अपरिज्ञात आत्मैव भ्रमतां समुपागतः । ज्ञात आत्मत्वम् आयाति सीमान्तं सर्वसंविदाम्
The self, not recognized, appears among those who are deluded; when the self is known, it reaches the limit of all awareness.
अविद्येत्य् उच्यते लोके चिच् चेत्यमलमालिता । चेत्यातीताच्छताम् एति सर्वोपाधिविवर्जिता
In the world, ignorance is said to be the impurity of consciousness and its objects; when it is transcended, it attains the state of pure clarity, free from all limitations.
चित्तमात्रं हि पुरुषस् तस्मिन् नष्टे न नश्यति । स्थिते तिष्ठति नात्मायं घटे सति यथाम्बरम्
A person is nothing but mind; when it is lost, he does not perish. When it remains, he remains. The self is not destroyed, just as space is not destroyed when a pot breaks.
गच्छन् पश्यति गच्छन्तं स्थितं तिष्ठञ् शिशुर् यथा । भानुम् एवम् इदं चेतः पश्यत्य् आत्मानम् आकुलम्
Just as a child sees a moving sun as moving and a stationary sun as stationary, so does the mind perceive itself as restless or still.
कोशकारवद् आत्मानं वासनाननतन्तुभिः । वेष्टयंश् चैव चेतो ऽन्तर् बालत्वान् नावबुध्यते
Like a cocoon-maker wrapping himself with threads spun from his own tendencies, the mind envelops itself within, but due to its childishness, it does not realize this.
मौर्ख्यम् अत्यन्तघनताम् आगतं सदवस्थितम् । स्थावरादितनुं प्राप्तं कीदृशं भवति प्रभो
When utter ignorance has become extremely dense and firmly established, and the mind has entered a body like that of an immobile being, what is its condition, O Lord?
अमनस्त्वम् असम्प्राप्तं मनस्त्वाद् अपि विच्युतम् । तटस्थं रूपम् आश्रित्य स्थितैषा स्थावरेषु चित्
When the state of 'no-mind' has not been attained, and the mind has even been displaced from its own nature, consciousness remains in a neutral form, abiding in immobile beings.
सुप्तपुर्यष्टका यत्र संस्थिता दुःखदायिनी । मूकान्धजडवत् तत्र सत्तामात्रेण तिष्ठति
Where the eightfold city of sleep is established, causing suffering, there consciousness abides only as existence, like one who is mute, blind, or inert.
सत्ताद्वैततया यत्र संस्थिता स्थावरेषु चित् । तत्रादूरस्थितां मुक्तिं मन्ये वेद्यविदां वर
Where consciousness is established in immobile beings as the non-duality of existence, there, O best among those who know, I consider liberation to be close at hand.
बुद्धिपूर्वं विचार्येदं यथावस्त्ववलोकनात् । सत्तासामान्यबोधो यस् स मोक्षश् चेद् अनन्तकः
When this is examined with intelligence and seen as it truly is, the awareness of the common essence of existence—that, if endless, is liberation.
परिज्ञाय परित्यागो वासनानां य उत्तमः । सत्तासामान्यरूपत्वं तत् कैवल्यपदं विदुः
The supreme renunciation of tendencies, accomplished through discernment, is known as the state of absolute oneness of being; this is understood as the state of liberation.
विचार्यार्यैस् सहालोक्य शास्त्राण्य् अध्यात्मभावनात् । सत्तासामान्यनिष्ठत्वं यत् तद् ब्रह्म परं विदुः
When the wise, reflecting with noble companions and contemplating the scriptures, become established in the common essence of being, that is known as the supreme Brahman.
अन्तस् सुप्ता स्थिता मन्दा यत्र बीज इवाङ्कुरः । वासना तत् सुषुप्तत्वं विद्धि जन्मप्रदं पुनः
That latent tendency which remains quietly within, like a sprout within a seed, is called deep sleep; know it as the source of birth once again.
अन्तस् संलीनमननं परितस् सुप्तवासनम् । सुषुप्तं जडधर्मापि जन्मदुःखशतप्रदम्
When inner thought is dissolved and the tendency of sleep prevails all around, that is deep sleep—possessing the nature of insentience and producing a hundredfold suffering of birth.
स्थावरादय एते हि समस्ता जडधर्मिणः । सुषुप्तपदम् आरूढा जन्मयोग्याः पुनः पुनः
All these, from immovable beings onward, are of insentient nature; having ascended to the state of deep sleep, they are fit for repeated birth.
यथा बीजेषु पुष्पाणि मृदो राशौ यथा घटाः । तथान्तस् संस्थितास् साधो स्थावरेषु स्ववासनाः
Just as flowers exist in seeds and pots in a heap of clay, so, O noble one, inherent tendencies remain within immovable beings.
यत्रास्ति वासनाबीजं तत् सुषुप्तं न सिद्धये । निर्बीजा वासना यत्र तत् तुर्यं सिद्धिदं स्मृतम्
Wherever the seed of tendency exists, that is deep sleep and not perfection; where tendency is without seed, that is called the fourth state, bestowing perfection.
वासनायास् तथा वह्नेर् ऋणव्याधिद्विषाम् अपि । स्नेहवैरविषाणां च शेषस् स्वल्पो ऽपि बाधते
Even a small remnant of tendency—like fire, debt, disease, enmity, or poison—continues to trouble one.
निर्दग्धवासनाबीजस् सत्तासामान्यरूपवान् । सदेहो वा विदेहो वा न भूयो दुःखभाग् भवेत्
One whose seeds of desire have been completely burned, who abides in the essential nature of existence—whether with a body or without—no longer partakes of suffering.
चिच्छक्तिर् वासनाबीजरूपिणी स्वापधर्मिणी । स्थिता रसतया नित्यं स्थावरादिषु वस्तुषु
The power of consciousness, taking the form of the seed of desire and remaining in its own nature, always abides as the essence within all things, from the immobile to the mobile.
बीजेषूल्लासरूपेण जाड्येन जडरूपिषु । द्रवेषु द्रवभावेन काठिन्येनेतरेषु च
In seeds it appears as the potential for sprouting, in inert things as inertness, in liquids as liquidity, and in other things as hardness.
भस्मन्य् अथादित्यरुचौ पांसुष्व् अप्य् अणुरूपिणी । असितेषु तलस्थित्या शितधारतयासिषु
In ashes it is subtle, in sunlight it is brilliance, in dust it is minuteness, in darkness it is the state of being at the base, and in swords it is sharpness.
आत्मशक्तिः पदार्थेषु घटावटपटादिषु । सर्वत्र सत्तासामान्यं रूपम् आश्रित्य तिष्ठति
The power of the Self, in objects such as pots, caves, and cloth, everywhere abides by taking on the common form of existence.
इतीयम् अखिलां दृश्यदशाम् आदाय संस्थिता । यथा घनपटा प्रावृड् अम्बरालम्बिनी तथा
Thus, having assumed the entire realm of the visible, it remains established, just as dense clouds in the rainy season hang from the sky.
स्वरूपम् अस्याश् चैवैतत् कथितं प्रविचारितम् । असर्वं सर्वतो व्यापि सद् इवासन्मयात्मकम्
This, its true nature, has thus been described and examined: it is not all, yet pervades everything, as if it were existence itself, with the form of pure consciousness.
आत्मदृष्टिर् अदृष्टैषा संसृतिभ्रमदायिनी । दृष्टा सती समग्राणां दुःखानां क्षयकारिणी
This vision of the Self, though unseen, is the cause of wandering in saṃsāra; when it is truly seen, it brings about the destruction of all suffering.
अस्यास् त्व् अदर्शनं यत् तद् अविद्येत्य् उच्यते बुधैः । अविद्या हि जगद्धेतुस् ततस् सर्वं प्रवर्तते
The absence of its perception is called ignorance by the wise; for ignorance is the cause of the world, and from it everything arises.
अविद्या रूपरहिता यावद् एवावलोक्यते । तावद् एव गलत्य् आशु तुहिनाणुर् यथातपे
Ignorance, which is without form, lasts only as long as it is observed; just as a particle of snow quickly melts in sunlight.
यथा नरो गलन्निद्रो यावत् कलनया मनाक् । विमृशत्य् आशयं तावन् निद्रा तस्य विलीयते
Just as, when a man who is falling asleep reflects even a little with his mind, his sleep dissolves—
तथा कीदृग् अवस्त्व् एतद् इति यावद् विकल्प्यते । अविद्या क्षीयते तावद् आलोकेनान्धता यथा
So too, as long as one inquires, 'What is this unreal thing?', ignorance is diminished, just as blindness is dispelled by light.