आलोकस् स्फुटताम् अन्तर् आयात्य् अज्ञानसङ्क्षये । प्रशाम्यत्य् अम्बुदे व्योम्नि शरदीवार्कमण्डलम्
When ignorance is destroyed, inner light becomes clear; like the sun's disk in autumn, it shines in the sky, the clouds having subsided.
प्रसन्नस्फारगम्भीरम् अक्षुब्धम् अपराहतम् । हृदयं समताम् एति शान्तवात इवार्णवः
The heart attains equanimity—clear, expansive, deep, undisturbed, and unstruck—like the ocean when the wind is still.
अमृतापूरपूर्णेन नित्यानन्दमयेन च । स्थीयते पुरुषेणान्तश्शीतेन शशिना यथा
Within the person, there remains a fullness of immortal nectar, composed of eternal bliss, cool as the moon.
संविदंशैकविश्रान्तं समग्रं सचराचरम् । भाव्यते भरिताकारं वपुर् आनन्दमन्थरम्
The entirety of existence, moving and unmoving, appears as a single, unified expanse of consciousness, resting in itself, filled with fullness, its form gently stirred by bliss.
न भवत्य् अस्तसङ्गानाम् आशापाशविधायिनाम् । दग्धानाम् इव पर्णानां जन्मनां पुनरागतिः
For those who are free from attachment and who have severed the bonds of desire, there is no return to birth, just as burnt leaves do not grow again.
पुंसा क्षपितसंसारजराजन्ममहाध्वना । अपुनर्भ्रमणायात्मद्रुमे विश्रम्यते चिरम्
When a person has traversed and exhausted the long road of worldly existence, old age, and birth, he rests for a long time in the tree of the Self, never to wander again.
एवम्प्रायास् तथान्याश् च भवन्ति गुणसम्पदः । असति त्वयि सर्वाशिन् सर्वाशाक्षणदाक्षये
In this way, and similarly, other virtues arise; but when you are absent, O consumer of all, all desires are destroyed in an instant.
पक्षयोर् एतयोश् चित्त सत्तासत्तास्वरूपयोः । येनैव पश्यसि श्रेयस् तम् एवाङ्गीकुरु क्षणात्
Between these two sides—the existence and non-existence of mind—whichever you perceive as the higher, accept that at once.
स्वात्माभावस् तव सुखं मन्ये मानवतां वर । तम् एव भावयाभावं सुखत्यागो हि मूढता
O best of men, I consider your absence of self to be happiness; contemplate only that absence, for abandoning happiness is folly.
यदि त्व् अस्ति भवत् सत्यम् अन्तर्भावितचेतनम् । जीवतस् तत् तवात्यन्तम् अभावं क इवेच्छति
But if you truly exist as a conscious being within, then while living, who would ever desire your utter non-existence?
किं तु नास्त्य् असि सत्येन वदामि तव सुन्दर । तेन मिथ्यैव जीवामीत्य् आस्थया मा भवासुखि
But in truth, you do not exist—I tell you this honestly, O beautiful one; therefore, do not cling to the false notion 'I live,' and do not remain attached to happiness.
प्रक्रमे वासि नास्त्य् एव या वा भ्रान्त्या त्वदस्तिता । सापीदानीं विचारेण भृशं सङ्क्षयम् आगता
In the beginning, O Vasiṣṭha, there was truly no such thing as you, nor the delusion of your existence; now, through inquiry, even that has greatly diminished.
एतावद् एव ते रूपं साधो यद् अविचारणम् । विचारे विहिते सम्यक् त्वम् अरूपम् असत् स्थितम्
O noble one, your only form was this lack of inquiry; when proper inquiry is established, you are formless, abiding as the unreal.
अविचारात् प्रजातं त्वम् अनालोकात् तमो यथा । विचारेणोपशान्तं त्वम् आलोकेन तमो यथा
You arose from non-inquiry, just as darkness arises from the absence of light; through inquiry, you are pacified, just as darkness is dispelled by light.
एतावन्तं सखे कालं बभूवाल्पविवेकिता । तावतैवातिपीनत्वम् अभूद् दुःखैककारणम्
Friend, for this much time there was little discernment; for just that long, there was excessive swelling, the sole cause of suffering.
मोहसङ्कल्पमात्रेण बालवेतालवद् भवत् । बभूवात्यन्तसङ्कल्पे क्षीणे त्वयि भवत् स्थितम्
By mere imagination born of delusion, you became like a childish ghost; when that intense imagination is exhausted, you remain as you are.
इदानीम् उदितं नित्यं त्वं प्राग्रूपे क्षयं गते । विवेकस्य प्रसादेन विवेकाय नमो नमः
Now you have arisen eternally, your former form having perished; by the grace of discernment—salutations again and again to discernment.
बभूविथाप्रबुद्धं त्वं चित्तकात्यन्तबोधतः । चित्ततायां विनष्टायां स्थितस् त्वं परमेश्वरः
You have now become awakened through the highest knowledge of mind; with the mind-nature destroyed, you abide as the supreme Lord.
प्राक्स्वरूपविलासस् ते श्रेयसि स्थितिम् आगतः । समस्तवासनोन्मुक्तस् सम्प्रत्य् असि महेश्वरः
Your former self-manifestation has attained the highest state; now, freed from all desires, you are indeed the great Lord.
यस्याविवेकाद् उत्पत्तिस् स विवेकाद् विनश्यति । प्रकाशेन प्रयात्य् अन्तम् अनालोकोद्भवं तमः
That which arises from ignorance is destroyed by discernment; darkness, which is born without illumination, comes to its end through light.
अनिच्छतो ऽपि ते साधो विचारे स्थितिम् आगते । अर्थतो ऽयम् उपायातो विनाशस् सुखसिद्धये
O noble one, even without desire, when inquiry is established in you, this destruction has come for the attainment of happiness in its true sense.
तस्मान् नास्त्य् असि निर्णीतम् इति सिद्धान्तयुक्तिभिः । मित्रेन्द्रियेश्वर स्वस्ति भवतस् त्व् अस्तम् आगतम्
Therefore, it is concluded by reason and established doctrine that you do not exist as such; O friend, lord of the senses, may well-being be yours as you reach your end.
नित्यं पूर्वम् अभूताय नास्तिरूपाय सम्प्रति । भविष्यते च नोदर्कस् स्वमनस् स्वस्ति ते ऽस्त्व् इति
That which was always non-existent in the past, and is presently of the nature of non-being, will not have any result in the future; may your own mind be at peace.
परिनिर्वामि शान्तो ऽस्मि दिष्ट्यास्मि विगतज्वरः । स्वात्मन्य् एवावतिष्ठे ऽहं तुर्यरूपे पदे स्थितः
I am fully liberated, I am at peace, by good fortune I am free from all affliction; I abide in my own Self, established in the state beyond the three (states of consciousness).
अतो नास्त्य् एव नास्त्य् एव संसारी चित्तसंस्थितिः । आत्मा त्व् अस्त्य् एव चास्त्य् एव यस्माद् अन्यन् न विद्यते
Therefore, there truly is no existence of the transmigrating mind; but the Self alone truly exists, for nothing else is known apart from it.
अयम् आत्मेति कलना मन्ये नो निर्मलान्तरा । प्रतियोगिव्यवच्छेदकलनैकस्य वा कुतः
The notion 'this is the Self' is but a thought, not the pure inner reality; how can there be one who delimits the unique, which is without an opposite?
अहं तेनायम् आत्मेति कलनाम् अनुदाहरन् । मौनी स्वात्मनि निर्वामि तरङ्ग इव वारिणि
Ceasing to repeat the notions 'I' and 'this is the Self,' I dissolve in my own Self, silent, like a wave in the water.
संशान्तवासनम् अनाश्रितचेतनांशम् अप्राणसञ्चरणम् अस्तविनाशदोषम् । संवेद्यवर्जितम् उपेत्य सुसंविदंशं शाम्यामि मौनम् अयम् एव निरीहम् अन्तः
Having attained that state where all tendencies are pacified, consciousness is free from dependence, the movement of life-breath has ceased, and the faults of destruction and non-existence are absent—where there is no object of experience, but pure awareness remains—there, within, I abide in silence, utterly free from striving.
इति निर्णीय स मुनिर् वीतहव्यो विवासनः । आसीत् समाधाव् अचलो विन्ध्यपर्वतकोटरे
Thus resolved, the sage Vitahavya, having renounced all, sat unmoving in samadhi within a cave on the slope of Mount Vindhya.
अपरिस्पन्दिताशेषस्पन्दनानन्दसुन्दरः । बभूवास्तङ्गतमनास् स्तिमिताम्भोधिशोभनः
His mind, having set, became motionless and beautiful like a tranquil ocean, filled with the bliss of stillness, where all waves of movement had ceased.