शरीरालयम् उत्सृज्य यत्र चित्तविहङ्गमः । स्ववासनावशाद् याति तत्रैवात्मानुभूयते
When the bird of the mind departs from the abode of the body, it experiences the Self precisely wherever it goes, led by its own tendencies.
यत्र पुष्पं तत्र गन्धसंविदस् संस्थिता यथा । यत्र चित्तं हि तत्रात्मसंविदस् संस्थितास् तथा
Just as the awareness of fragrance abides wherever there is a flower, so too, wherever the mind is, there the awareness of the Self abides.
सर्वत्र स्थितम् आकाशम् आदर्शे प्रतिबिम्बते । यथा तथात्मा सर्वत्र स्थितश् चेतसि दृश्यते
Just as space, though present everywhere, is reflected in a mirror, so the Self, though present everywhere, is seen in the mind.
अपाम् अवनतं स्थानम् आस्पदं भूतले यथा । अन्तःकरणम् एवात्मसंविदाम् आस्पदं तथा
Just as a low place on the earth becomes a reservoir for water, so the mind alone is the reservoir for awareness of the Self.
सत्यासत्यं जगद्रूपम् अन्तःकरणबिम्बिता । आत्मसंवित् तनोतीदम् आलोकम् इव सूर्यभाः
The reality or unreality of the world appears as a reflection in the mind; awareness of the Self produces this illumination, just as the sun's rays produce light.
अन्तःकरणम् एवातः कारणं भूतसंसृतौ । आत्मा सर्वातिगत्वात् तु कारणं सद् अकारणम्
Therefore, the mind alone is the cause in the cycle of beings; but the Self, being all-pervading, is the true cause, yet itself causeless.
अविचारणम् अज्ञानं मौर्ख्यम् आहुर् महाधियः । संसारसंसृतौ सारम् अन्तःकरणकारणम्
The wise declare that lack of inquiry, ignorance, and folly are the essence and cause of the mind's involvement in the cycle of worldly existence.
असम्यक्प्रेक्षणान् मोहाच् चेतस् सत्तां गृहीतवत् । सम्मोहबीजकणिकां तमो ऽर्कद्रवणाद् इव
Through improper perception, out of delusion, the mind has grasped a sense of existence—just as a tiny seed of confusion is held, like darkness before the sun's rays dispel it.
यथाभूतात्मतत्त्वैकपरिज्ञानेन राघव । असत्ताम् एत्य् अलं चेतो दीपेनेव तमः क्षणात्
By the single, true knowledge of the real nature of the Self, O Raghava, the mind attains nonexistence—just as darkness vanishes in an instant before a lamp.
संसारकारणम् अतस् स्वयं चेतो ऽविचारणात् । जीवो ऽन्तःकरणं चित्तं मनश् चेत्यादिनामकम्
Therefore, the cause of saṃsāra is the mind itself, due to lack of inquiry; the living being, the inner organ, the mind, and so on—these are merely different names for it.
एतास् सञ्ज्ञाः प्रभो बह्व्यश् चेतसो रूढिम् आगताः । कथम् इत्य् एव कथय मयि मानद सिद्धये
These many designations, O Lord, have become established for the mind; tell me exactly how this is so, O gracious one, for my accomplishment.
सर्वे भावा इमे नित्यम् आत्मतत्त्वैकरूपिणः । चित्रास् तरङ्गककणा जलैककलिता यथा
All these states are always of the one nature of the Self; they are varied, like waves and foam, but all are composed only of water.
आत्मा स्पन्दैकरूपात्मा स्थितस् तेषु क्वचित् क्वचित् । तरङ्गेषु विलोलेषु पयो व्योमामलं यथा
The Self, whose nature is pure vibration, abides in some of these (states), just as the clear sky abides in the restless waves of water.
क्वचिद् अस्पन्दरूपात्मा स्थितस् तेषु महेश्वरः । तरङ्गत्वम् अयातेषु जलभावो जलेष्व् इव
Elsewhere, the great Lord abides in them as the unmoving essence, just as the watery nature remains in water when it is not in the form of waves.
तत्रोपलादयो भावा अलोला आत्मनि स्थिताः । सुराफेनवद् उत्स्पन्दा लोलास् तु पुरुषादयः
There, states like stone are unmoving and established in the Self; while those like men are moving, agitated like the foam of wine.
तत्र तेषु शरीरेषु सर्वशक्तितयात्मना । कलिताज्ञानकलना तेनाज्ञानम् असौ श्रितः
There, in those bodies, through the self as the source of all powers, the formation of ignorance arises; thus, ignorance is established.
तद् अज्ञानम् अनन्तात्मरूषितं जीव उच्यते । स संसारी महामोहमायापञ्जरकुञ्जरः
That ignorance, obscuring the infinite self, is called the individual soul; it is the one who wanders, the elephant trapped in the cage of the great delusion and illusion.
जीवनाज् जीव इत्य् उक्तो ऽहम्भावश् चाप्य् अहन्तया । बुद्धिर् निश्चायकत्वेन सङ्कल्पकलनान् मनः
Because of living, it is called 'jīva', and the sense of 'I' arises from the notion of 'I'; intellect acts as the agent of determination, and mind as the agent of imagination and thought.
प्रकृतिः प्रकृतत्वेन देहो दिग्धतया स्थितः । जडः प्रकृतिभावेन चेतनस् स्वात्मसत्तया
Nature exists as nature, the body stands as its own form; the inert exists by its nature, and consciousness by the reality of its own self.
जडाजडदृशोर् मध्ये यत् तत्त्वं पारमात्मिकम् । तद् एतद् एव नानात्वं नानासञ्ज्ञाभिर् आगतम्
Between the observer of the inert and the conscious, the supreme principle exists; this alone is the diversity, which has come to be known by various names.
एवं स्वरूपं जीवस्य बृहदारण्यकादिषु । बहुधा बहुषु प्रोक्तं वेदान्तेषु किलानघ
Thus, the nature of the individual soul has been described in many ways, in many places, in the Brhadaranyaka and other Upanishads, and indeed in the Vedanta, O sinless one.
अन्यैस् त्व् एतासु सञ्ज्ञासु कुविकल्पकुतार्किकैः । मोहाय केवलं मूढैर् व्यर्थम् अर्थाः प्रकल्पिताः
But others, using these terms, with faulty reasoning and false logic, have imagined meanings only for delusion, and the ignorant have constructed them in vain.
एवम् एष महाबाहो जीवस् संसारकारणम् । मूकेनातिवराकेण देहकेनेह किं कृतम्
Thus, O mighty-armed one, this individual soul is the cause of worldly existence; what has been accomplished here by this mute, extremely wretched body?
आधाराधेययोर् एकनाशेनान्यस्य नष्टता । यथा तथा शरीरादिनाशे नात्मनि नष्टता
Just as, when the support or the supported is destroyed, the other is also lost; in the same way, when the body and such perish, the Self is not destroyed.
एकपर्णरसे क्षीणे रसो नैति यथा क्षयम् । याति पर्णरसश् चार्करश्मिजालान्तरं यथा
As, when the sap in a single leaf is exhausted, the sap itself does not perish, but passes into the network of sun rays, so too—
शरीरसङ्क्षये देही न क्षयं याति कस्यचित् । निर्वासनश् चेत् तद् व्योम्नि तिष्ठत्य् आत्मपदे तथा
When the body is dissolved, the embodied one does not perish in any way; if devoid of tendencies, it remains established in the state of the Self, like space.
देहनाशे विनष्टो ऽस्मीत्य् एवं यस्यामतेर् भ्रमः । मातुस् स्तनतटात् तस्य मन्ये वेताल उत्थितः
The delusion of one who thinks, 'I am destroyed when the body is destroyed,' is as if a goblin has arisen from the mother's breast.
यस्य ह्य् आत्यन्तिको नाशस् स्याद् असाव् उदितस् स्मृतः । चित्तनाशो हि नाशस् स्यात् स मोक्ष इति कथ्यते
That which is said to have absolute destruction is what is called 'arisen'; the destruction of the mind is true destruction, and that is said to be liberation.
मृतो नष्ट इति प्रोक्तम् अन्यैस् तच् च मृषा न सत् । स देशकालान्तरितो भूत्वा भूयो ऽनुभूयते
Others say 'he is dead, he is lost,' but that is false, not real; having become separated by space and time, he is again experienced.
इहोह्यते जनैर् ओघतरङ्गान्तस् तृणैर् इव । मरणव्यपदेशात् तु देशकालतिरोहितैः
Here, people lament as if grass swept away within the waves of a flood; but the so-called death is only a passing beyond space and time.