughout all the three worlds. The four stages of life exist for the sake of effort, each for their respective castes. Yet, neither by progressing through these stages, nor by worshipping the gods, nor by sacrifices, nor by following the Sāṅkhya philosophy, nor by observing vows, nor even by severe austerities or by making various gifts—none of these alone leads to the realization of the Self. Only the wise, by their own direct knowledge, attain it. Therefore, one should strive with all one’s effort to observe the vow of the Pāśupata. The wise should always sleep on ashes, steadfast in their commitment to the Pāśupata vow. Endowed with knowledge of the five principles and absorbed in the essence of Śiva, the wise one attains liberation, cutting through the bonds of ritual action by means of yoga. By uniting with the five principles, the wise one reaches the end of suffering. The highest knowledge reveals that which cannot be known by the lower knowledge. Indeed, there are two kinds of knowledge to be known: the higher and the lower. Of these, O best of the twice-born, the lower is the Ṛgveda, Yajurveda, Sāmaveda, Atharvaveda, the Veda that accomplishes all purposes, instruction, ritual, grammar, etymology, metre, and astrology—this is all the lower knowledge. The higher knowledge is established as imperishable. It cannot be seen or grasped, has no lineage, and is without characteristics. It is without eyes, ears, hands, or feet; it is unborn, unmanifest, and soundless. It is devoid of touch and form, without taste or smell; it is imperishable, without foundation, eternal, all-pervading, and sovereign. It is vast, great, unborn, composed of pure consciousness, without breath or mind, without moisture or redness. Immeasurable, not gross, not long or short, without limit, it is blissful and unchanging. It is unobstructed, non-dual, infinite, beyond perception, uncovered, of a single essence—the supreme knowledge and nothing else. Though spoken of as higher and lower, in truth there is no such distinction. I alone am all this universe, and all the world is indeed in me. From me it arises, in me it abides, and into me it dissolves. Nothing else is seen apart from me—by mind, speech, or action. Let one perceive everything in the Self, both the real and the unreal, with a concentrated mind. Perceiving all in the Self, one no longer directs the mind outward. With the gaze fixed downward, measuring twelve finger-breadths above the navel, one should know the heart as the great abode of the universe. In the center of this heart is a lotus, arising from the root of virtue, with a splendid stalk of knowledge. This lotus has eight white petals of sovereignty, and its supreme pericarp is detachment. Its openings are the directions, in which the vital airs and others are established. United with the vital airs and others, one perceives, in many ways and successively, the ten channels carrying the vital airs, each individually, O best of sages. Seventy-two thousand channels are described. Know that wakefulness is situated in the eyes, and dream is said to be in the throat. Deep sleep is in the heart, and the fourth state is established in the head. In waking, Brahmā and Viṣṇu are present; likewise, in dream, in due order. But Īśvara is present in deep sleep, and Maheśvara in the fourth state. Thus do others also declare, with all the faculties, the person. When one abides in these, that is called wakefulness—mind, intellect, ego, and consciousness, these four. When one is established in these, it is called dream. When the faculties are dissolved into the self, O virtuous ones, that is deep sleep, distinct from the faculties; the fourth is so designated. Beyond the fourth, transcending it, is Śiva, the supreme cause. Waking, dream, deep sleep, and the fourth—these are called adhibhautika, and also, O best of Brahmins, they are said to be ādhyātmika and adhidaivika. All this—“I am indeed that”—should be understood by one who knows, including the senses of knowledge, O best of Brahmins, and likewise the organs of action.