स्थैर्यं देहस्य दृष्टस्य जीवितं प्रोच्यते बुधैः । देहान्तरार्थं देहस्य सन्त्यागो मरणं स्मृतम्
The stability of the seen body is called life by the wise; the abandonment of the body for another purpose is known as death.
द्वाभ्याम् एवासि पक्षाभ्याम् आभ्यां मुक्तो महामते । किं ते मरणम् अस्तीह किं वा जीवितम् अस्ति ते
With these two wings alone, O wise one, you are liberated; what is death to you here, or what is life to you?
निदर्शनार्थम् एतत् तु मयोक्तम् अरिमर्दन । न त्वं जीवसि सर्वज्ञ म्रियसे न कदाचन
This has been said only for illustration, O destroyer of foes; you, O all-knowing one, neither live nor ever die.
देहसंस्थो ऽप्य् अदेहत्वाद् अदेहो ऽसि विदेहदृक् । व्योमसंस्थो ऽप्य् असक्तत्वाद् अव्योमैव हि मारुतः
Though established in the body, you are bodiless due to your bodiless vision; though abiding in space, you are truly spaceless, like the wind, because you are unattached.
स्पर्शसम्बोधकारित्वाद् देह एवासि सुव्रत । उत्सेधारोधकत्वेन खम् उत्सेधस्य कारणम्
Because you cause the awareness of touch, you are indeed the body, O noble one; just as space is the cause of elevation by its capacity to support.
प्रबुद्धो ज्ञातवस्तुत्वाद् एव त्वम् असि नासि च । इयत्तैकपरिच्छिन्नं रूपम् अज्ञेषु दुःखितम्
Awakened, knowing the reality of things, you are, and yet you are not; the limited, defined form exists only among the ignorant and is afflicted.
सर्वदा सर्वम् एवासि चित्प्रकाशपरैकधीः । को देहः को ऽप्य् अदेहस् ते यं गृह्णासि जहासि वा
At all times, you are everything, your mind established solely in the radiance of consciousness; what is the body, or what is bodilessness, that you would take up or abandon?
समुदेतु वसन्तो वा वातु वा प्रलयानिलः । भावाभावविहीनस्य किम् अभ्यागतम् आत्मनः
Let spring arise, or let the wind of dissolution blow—what comes to one whose self is free from coming and going?
प्रलुठत्स्व् अपि शैलेषु कल्पाग्निषु दहत्स्व् अपि । वहत्सूत्पातवातेष्व् अप्य् आत्मात्मन्य् एव तिष्ठति
Even if mountains are shattered, or the fires of aeons burn, or the winds of destruction carry all away, the Self remains established in itself.
सर्वभूतानि तिष्ठन्तु समम् एव प्रयान्तु वा । नश्यन्तु वाथ वर्धन्ताम् आत्मात्मन्य् एव तिष्ठति
Let all beings remain, or let them all depart equally; let them perish or let them grow—still, the Self remains established in itself.
क्षीयते न क्षयं प्राप्ते वर्धमाने न वर्धते । न स्पन्दते स्पन्दमाने देहे ऽस्मिन् पुरुषः परः
When decay comes, it does not decay; when growth occurs, it does not grow; the supreme person does not stir, even as the body moves.
देहस्याहम् अहं देह इति क्षीणे ऽपि ते भ्रमे । त्यजामि न त्यजामीति किं मृषा कलनोदिता
The thought, 'I am the body, the body is mine,' persists even when this delusion is weakened; 'I abandon, I do not abandon'—what is this, but a false notion arising from imagination?
इदं कृत्वा करोमीदम् इदं त्यक्त्वेदम् आहरे । इति तत्त्वविदां तात सङ्कल्पास् सङ्क्षयं गताः
Having done this, 'I will do that'; having abandoned this, 'I will take that'—such intentions, O dear one, have come to an end for those who know the truth.
प्रबुद्धास् सर्वकर्तारः किं करिष्यन्ति वै नवम् । नवस्याकरणान् नित्यम् अकर्तृत्वपदं गताः
Those who are awakened, who are the doers of all, what will they do anew? Having always abandoned new action, they have attained the state of non-doership.
अकर्तृत्वाद् अभोक्तृत्वम् अर्थाद् एव समागतम् । सङ्गृहीतं किलानुप्तं केनेह भुवनत्रये
From non-doership, non-enjoyership naturally arises; indeed, who here in the three worlds has ever truly taken up or abandoned anything that was not already gathered?
शान्ते कर्तृत्वभोक्तृत्वे शान्तिर् एव हि शिष्यते । प्रौढिम् अभ्यागता सैव मुक्तिर् इत्य् उच्यते बुधैः
When doership and enjoyership are pacified, only peace remains; when this maturity is attained, it is called liberation by the wise.
प्रबुद्धाश् चिन्मयाश् शुद्धास् सर्वम् आक्रम्य संस्थिताः । किं त्यक्तं परिगृह्णन्तु किं गृहीतं त्यजन्तु वा
Those who are awakened, composed of consciousness, pure, abiding pervading all—what is there for them to abandon or to accept, or to accept and then abandon?
ग्राह्यग्राहकसम्बन्धः प्रमितावयविक्रमः । हीनः प्रमेयावयवैः किं गृह्णातु जहातु किम्
When the relation of the grasped and the grasper, and the movement of measured parts, is lacking in the objects to be known, what is there to take up or to cast away?
ग्राह्यग्राहकसम्बन्धे क्षीणे शान्तिर् उदेत्य् अलम् । स्थितिम् अभ्यागता सान्तर् मोक्षनाम्नाभिधीयते
When the relation of the grasped and the grasper is dissolved, complete peace arises; having attained this abiding, it is called by the name 'liberation.'
तत्र स्थितास् सदा सन्तस् त्वादृशाः पुरुषोत्तमाः । सुषुप्तावयवस्पन्दसाधर्म्येण चरन्ति हि
Those noble ones, supreme among men like you, always abide there; they move about in similarity to the stillness of deep sleep.
परावबोधविश्रान्तवासना जागतीं स्थितिम् । अर्धसुप्ता इवेहेमां पश्यन्त्य् आत्मस्थया धिया
Having their tendencies at rest in supreme knowledge, they see this waking state as if half-asleep, with a mind established in the Self.
न रमन्ति हि रम्येषु स्वात्मन्य् एकगताशयाः । नोद्विजन्ते च दुःखेषु स्वात्मन्य् एकरसा यतः
Those whose minds are established in the Self alone do not delight in pleasant things, nor are they disturbed by suffering, for their experience is of one taste in the Self.
नित्यप्रबुद्धा गृह्णन्ति कार्याणीमान्य् असङ्गिनः । मकुरा इव बिम्बानि यथाप्राप्तान्य् अवाञ्छया
Ever awakened and unattached, they accept actions as they come, just as a mirror receives reflections, without desire.
जाग्रति स्वात्मनि स्वस्थास् सुप्तास् संसारसंस्थितौ । बालवत् प्रविचेष्टन्ते सुषुप्तसदृशाशयाः
They remain established in themselves while awake, and though they appear to act in the world like children, their inner disposition is like deep sleep.
त्वम् अजितपदवीम् उपागतो ऽन्तः कमलजवासरम् एकम् एव भुक्त्वा । गुणगणकलिताम् इहैव लक्ष्मीं व्रज परमास्पदम् अच्युतं महात्मन्
You have attained the state of the unconquered; having experienced within the single day of Brahma the abundance of qualities, now, O great soul, attain here itself the supreme, unchanging abode of fortune.
जगद्रत्नसमुद्गेन त्रैलोक्याद्भुतदर्शिना । इत्य् उक्ते पद्मनाभेन ज्योत्स्नाशीतलया गिरा
When Padmanabha, who beholds the marvels of the three worlds with the jewel-casket of the universe, spoke thus with words cool as moonlight—
प्रह्लादनामा देहो ऽसौ विकासिनयनाम्बुजः । मृदूवाच वचो धीरो गृहीतमननक्रमः
That body, named Prahlada, with lotus-like eyes opening wide, spoke gentle words, steadfast and composed, having grasped the method of reflection.
चिरम् अन्तर् मया देव दृष्टो ऽस्य् अमलया धिया । पुनर् बहिर् अयं दृष्ट्या दिष्ट्या देवेश दृश्यसे
For a long time, O Lord, I have seen you inwardly with pure understanding; now, by good fortune, I see you outwardly with my eyes, O Lord of the gods.
अहम् आसम् अनन्तायाम् अस्यां दृशि महेश्वर । सर्वसङ्कल्पमुक्तायां व्योम व्योम्नीव निर्मले
I existed in the infinite vision of pure awareness, O great Lord, freed from all intentions, like space within the sky, immaculate.
न शोकेन न मोहेन न च वैराग्यचिन्तया । न देहत्यागकार्येण न संसारभयेन च
Not by grief, nor by delusion, nor by thoughts of renunciation, nor by the act of abandoning the body, nor by fear of worldly existence—