तैर् न लज्जामहे पुम्भिर् ये स्वभावम् उपागताः । शेषाः पुरुषनामानो गर्दभा दीर्घबाहवः
We are not ashamed before those men who have attained their own nature; the rest, though called men and long-armed, are but donkeys.
पर्वताः खर्वतां यान्ति पुरो ऽद्रेर् इव दन्तिनः । परां कोटिं प्रयातस्य स्वसंवित्त्युन्नतस्थितेः
Mountains become dwarfed before one who has reached the highest peak, established in the exaltation of self-awareness, just as elephants make a hill seem small.
आदृश्यद्रष्टृसीम्नो ऽन्तस् सूर्यादीन्य् अखिलान्य् अपि । न तेजांस्य् उपकुर्वन्ति स्वसंविद्दिव्यचक्षुषः
For one whose inner vision is at the boundary of the invisible seer, even the sun and all the luminaries do not add brightness to the divine eye of self-awareness.
अवस्तुतां व्रजन्त्य् एते मध्याह्न इव दीपकाः । अर्कादयो महालोकविधाव् अधिगतात्मनः
These, like lamps at midday, lose their substance; the sun and others, in the great order of the world, for one who has realized the Self.
तेजोऽंशुषु प्रभावेषु बलेष्व् अतिमहत्स्व् अपि । सर्वेषून्नतियुक्तेषु तत्त्वज्ञः परमोन्नतः
Even in rays of light, in radiances, in powers, and in all things endowed with greatness, the knower of truth is supremely exalted.
भान्ति भासा यथा सूर्यवह्नीन्दुमणितारकाः । तथा जगति राजन्ते ज्ञातज्ञेया नरोत्तमाः
Just as the sun, fire, moon, jewels, and stars shine with their own light, so too, in the world, those noble ones who know the knower and the known shine forth.
धराविवरकीटेभ्यो गर्दभेभ्यो ऽपि मानवाः । तिर्यग्भ्यश् चाप्य् अतत्त्वज्ञा राम तुच्छतरास् स्मृताः
Humans who lack true knowledge are considered even more insignificant than earth-burrowing insects, donkeys, and other animals, O Rama.
तावत् सम्मोहवेतालो देहो यावद् अनात्मवान् । आत्मज्ञ एव संयुक्तश् चेतनेनेति तद्विदः
The body remains a ghoul of delusion as long as there is absence of Self-knowledge; only the knower of the Self is said by the wise to be endowed with consciousness.
अनात्मज्ञो हि दुर्देहः प्रस्फुरन्न् अपि भूतले । शव एव भ्रमत्य् उच्चैर् आत्मज्ञस् तु सचेतनः
Indeed, one ignorant of the Self is a wretched body, though moving about on earth; he wanders like a corpse, while the knower of the Self is truly conscious.
दूरम् आत्मज्ञता याति चित्ते पीवरतां गते । आलोकलक्ष्मीर् अमला महामेघ इवोत्थिते
Self-knowledge departs far away when the mind becomes fattened, just as the pure radiance of light disappears when a great cloud arises.
भोगाभोगतिरस्कारैः कार्श्यं नेयं मनश् शनैः । रसापहारैस् तज्ज्ञेन कालेनाजीर्णपर्णवत्
By turning away from enjoyment and non-enjoyment, the wise one gradually brings leanness to the mind, as by withdrawing sap, a leaf withers over time.
अनात्मन्य् आत्मभावेन देहमात्रास्थयानया । पुत्रदारकुटुम्बैश् च चेतो गच्छति पीनताम्
By identifying the non-self as the self, and by clinging only to the body, the mind becomes bloated through attachment to sons, wives, and family.
अहङ्कारविकारेण ममतामलहेलया । इदं ममेति भावेन चेतो गच्छति पीनताम्
Through the distortion of ego and the impurity of possessiveness, with the notion 'this is mine,' the mind becomes swollen.
जरामरणदुःखेन व्यर्थम् उन्नतिम् ईयुषा । दोषाशीविषकोशेन चेतो गच्छति पीनताम्
By seeking vain elevation amidst the suffering of old age and death, and by the sheath of faults like venomous snakes, the mind becomes bloated.
दुराशाक्षीरपानेन भोगानिलबलेन च । आस्थादानेन चानेन चित्ताहिर् याति पीनताम्
By drinking the milk of vain hopes, by the force of the wind of enjoyments, and by holding fast to these, the serpent of the mind swells.
आधिव्याधिविलासेन समाश्वासेन संसृतौ । हेयादेयप्रयत्नेन चेतो गच्छति पीनताम्
Through the play of distress and disease, by false consolation in worldly existence, and by striving for what is to be accepted or rejected, the mind becomes bloated.
आगमापायवपुषा विषवैषम्यशंसिना । भोगाभोगेन पीनेन चित्ताहिर् याति पीनताम्
With the body subject to coming and going, proclaiming the imbalance of poison, and by indulgence and abstinence, the serpent of the mind swells.
शरीरदुश्श्वभ्रचिरप्ररूढं चिन्ताचयोच्चाकृतिमञ्जरीकम् । जरामृतिव्याधिफलावनम्रं कामोपभोगौघविकासिपुष्पम्
The poisonous tree of the mind, whose blossom is the cluster of anxieties long grown in the barren soil of the body, whose flower is the expansion of desires, bowed down by the fruits of old age, death, and disease—
विचारसारक्रकचेन चित्तविषद्रुमं त्वं द्रुतम् इन्दुकल्प । आशामहाशाखम् अशङ्कम् एव च्छिन्द्धि प्रसह्यार्द्रविकल्पपत्त्रम्
Swiftly cut down, without hesitation, the poisonous tree of the mind with the saw of true inquiry, O moon-like one, along with its great branches of hope and its tender leaves of moist imagination.
मत्तं क्षणं चैकतटोपवेशविश्रान्तिसौख्येष्व् असमर्थम् उग्रम् । आलोडनोत्कं सुजनक्रमाब्जषण्डस्य चण्डं सुखदुःखगण्डम्
The mind, intoxicated and fierce, is incapable even for a moment of resting in the happiness of solitary seclusion; it is violently agitated, like a swarm of bees in the lotus of good conduct, and is a harsh mass of pleasure and pain.
चेतोगजं कायकुकाननस्थं सुतीक्ष्णया धीकरजाग्रपङ्क्त्या । विदारयादीर्घविकारदन्तं क्रियाकरं राघव राजसिंह
O Raghava, lion among kings, the elephant of the mind, dwelling in the forest of the body-cage, with its long, deformed tusks of sharp thoughts, tears apart and acts through the herd of powerful intentions.
रतिं गतं नित्यम् असत्प्रदेशे शरीरमालाग्रसनेन पुष्टम् । धृष्टं क्रियाकर्कशचञ्चुचण्डम् एकेक्षणं पुष्टतमोऽंशकृष्णम्
It constantly delights in false places, is nourished by the garland of the body, bold, harsh in action, restless and fierce, and in each moment, the strongest part is drawn toward darkness.
दूरे समुत्सारय सारभूतं दुश्चेष्टितं कर्कशम् आरटन्तम् । गर्वोद्धतं कायकुलायकोशाद् दोषोपशान्त्यै निजचित्तकाकम्
Drive far away, for the sake of pacifying faults, the essential, wicked, harsh, and loudly crying crow of your own mind from the nest of the body-cage, swollen with pride by bad conduct.
तृष्णापिशाच्या परिचर्यमाणं विश्रान्तम् अज्ञानमहावटेषु । भ्रान्तं चिरं देहशतेष्व् अटव्यां स्वसंसृतौ चेतनवर्जितेषु
Attended by the demoness of craving, resting in the great caves of ignorance, wandering long in the forest of hundreds of bodies, in its own cycle of birth, among those devoid of consciousness.
विवेकवैराग्यगुरुप्रयत्नमन्त्रैस् स्वतन्त्रैस् स्वचिदात्मगेहात् । नोत्सारितश् चित्तपिशाचको ऽयं यावत् कुतस् तावद् इहात्मसिद्धिः
Unless this goblin of the mind is expelled from the house of one's own consciousness by the independent means of discernment, dispassion, the teacher's effort, and mantra, how can there be self-realization here?
शुभासुभाशीर्हतमानवौघं चिन्ताविषं कायकुकञ्चुकं च । अजस्रम् अच्छश्वसनाशनं च सर्वस्य रामाभयनाशनं च
The multitude of good and evil thoughts, the poison of anxiety, the shell of the body-cage, the constant inhalation and eating—O Rama, all these are the destroyers of fear for everyone.
हृदब्जदुश्शल्मलिकोटरस्थं भोगौघगर्हाखगमन्त्रशक्त्या । नीत्वा शमं राम मनोमहाहिं भयं भृशं प्रोज्झ्य भवाभयात्मा
O Rama, by the power of the mantra of disgust for the multitude of enjoyments, lead the great serpent of the mind, dwelling in the hollow of the heart-lotus, to tranquility, and being the very essence of fearlessness, utterly abandon the fear of becoming.
अमङ्गलाकारधरश् शरीरशवावलीसन्ततसेवनेन । दिगावलीसम्भ्रमणश्रमार्तश् श्मशानसेवी वपुषा क्षतेन
Wearing an inauspicious form, the body is like a heap of corpses, worn down by constant wandering along the rows of directions, exhausted by roaming, and tending toward the cremation ground, its very substance wounded.
भोगामिषे दिक्ष्व् अभिधावमान उत्कन्धरो धीरविवृद्धगर्वः । उड्डीय चेद् गच्छति चित्तगृध्रो देहद्रुमात् तन् निपुणं जयस् ते
If the vulture of the mind, with neck outstretched, swollen with the pride of false courage, rushes after the bait of pleasures in all directions, and then soars away from the tree of the body, then, O wise one, you have truly triumphed.
भ्रान्तं वनान्तेषु दिगन्तरेषु फलार्थिनं चञ्चलम् आकुलाङ्गम् । जन्मावनेर् जन्ममहीं प्रयान्तं संसारपान्थं जनम् आहसन्तम्
See the traveler of worldly existence, wandering in forests and distant lands, restless, his limbs agitated in pursuit of fruit, moving from one birth-land to another, calling out to others on the path of transmigration.