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.
वासनावलितो जीवो यात्य् उत्सृज्य शरीरकम् । कपिर् वनतरुं त्यक्त्वा तर्वन्तरम् इवास्थितः
The living being, carried by tendencies, departs after leaving the body, just as a monkey, leaving one tree, takes up residence in another.
पुनस् तद् अपि सन्त्यज्य प्रयात्य् अन्यद् अपि क्षणात् । अन्यस्मिन् वितते देशे काले ऽन्यस्मिंश् च राघव
Again, even that is abandoned, and in a moment one goes to another; in another expanse of place and in another time, O Raghava.
इतश् चेतश् च नीयन्ते जीवा वासनया स्वया । चिरं तदुपजीविन्या धूर्तधात्र्येव बालकाः
Driven here and there by their own tendencies, living beings are led about for a long time by that which sustains them, like children by a cunning nurse.
वासनारज्जुवलिता जीर्णाः पर्वतकुक्षिषु । जरयन्त्य् अतिदुःखेन जीवितं जीवजीवकाः
Worn out, bound by the cords of tendencies, they dwell in the wombs of mountains; living beings, tormented by great suffering, wear out their lives.
जरढजगदुपोढदुःखभाराः परिणतजर्जरजीविताश् श्वसन्त्यः । हृदयजनितवासनानुवृत्त्या नरकभरे जनताश् चिरं पतन्ति
Burdened by the weight of old age and the world's sorrows, with lives battered by time, they breathe on; following the impulses born of the heart, people fall long into the depths of hell.
इत्य् उक्तवत्य् अथ मुनौ दिवसो जगाम सायन्तनाय विधये ऽस्तम् इनो जगाम । स्नातुं सभा कृतनमस्करणा जगाम श्यामाक्षये रविकरैश् च सहाजगाम
When the sage had spoken thus, the day moved toward evening, and the sun set; the assembly, having offered their salutations, went to bathe, and the rays of the sun departed as well.
देहे जाते न जातो ऽसि देहे नष्टे न नश्यसि । त्वम् आत्मा निष्कलङ्कात्मा देहस् तव न कश्चन
When the body is born, you are not born; when the body perishes, you do not perish. You are the self, the stainless self; the body is not yours at all.
यः कुण्डबदरन्यायो या घटाकाशसंस्थितिः । तत्रैकस्मिन् क्षते क्षीणे द्वे इति व्यर्थकल्पना
The analogy of the well and the berry, the existence of space in a jar—when one is broken or destroyed, to imagine that both are lost is a futile notion.
विनाशिनि विनष्टे ऽस्मिन् देहे स्वां स्थितिम् आगते । विनश्यामीति यः खेदी तं धिग् अस्त्व् अन्धचेतनम्
When this perishable body is destroyed and your own true state is attained, whoever grieves thinking 'I am destroyed'—let that blind-minded one be condemned.
यादृशो रश्मिरथयोस् स्नेहोद्वेगविवर्जितः । सम्बन्धस् तादृशो देहचित्तेन्द्रियसुखैश् चितः
Just as the connection between a sunbeam and a chariot is free from attachment or agitation, so too is the connection among body, mind, senses, and pleasures.