Linga Purana

नाड्यां प्राणे च विज्ञाने त्व् आनन्दे च यथाक्रमम् हृद्याकाशे य एतस्मिन् सर्वस्मिन्नन्तरे परः

In the nāḍī, in the breath, in knowledge, and in bliss, in due order, in the space within the heart—within all these, the Supreme abides.

आत्मा एकश् च चरति तमुपासीत मां प्रभुम् अजरं तमनन्तं च अशोकममृतं ध्रुवम्

The Self, though one, moves within them; meditate upon Me, the Lord—ageless, infinite, free from sorrow, immortal, and unchanging.

चतुर्दशविधेष्वेव संचरत्येक एव सः लीयन्ते तानि तत्रैव यदन्यं नास्ति वै द्विजाः

He alone moves among these fourteen forms; they dissolve there itself, for there is truly nothing else, O twice-born ones.

एक एव हि सर्वज्ञः सर्वेशस्त्वेक एव सः एष सर्वाधिपो देवस् त्व् अन्तर्यामी महाद्युतिः

He alone is all-knowing, the Lord of all; He alone is the ruler of all, the god who dwells within, of great splendor.

उपास्यमानः सर्वस्य सर्वसौख्यः सनातनः उपास्यति न चैवेह सर्वसौख्यं द्विजोत्तमाः

Being worshipped by all, He is the eternal source of all happiness; yet, O best of twice-born, not everyone here attains all happiness by worshipping Him.

उपास्यमानो वेदैश् च शास्त्रैर्नानाविधैरपि न वैष वेदशास्त्राणि सर्वज्ञो यास्यति प्रभुः

Even when worshipped through the Vedas and the various scriptures, this all-knowing Lord does not go to the Vedas and scriptures.

अस्यैवान्नमिदं सर्वं न सो ऽन्नं भवति स्वयम् स्वात्मना रक्षितं चाद्याद् अन्नभूतं न कुत्रचित्

All this is His food, yet He Himself is not food; what is protected by the Self may be eaten, but He never becomes food anywhere.

सर्वत्र प्राणिनामन्नं प्राणिनां ग्रन्थिरस्म्यहम् प्रशास्ता नयनश्चैव पञ्चात्मा स विभागशः

Everywhere I am the food of living beings, I am the bond of creatures, the ruler and the guide, the fivefold Self in its divisions.

अन्नमयो ऽसौ भूतात्मा चाद्यते ह्यन्नमुच्यते प्राणमयश्चेन्द्रियात्मा संकल्पात्मा मनोमयः

This embodied self is made of food, and is called the eater of food; the self made of breath, the self of the senses, the self of intention, and the self made of mind.

कालात्मा सोम एवेह विज्ञानमय उच्यते सदानन्दमयो भूत्वा महेशः परमेश्वरः

Here, Soma is the self of time, and is called the self made of knowledge; ever-blissful, becoming the great Lord, the Supreme Lord.

सो ऽहम् एवं जगत्सर्वं मय्येव सकलं स्थितम् परतन्त्रं स्वतन्त्रे ऽपि तदभावाद्विचारतः

Thus, I am indeed all this world; all is established in Me alone. Though independent, it is dependent, for apart from Me, upon reflection, it does not exist.

एकत्वमपि नास्त्येव द्वैतं तत्र कुतस्त्वहो एवं नास्त्यथ मर्त्यं च कुतो ऽमृतमजोद्भवः

There is truly no oneness, so how could there be duality? Thus, there is neither mortality nor, then, immortality or birthless origin.

नान्तःप्रज्ञो बहिःप्रज्ञो न चोभयगतस् तथा न प्रज्ञानघनस्त्वेवं न प्राज्ञो ज्ञानपूर्वकः

He is not inwardly conscious, nor outwardly conscious, nor conscious in both ways; not a mass of consciousness, nor conscious in the ordinary sense, nor preceded by knowledge.

विदितं नास्ति वेद्यं च निर्वाणं परमार्थतः निर्वाणं चैव कैवल्यं निःश्रेयसमनामयम्

There is nothing known or to be known; liberation is the highest reality. Liberation is indeed aloneness, the highest good, free from affliction.

अमृतं चाक्षरं ब्रह्म परमात्मा परापरम् निर्विकल्पं निराभासं ज्ञानं पर्यायवाचकम्

The immortal, imperishable Brahman, the supreme Self, both transcendent and immanent, without difference, without appearance, is knowledge, called by many names.

प्रसन्नं च यदेकाग्रं तदा ज्ञानमिति स्मृतम् अज्ञानमितरत्सर्वं नात्र कार्या विचारणा

That which is clear and one-pointed is called knowledge; all else is ignorance—no further inquiry is needed here.

इत्थं प्रसन्नं विज्ञानं गुरुसंपर्कजं ध्रुवम् रागद्वेषानृतक्रोधं कामतृष्णादिभिः सदा

Thus, the clear knowledge that arises from contact with the teacher is steadfast, always free from passion, hatred, falsehood, anger, desire, and thirst.

अपरामृष्टमद्यैव विज्ञेयं मुक्तिदं त्विदम् अज्ञानमलपूर्वत्वात् पुरुषो मलिनः स्मृतः

This, which is untouched by intoxication, should be understood today as the giver of liberation; because ignorance is the original impurity, a person is considered impure.

तत्क्षयाद्धि भवेन्मुक्तिर् नान्यथा जन्मकोटिभिः ज्ञानमेकं विना नास्ति पुण्यपापपरिक्षयः

Indeed, liberation comes from the destruction of that (ignorance), not otherwise, even in millions of births; without knowledge alone, there is no exhaustion of merit and demerit.

ज्ञानम् एवाभ्यसेत् तस्मान् मुक्त्यर्थं ब्रह्मवित्तमाः ज्ञानाभ्यासाद्धि वै पुंसां बुद्धिर्भवति निर्मला

Therefore, O best knowers of Brahman, one should practice knowledge alone for the sake of liberation; for through the practice of knowledge, a person's intellect truly becomes pure.

तस्मात्सदाभ्यसेज्ज्ञानं तन्निष्ठस्तत्परायणः ज्ञानेनैकेन तृप्तस्य त्यक्तसंगस्य योगिनः

Therefore, one should always practice knowledge, being steadfast in it and devoted to it; for the yogi who is satisfied with knowledge alone and has abandoned attachment has nothing to be done.

कर्तव्यं नास्ति विप्रेन्द्रा अस्ति चेत्तत्त्वविन्न च इह लोके परे चापि कर्तव्यं नास्ति तस्य वै

O foremost of Brahmins, there is nothing to be done for him; and if anything remains, it is not for the knower of truth; in this world and the next, truly, there is nothing to be done for him.

जीवन्मुक्तो यतस् तस्माद् ब्रह्मवित् परमार्थतः ज्ञानाभ्यासरतो नित्यं ज्ञानतत्त्वार्थवित् स्वयम्

Because he is liberated while living, therefore he is truly a knower of Brahman in the highest sense; always engaged in the practice of knowledge, he knows the true meaning of knowledge himself.

कर्तव्याभ्यासमुत्सृज्य ज्ञानमेवाधिगच्छति वर्णाश्रमाभिमानी यस् त्यक्तक्रोधो द्विजोत्तमाः

Abandoning the practice of duties, he attains knowledge alone; O best of twice-born, he who is attached to caste and stage of life, having given up anger.

अन्यत्र रमते मूढः सो ऽज्ञानी नात्र संशयः संसारहेतुरज्ञानं संसारस्तनुसंग्रहः

The deluded one delights elsewhere—he is ignorant, of this there is no doubt; ignorance is the cause of worldly existence, and worldly existence is the gathering of bodies.

मोक्षहेतुस् तथा ज्ञानं मुक्तः स्वात्मन्यवस्थितः अज्ञाने सति विप्रेन्द्राः क्रोधाद्या नात्र संशयः

Likewise, knowledge is the cause of liberation; the liberated one abides in his own self; when ignorance remains, O foremost of Brahmins, anger and the like—of this there is no doubt.

क्रोधो हर्षस् तथा लोभो मोहो दम्भो द्विजोत्तमाः धर्माधर्मौ हि तेषां च तद्वशात्तनुसंग्रहः

Anger, delight, greed, delusion, hypocrisy, O best of twice-born, and righteousness and unrighteousness—all these, due to them, are the gathering of bodies.

शरीरे सति वै क्लेशः सो ऽविद्यां संत्यजेद्बुधः अविद्यां विद्यया हित्वा स्थितस्यैव च योगिनः

As long as the body exists, there is suffering; the wise one should abandon ignorance; having abandoned ignorance by knowledge, the yogi remains established.

क्रोधाद्या नाशमायान्ति धर्माधर्मौ च वै द्विजाः तत्क्षयाच्च शरीरेण न पुनः सम्प्रयुज्यते

Anger and the like are destroyed, and righteousness and unrighteousness too, O twice-born; and with their destruction, he is not joined again with a body.