पुण्यपापात्मकं कर्म सुखदुःखफलं तु यत् अनादिमलभोगान्तमज्ञानात्मसमाश्रयम्
Karma, consisting of merit and demerit, yields pleasure and pain as its fruit; it is said to have no beginning, ends with the exhaustion of impurity, and is based in ignorance.
भोगः कर्मविनाशाय भोगमव्यक्तमुच्यते बाह्यांतःकरणद्वारं शरीरं भोगसाधनम्
Experience exists for the destruction of karma; the unmanifest is called the field of experience. The body, through the external and internal organs, is the means for experience.
भावातिशयलब्धेन प्रसादेन मलक्षयः क्षीणे चात्ममले तस्मिन् पुमाञ्च्छिवसमो भवेत्
Impurity is destroyed by the special grace obtained through the excellence of inner states; when the impurity of the self is destroyed, the person becomes equal to Shiva.
कलादिपञ्चतत्त्वानां किं कर्म पृथगुच्यते भोक्तेति पुरुषश्चेति येनात्मा व्यपदिश्यते
What is the karma of the five principles beginning with kalā, and how is it distinguished? Who is called the experiencer, and who is called the person by whom the self is designated?
किमात्मकं तदव्यक्तं केनाकारेण भुज्यते किं तस्य शरणं भुक्तौ शरीरं च किमुच्यते
What is the nature of that unmanifest, and in what form is it experienced? What is its refuge in experience, and what is called the body?
दिक्क्रियाव्यंजका विद्या कालो रागः प्रवर्तकः कालो ऽवच्छेदकस्तत्र नियतिस्तु नियामिका
Knowledge reveals direction and action; time initiates attachment; time is the delimiter there, and order is the regulator.
अव्यक्तं कारणं यत्तत्त्रिगुणं प्रभवाप्ययम् प्रधानं प्रकृतिश्चेति यदाहुस्तत्त्वचिंतकाः
That which is unmanifest is the cause, possessing the three qualities, the source and dissolution of all; it is called the primary substance and nature by those who contemplate the principles.
कलातस्तदभिव्यक्तमनभिव्यक्तलक्षणम् सुखदुःखविमोहात्मा भुज्यते गुणवांस्त्रिधा
From kalā arises that which is manifest, characterized by the unmanifest; consisting of pleasure, pain, and delusion, it is experienced in threefold ways by those possessing the qualities.
सत्त्वं रजस्तम इति गुणाः प्रकृतिसंभवाः प्रकृतौ सूक्ष्मरूपेण तिले तैलमिव स्थिताः
Sattva, rajas, and tamas are the qualities arising from nature; in nature, they exist in subtle form, like oil in sesame seeds.
सुखं च सुखहेतुश्च समासात्सात्त्विकं स्मृतम् राजसं तद्विपर्यासात्स्तंभमोहौ तु तामसौ
Happiness and the cause of happiness are generally considered sāttvika; the opposite is rājasa, while inertia and delusion are tāmasa.
सात्त्विक्यूर्ध्वगतिः प्रोक्ता तामसी स्यादधोगतिः मध्यमा तु गतिर्या सा राजसी परिपठ्यते
Upward movement is said to be sāttvika, downward movement is tāmasa, and the movement that is in between is described as rājasika.
तन्मात्रापञ्चकं चैव भूतपञ्चकमेव च ज्ञानेंद्रियाणि पञ्चैक्यं पञ्च कर्मेन्द्रियाणि च
The five subtle elements, the five gross elements, the five organs of knowledge, and the five organs of action—these are enumerated.
प्रधानबुद्ध्यहंकारमनांसि च चतुष्टयम् समासादेवमव्यक्तं सविकारमुदाहृतम्
The four—primary substance, intellect, ego, and mind—are thus, in summary, the unmanifest with its modifications.
तत्कारणदशापन्नमव्यक्तमिति कथ्यते व्यक्तं कार्यदशापन्नं शरीरादिघटादिवत्
When in the state of cause, it is called unmanifest; when in the state of effect, it is called manifest, like a pot or a body.
यथा घटादिकं कार्यं मृदादेर्नातिभिद्यते शरीरादि तथा व्यक्तमव्यक्तान्नातिभिद्यते
Just as a pot or other effect is not entirely different from clay and the like, so too the body and such manifest things are not entirely distinct from the unmanifest.
तस्मादव्यक्तमेवैक्यकारणं करणानि च शरीरं च तदाधारं तद्भोग्यं चापि नेतरत्
Therefore, the unmanifest alone is the single cause; the instruments and the body are its support, and what is to be experienced by it—not anything else.
बुद्धीन्द्रियशरीरेभ्यो व्यतिरेकस्य कस्यचित् आत्मशब्दाभिधेयस्य वस्तुतो ऽपि कुतः स्थितिः
What real existence could there be, separate from intellect, senses, and body, for that which is denoted by the word 'self'?
बुद्धीन्द्रियशरीरेभ्यो व्यतिरेको विभोर्ध्रुवम् अस्त्येव कश्चिदात्मेति हेतुस्तत्र सुदुर्गमः
Indeed, there is certainly some distinction of the self from intellect, senses, and body, for the all-pervading one; but the reason for this is extremely difficult to grasp.
बुद्धीन्द्रियशरीराणां नात्मता सद्भिरिष्यते स्मृतेरनियतज्ञानादयावद्देहवेदनात्
The wise do not accept the identity of self with intellect, senses, or body, because memory, knowledge, and other faculties are uncertain and last only as long as bodily awareness.
अतः स्मर्तानुभूतानामशेषज्ञेयगोचरः अन्तर्यामीति वेदेषु वेदांतेषु च गीयते
Therefore, that which is the inner witness of all remembered and experienced things, and the field of all knowables, is called the 'Inner Controller' in the Vedas and Vedānta.
सर्वं तत्र स सर्वत्र व्याप्य तिष्ठति शाश्वतः तथापि क्वापि केनापि व्यक्तमेष न दृश्यते
He pervades all things there and everywhere, abiding eternally; yet, even so, he is not clearly seen anywhere by anyone.
नैवायं चक्षुषा ग्राह्यो नापरैरिन्द्रियैरपि
He cannot be grasped by the eye, nor by any other senses.
न च स्त्री न पुमानेष नैव चापि नपुंसकः नैवोर्ध्वं नापि तिर्यक् नाधस्तान्न कुतश्चन
He is neither woman nor man, nor is he neuter; he is not above, nor across, nor below, nor from anywhere.
अशरीरं शरीरेषु चलेषु स्थाणुमव्ययम् सदा पश्यति तं धीरो नरः प्रत्यवमर्शनात्
Without a body, yet present in bodies, moving and unmoving, imperishable—the wise person always perceives him through inner reflection.
किमत्र बहुनोक्तेन पुरुषो देहतः पृथक् अपृथग्ये तु पश्यंति ह्यसम्यक्तेषु दर्शनम्
Why speak at length? The person is distinct from the body; those who do not see this distinction have an incorrect view.
यच्छरीरमिदं प्रोक्तं पुरुषस्य ततः परम् अशुद्धमवशं दुःखमध्रुवं न च विद्यते
This body, which is said to belong to the person, is impure, powerless, painful, and impermanent; it is not the true self.
विपदां वीजभूतेन पुरुषस्तेन संयुतः सुखी दुःखी च मूढश्च भवति स्वेन कर्मणा
Joined with the seed of misfortune, the person becomes happy, unhappy, or deluded, according to his own actions.
अद्भिराप्लवितं क्षेत्रं जनयत्यंकुरं यथा आज्ञानात्प्लावितं कर्म देहं जनयते तथा
Just as a field watered by water produces a sprout, so too, action moistened by ignorance gives rise to the body.
अत्यंतमसुखावासास्स्मृताश्चैकांतमृत्यवः अनागता अतीताश्च तनवो ऽस्य सहस्रशः
Abodes of extreme happiness and deaths that are final—both those yet to come and those past—his bodies are thousands in number.
आगत्यागत्य शीर्णेषु शरीरेषु शरीरिणः अत्यंतवसतिः क्वापि न केनापि च लभ्यते
Coming and going, when bodies are worn out, the embodied one does not attain any permanent abode anywhere.