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.
गतेतरेतरापेक्षस् सरःपङ्कोपलाम्भसाम् । यथा राघव सम्बन्धस् तथा देहेन्द्रियात्मनाम्
As the relationship among mud, stones, and water in a pond depends on their mutual presence, O Raghava, so is the connection among body, senses, and self.
यादृशो ऽब्धिधराद्यानां निरिच्छापरिदेवनः । संयोगो विप्रयोगश् च तादृशो देहदेहिनाम्
As the union and separation of clouds, mountains, and the like occur without desire or sorrow, so is the coming together and parting of body and embodied self.
यथा कल्पितवेतालविकारभयभीतयः । मिथ्यैव कल्पिता एते तथा स्नेहसुखादयः
Just as the fear of changes in an imagined ghost is itself imagined and false, so too are attachment, pleasure, and the like merely imagined.
भूतपञ्चकसम्पिण्डाद् रचिता जनताः पृथक् । एकस्माद् एव विटपाद् विचित्रा इव पुत्रिकाः
People, each formed from the aggregate of the five elements, are distinct, just as various dolls are fashioned from a single tree.
काष्ठेतरत् काष्ठनरे किञ्चिद् अन्यन् न विद्यते । भूतपिण्डेतरद् देहे किञ्चिद् अन्यन् न विद्यते
In a wooden man, there is nothing other than wood; likewise, in the body, which is a mass of elements, there is nothing other than those elements.
भूतपञ्चकविक्षोभनाशोत्पादेषु हे जनाः । हर्षामर्षविषादानां किं भवन्तो वशं गताः
O people, when the five elements are stirred, created, or destroyed, why do you come under the sway of joy, anger, or sorrow?
को नामातिशयः पुंसां स्त्रीनाम्न्य् अपरनाम्नि वा । केवले भूतसङ्घाते प्रोद्भूते ऽर्जुनवातवत्
What real distinction exists between men and women, or any other name, when only a mass of elements has arisen, like a whirlwind of dust?
सन्निवेशांशवैचित्र्यम् अज्ञानाम् एव तुष्टये । तज्ज्ञानां तु यथाभूतभूतपञ्चकदर्शनम्
The diversity of forms and arrangements exists only to satisfy the ignorant; for those who know, there is simply the perception of the five elements as they truly are.
मिथश् शिलापुत्रिकयोर् यथैकोपलसंस्थयोः । श्लिष्टयोर् अपि नो रागस् तथा चित्तशरीरयोः
Just as there is no attachment between two clay dolls, even when they are pressed together on the same stone, so too there is no real attachment between mind and body.
मृत्पुंसां यादृशो ऽन्योऽन्यम् आशयस् सङ्गमे भवेत् । बुद्धीन्द्रियात्ममनसाम् सङ्गमे तादृशो ऽस्तु ते
Let the meeting of intellect, senses, self, and mind be for you just as the mutual association of clay figures—without deeper intent or purpose.