स्वयं तावद् भवान् एष जडो नास्त्य् अत्र संशयः । जडस्य कीदृक् कर्तृत्वं नृत्यन्ति हि कथं शिलाः
You yourself are indeed inert—of this there is no doubt. How could the inert possess agency? How could stones ever dance?
उपजीव्य चिरं तस्माच् छुद्धं तद्भागम् ऐश्वरम् । जीवसीच्छसि हंसि त्वं प्लवसे यासि वल्गसि
Therefore, having long subsisted on that pure, divine portion, you wish, you kill, you float, you go, you leap.
क्रियते यत् तु यच्छक्त्या तत् तेनैव कृतं भवेत् । लुनाति दात्रं पुंशक्त्या हन्तैव प्रोच्यते पुमान्
Whatever is done, is done by that very power; by that, it is accomplished. The knife cuts by the strength of a man, yet the man is said to be the killer.
पीयते यत् तु यच्छक्त्या पीतं तेनैव तद् भवेत् । पात्रेण पीयते पानं पानपस् तूच्यते नरः
Whatever is drunk, is drunk by that very power; by that, it is consumed. The vessel is what drinks the liquid, yet the person is called the drinker.
प्रकृत्यैवासि सुजडम् असकृज् ज्ञेन बोध्यसे । तेनात्मैवात्मनात्मानं चिनोतीदं हि नो भवेत्
By your very nature you are insentient, and are repeatedly awakened by knowledge; thus, the self does not truly know itself by itself.
अनारतं बोधयति त्वाम् आत्मा परमेश्वरः । बोधनीया बुधैर् मूढाः किलावृत्तिशतैर् अपि
The supreme self ceaselessly awakens you; indeed, the deluded must be awakened by the wise, even through a hundred means.
आत्मसत्तैव बोधैकरूपिणी स्फुरतीह हि । तयैव चित्त शब्दार्थान् अङ्गीकृत्य लघु स्थितम्
The very existence of the self shines here as the sole form of awareness; by that alone, mind, you lightly accept words and their meanings.
एवं चित्त त्वम् अज्ञानाद् आत्मशक्तेर् उपागतम् । ज्ञाने त्व् अद्यावगलितं तीव्रे हिमम् इवातपे
Thus, mind, through ignorance you have come under the power of the self; but in knowledge, you are dissolved today, like frost in intense sunlight.
तस्मान् मृतं त्वं मूढं त्वं नासि त्वं परमार्थतः । तद् एवाहम् इति व्यर्थं मानो मास्त्व् असुखाय ते
Therefore, you are dead, you are deluded, you do not truly exist; let not the vain notion 'I am that' remain, for it brings you sorrow.
असत्याश् चित्तकलना इन्द्रजाललता इव । विज्ञानमात्रम् एवेह ब्राह्मम् अङ्ग विजृम्भते
The mind’s fabrications are unreal, like strands of a magician’s illusion; here, only pure consciousness, O dear one, truly unfolds as the Brahman.
नरामरजगद्रूपैर् ब्राह्मी शक्तिर् उदेत्य् अलम् । सामुद्री कणकल्लोलजालैर् वेलेव वल्गति
The divine power arises fully in the forms of gods, humans, and worlds, just as the ocean’s shore shimmers with countless golden waves.
चिन्मयं चिद्भवन् मूढ तत् तस्मात् परमात् पदात् । नित्यम् अव्यतिरिक्तं त्वं किम् अन्यत् परिशोचसि
O deluded one, you are consciousness, born of consciousness, from that supreme state; you are always inseparable from it—why do you grieve for anything else?
सर्वगं सर्वभावस्थं सर्वरूपं हि तत् पदं । तत्प्राप्तौ सर्वम् एवाशु प्राप्तं भवति सर्वदा
That state is all-pervading, present in all beings, and of every form; upon attaining that, everything is instantly and always attained.
न त्वम् अस्ति न देहो ऽस्ति ब्रह्मास्तीह महत् स्फुरत् । अहं त्वम् इति निष्ष्यन्दैस् स्फुरत्य् आर्तिर् हि कस्य का
You do not exist, the body does not exist; here, only the great Brahman shines forth. When the streams of ‘I’ and ‘you’ have ceased, for whom can there be suffering?
आत्मा चेत् त्वं तद् आत्मैव सर्वगो ऽस्तीह नेतरः । आत्मनो ऽन्यज् जडं त्वं चेत् तत् त्वं नास्त्य् अस्य् अविद्वपुः
If you are the Self, then only the all-pervading Self exists here, nothing else; if you are something other than the Self, you are inert—such a one does not truly exist.
आत्मैव सर्वं त्रिजगत् तदन्यत् तु नकिञ्चन । तन् नकिञ्चित् त्वम् आत्मान्यद् यदि तत् त्वं नकिञ्चन
The Self alone is all—the three worlds; apart from that, there is nothing else. So, if you are the Self, there is nothing other than you; if you are not, then you are nothing.
अहं त्व् इदम् इदं तन् मे इति व्यर्थं किम् ईहसे । असद्वपुः किं स्फुरति शशशृङ्गेण को हतः
Why do you vainly strive, thinking ‘I am this, this is mine’? What can manifest from a non-existent body? Who is slain by the horn of a hare?
तृतीया कल्पना नास्ति चिज्जडांशेतरा शठ । छायाहसनयोर् मध्ये तृतीयेवानुरञ्जना
There is no third imagination apart from consciousness and inertness, O cunning one; just as between shadow and sunlight, there is no third coloring.
सत्यावलोकनाज् जाते चित्त्वजाड्यदृशोः क्षये । सम्पद्यते यत् तत् त्व् अज्ञ स्वसंवेदनमात्रकम्
When, by true discernment, the perception of mind and inertness ceases, what remains, O ignorant one, is nothing but pure self-awareness.
तेन मूढ न कर्तृ त्वं न भोक्तृ त्वं न चाप्य् असि । तद् एवासि परं ब्रह्म त्यज मौर्ख्यं भवात्मकम्
Therefore, O deluded one, you are not the doer, nor are you the enjoyer, nor anything else; you are that supreme Brahman alone—abandon the foolishness born of identification with becoming.
केवलं त्व् अज्ञविषयम् उपदेशार्थसिद्धये । त्वया करणभूतेन करोत्य् आत्मेति कथ्यते
Only for the sake of instructing the ignorant is it said that you, as an instrument, perform actions and are called the self.
असत्स्वरूपं करणं जडं निरवलम्बनम् । न स्पन्दते न प्लवते कर्तृसम्बोधनं विना
The instrument, being insentient, unreal in nature, and unsupported, neither moves nor acts without the invocation of a doer.
अकर्तुः करणस्याज्ञ शक्तिः काचिन् न विद्यते । दात्रस्य लावकाभावे कर्तुं किम् इव शक्तता
O ignorant one, for an instrument without a doer, there is no power at all; just as, in the absence of a giver, what power is there to give?
खड्गप्रहारविच्छेदक्रियायां पुंसि शक्तता । न खड्गे सुजडे कृत्तसर्वाङ्गे ऽप्य् अस्ति शक्तता
The power to cut in the act of striking with a sword resides in the person, not in the sword itself, even if it is completely inert and severed in every part.
तस्मान् नासि सखे कर्तृ मा व्यर्थं दुःखभाग् भव । परार्थं क्लेशिता मूर्ख प्राकृतेषु न शोभते
Therefore, friend, you are not the doer—do not needlessly partake in suffering; it does not befit the wise to toil for the sake of others among the unrefined.
ईश्वरो नेदृशश् शोच्यो यस् त्वयोपकृतो भवेत् । नैव तस्य कृतेनार्थो नाकृतेनेह कश्चन
The Lord is not to be pitied in this way—whether you benefit him or not, there is no gain for him from what is done, nor any loss from what is left undone.
सर्वं तूपकरोम्य् एनम् इति केवलम् अल्पधीः । क्लिश्यते च सतां त्व् अर्थो न कश्चिद् उपयुज्यते
Only a person of small understanding thinks, 'I will benefit this one entirely,' and suffers; but for the noble, there is truly no purpose served by such action.
कर्तुर् भोगेश्वरस्यैवम् अथ चेद् अनुवर्तसे । तद् अस्य काचिन् नेच्छेह तृप्तत्वात् सर्वदैव हि
If you follow the will of the enjoyer and Lord as the doer, then here he has no desire for anything, being ever content.
अकृत्रिमावभासेन सर्वगेन चिदात्मना । एकेनैवेदम् आपूर्णं कल्पनैवास्ति नेतरा
Through the uncontrived radiance of the all-knowing consciousness-self, this alone appears as all; imagination alone exists, nothing else.
एकानेकावभासेन समस्तेन ततात्मना । आत्मन्य् एवात्मनैवान्तः क्रियते किं किम् इष्यते
By the one and many appearances, by the all-pervading true self, within the self alone, by the self alone, all is done—what then is desired?