दृष्ट्या तु पारमार्थिक्या पुत्र सत्यं विचारय । नेह त्वं नैव चेदं ते भ्रान्तिम् अन्तः परित्यज
Son, examine truly with the vision of ultimate reality: neither you nor this belongs to you; abandon the inner delusion.
अयं मृतो गतश् चाहम् इतीमा दृष्टयः पुनः । स्वसङ्कल्पोपतापोत्था दृश्यन्ते न तु सत्यतः
This thought—'he is dead, he is gone, I am this'—arises again and again, born from one's own imagination, but is not true in reality.
अज्ञानविस्तीर्णमरौ विलोलैश् शुभाशुभस्पन्दमयैस् तरङ्गैः । स्ववासनातापमरीचिवारि परिस्फुरत्य् एतद् अनन्तरूपम्
On the vast desert of ignorance, this ever-changing manifestation arises, shimmering with waves of auspicious and inauspicious impulses, like water from the rays of one's own tendencies.
कः पिता किं च वा मित्रं का माता के च बन्धवः । स्वबुद्ध्यैवावधूयन्ते वात्यया जनपांसवः
Who is father, what is friend, who is mother, who are relatives? By one's own understanding, they are cast aside like dust swept away by the wind.
बन्धुमित्रसुतस्नेहद्वेषमोहदशामयः । स्वसञ्ज्ञामात्रकेणैव प्रपञ्चो ऽयं वितन्यते
The states of affection, aversion, delusion for relatives, friends, sons—all this world is woven only by one's own sense of self.
बन्धुत्वे भावितो बन्धुः परत्वे भावितः परः । विषामृतदशेवैषा स्थितिर् भावनिबन्धनी
When kinship is imagined, one is considered a relative; when otherness is imagined, one is considered an outsider. This state, bound by imagination, is like the experience of poison and nectar.
एकत्वे वर्तमानस्य सर्वगस्य किलात्मनः । अयं बन्धुः परश् चायम् इत्य् असत्कलना कुतः
For the self, which is ever-present and all-pervading, how can there be the false conception of 'this is a relative, that is an outsider'?
रक्तमांसास्थिसङ्घाताद् देहाद् एवास्थिपञ्जरात् । को ऽहं स्याम् इति चित्तेन स्वयं पुत्र विचारय
Reflect for yourself, my son: from this body, which is merely a mass of blood, flesh, and bones, enclosed in a cage of bones, who am I?
दृष्ट्या तु पारमार्थिक्या न कश्चित् त्वं न चाप्य् अहम् । मिथ्याज्ञानम् इदं पुण्यः पावनश् चेति वल्गति
From the perspective of ultimate truth, neither you nor I truly exist; this mistaken knowledge, which says 'this is virtuous, this is purifying,' merely wanders about.
कस् ते पिता कश् च सुहृत् का माता कश् च वा परः । खस्यानन्तविलासस्य किम् अस्वं किं स्वम् उच्यताम्
Who is your father, who is your friend, who is your mother, and who is an outsider? In the infinite play of space, what is not yours and what is yours—let it be declared.
असि चेत् त्वं तद् अन्येषु यातेषु बहुजन्मसु । ये बन्धवो ये विभवाः किं तान् अपि न शोचसि
If you are indeed yourself, then in the many past lives that have passed, did you not grieve for those relatives and possessions?
बभूवुस् ते सुपुष्पासु स्थलीषु मृगयोनिषु । बहवो बन्धवो धन्यास् तान् कथं नानुशोचसि
In the past, among blooming meadows and in animal births, you had many fortunate relatives; why did you not mourn for them?
बभूवुस् ते सपद्मासु तटीष्व् अम्बुधियोषिताम् । हंसस्य बन्धवो हंसास् तान् कथं नानुशोचसि
On the banks adorned with lotuses, among the women of the waters, you had swan relatives when you were a swan; why did you not mourn for them?
बभूवुस् ते लसत्पत्त्राश् चित्रासु वनराजिषु । बहवो बन्धवो वृक्षास् तान् कथं नानुशोचसि
Many trees with shining leaves were your companions in the varied groves of the forest—why do you not grieve for them?
बभूवुस् ते महाभ्रेषु शिखरेषु महीभृताम् । बहवो बन्धवस् सिंहास् तान् कथं नानुशोचसि
Many lions were your companions on the lofty peaks of great mountains—why do you not mourn for them?
बभूवुस् ते स्रवन्तीषु सरस्स्व् अम्भोजिनीषु च । बहवो बन्धवो मत्स्याः किं तान् अपि न शोचसि
Many fish were your companions in flowing streams, lakes, and lotus-filled ponds—do you not grieve for them as well?
बभूविथ दशार्णेषु कपिलो वनवानरः । राजपुत्रस् तुखारेषु पुण्ड्रेषु वनवायसः
You were a tawny forest monkey in the Daśārṇa lands, a prince among the Tukhāras, and a forest crow in Puṇḍra.
हेहयेषु च मातङ्गस् त्रिगर्तेषु च गर्दभः । साल्वेषु सरमापुत्रः पतत्री शवरद्रुमे
In Hehaya you were an elephant, in Trigarta a donkey, in Sālva the offspring of Saramā, a bird in the Śavara forest.
विन्ध्याद्रौ पिप्पलो भूत्वा घुणो भूत्वा महावटे । मन्दरे मर्कटो भूत्वा विप्राज् जातो ऽसि कन्दरे
On Mount Vindhya you became a pipal tree, in a great banyan a worm, on Mandara a monkey, and in a cave you were born a brāhmaṇa.
कोसलेषु द्विजो भूत्वा भूत्वा वङ्गेषु तित्तिरिः । अश्वो भूत्वा तुखारेषु जातस् त्वं ब्राह्मणाद् वने
In Kosala you were born a twice-born, in Vaṅga a partridge, in Tukhāra a horse, and in the forest you were born from a brāhmaṇa.
यः कीटस् तालकन्दान्तर् दंशको य उदुम्बरे । यः प्राजिको विन्ध्यवने स त्वं पुत्र ममानुजः
You who were the insect inside a palm root, the biting gnat in a fig tree, and the peacock in the Vindhya forest—O son, you are my younger brother.
हिमवत्कन्दराभूर्जतरुत्वग्रन्ध्रकोटरे । पिपीलको यष् षण् मासान् सो ऽयं त्वम् अनुजो मम
That ant which dwelt for six months in the crevice of the bark of a birch tree in a cave of the Himalayas—that was you, my younger brother.
सुह्मसीमान्तकुग्रामगोमये यश् च वृश्चिकः । सार्धं संवत्सरं साधो सो ऽयं त्वम् अनुजो मम
And that scorpion which lived for a year and a half in a dung heap in a remote village at the border of Suhma—that too was you, my younger brother.
पुलिन्दीस्तनपीठेषु निलीनं येन कानने । षट्पदेनेव पद्मेषु सो ऽयं त्वम् अनुजो मम
And that bee which hid in the breasts of a tribal woman in the forest, just as a bee in a lotus—that too was you, my younger brother.
एतास्व् अन्यासु चान्यासु बह्वीषु जनयोनिषु । जातो ऽसि जम्बुद्वीपे ऽस्मिन् पुरा शतसहस्रशः
In these and many other countless wombs, you have been born on this Jambudvīpa, thousands and hundreds of thousands of times before.
इत्थं तवात्मनश् चैव प्राक्तनं वासनाक्रमम् । पश्यामि सूक्ष्मया बुद्ध्या सम्यग्दर्शनशुद्धया
In this way, I perceive with subtle intellect, purified by true insight, the sequence of your own past tendencies and mine as well.
ममापि बह्व्यो बहुधा योनयो मोहमन्थराः । समतीतास् स्मराम्य् अद्य ता ज्ञानोदितया दृशा
I too have passed through many, various wombs, weighed down by delusion; today I recall them with the vision awakened by knowledge.
त्रिगर्तेषु शुको भूत्वा हंसो भूत्वा सरित्तटे । पक्कणे वायसो भूत्वा जातो ऽहम् इह कानने
Having been a parrot in Trigarta, a swan on the riverbank, and a crow in Pakkaṇa, I was born here in this forest.
भुक्त्वा पुलिन्दतां विन्ध्ये कृत्वा वङ्गेषु वृक्षताम् । उष्ट्रत्वम् अतिवाह्याद्रौ जातो ऽहम् इह कानने
Having lived as a tribal in the Vindhya, as a tree in Vaṅga, and as a camel in the high mountains, I was born here in this forest.
यश् चातको हिमगिरौ यो राजा पुण्ड्रमण्डले । व्याघ्रो यस् सह्यकुञ्जेषु स एवेह तवाग्रजः
The same one who was a chataka bird in the Himalayas, who was a king in the land of Pundra, and who was a tiger in the Sahya mountains—he is now your elder brother here.