अकस्माद् एव रूढेन मिथ्याज्ञानेन वल्गता । अभ्यस्तेन तथैवेदं दृश्यते देहचक्रकम्
This body-wheel appears solely because of the sudden surge of false knowledge, which has been repeatedly practiced and has taken root.
भ्रमितं च भ्रमद्रूपं पतद्रूपं च पातितम् । हतं च हन्यमानं च वपुर् दुर्वासनावशात्
Because of the force of bad habits, the body is seen as whirling, as having the nature of motion, as falling, as being struck down, and as being killed.
अज्ञानजं भ्रमं त्यक्त्वा सत्यां दृष्टिम् अवेक्ष्य च । धीरताम् अलम् आलम्ब्य घनं भ्रमम् इदं त्यजेत्
Abandoning the delusion born of ignorance and perceiving the true vision, relying firmly on courage, one should give up this dense confusion.
सङ्कल्पेन कृतो देहो मिथ्याज्ञानेन सन् न सन् । असत्येन कृतं यत् स्यान् न तत् सत्यं कदाचन
The body, created by imagination and existing through false knowledge, is neither real nor unreal; whatever is made by the unreal is never truly real.
असदभ्युत्थितो देहो रज्ज्वाम् इव भुजङ्गमः । असत्याम् एव चेमां च करोति च जगत्क्रियाम्
The body, arising from the unreal, is like a snake seen in a rope; in unreality alone, it performs all the activities of the world.
जडेन राम क्रियते यत् तन् न कृतम् उच्यते । कुर्वन्न् अपि ततो देहो न कर्ता क्वचिद् एव हि
O Rama, what is done by the inert is not truly done; even while acting, the body is never really the agent.
निरीहो हि जडो देहो नात्मनो ऽस्त्य् अभिवाञ्छितम् । कर्ता न कश्चिद् एवातो द्रष्टा केवलम् अस्य् अजः
The inert body is without initiative and has no desire of its own; therefore, no one is truly the doer—there is only the unborn witness.
यथा दीपो निवातस्थस् स्वात्मन्य् एव हि तिष्ठति । साक्षिवत् सर्वभावेषु तथा तिष्ठ जगत्स्थितौ
Just as a lamp placed in a windless place remains in its own nature, so you, like a witness, should remain steady in the existence of the world.
यथा दिवसकार्याणि भास्करस् स्वस्थ एव सन् । करोत्य् एवम् इमां राम कुरु पार्थिवसंस्थितिम्
Just as the sun, remaining in its own state, performs the tasks of the day, so too, O Rama, maintain your kingly duties in this world.
अस्मिन् ह्य् असन्मये देहगेहे शून्ये समुत्थिते । सत्ताम् उपगते मिथ्या बालकल्पितयक्षवत्
For in this body, which is truly insubstantial and empty, when apparent existence arises, it is like a false spirit imagined by a child.
कुतो ऽप्य् आगत्य निस्सारस् सर्वसज्जनवर्जितः । अहङ्कारकुवेतालः प्रविष्टश् चित्तनामभृत्
From somewhere, the worthless goblin of ego, abandoned by all good people, enters and takes up residence under the name of mind.
भृत्यतां मास्य गच्छ त्वम् अहङ्कारस्य दुर्मतेः । अस्य भृत्यतया राम निरयः प्राप्यते फलम्
Do not become a servant of this wicked ego, O misguided one; for by serving it, O Rama, the result is suffering, like falling into hell.
स्वसङ्कल्पविलासेन देहगेहे निराकृतिः । उन्मत्तचित्तवेतालः परिवल्गति लीलया
Through the play of its own imagination, the formless mad goblin of mind roams freely in the house of the body, as if in sport.
शून्यदेहगृहं प्राप्य चित्तयक्षेण तत् कृतम् । भीता येन महान्तो ऽपि समाधिनिरतास् स्थिताः
Having entered the empty house of the body, this goblin of mind causes even the great ones, absorbed in meditation, to remain fearful.
चित्तवेतालम् उद्वास्य स्वशरीरैकमन्दिरात् । संसारशून्यनगरे न बिभेषि कदाचन
When you expel the goblin of mind from the single temple of your own body, you will never fear in the city of worldly emptiness.
चित्तभूताभिभूते ऽस्मिन् ये शरीरगृहे रताः । चित्रम् अद्यापि ते कस्माद् घट्टिता नाश्मवत् स्थिताः
Those who delight in the house of the body, overpowered by the goblin of mind, are indeed strange—why are they still struck and unmoving, like stones?
ग्रस्ते चित्तपिशाचेन देहवेश्मनि या धृतिः । पिशाचस्यैव सा बुद्धिर् नापिशाचस्य राघव
When the demon of the mind has seized the house of the body, the resolve that remains is that of the demon alone, not truly yours, O Raghava.
अहङ्कारबृहद्यक्षे गृहे दग्धशरीरके । विहरानास्थया साधो न तवैतत् किल स्थिरम्
O noble one, in the house where the great spirit of ego has burned the body to ashes, any pleasure that arises there does not truly endure for you.
अहङ्कारानुचरतां त्यक्त्वा विततया धिया । अहङ्कारमृतिं प्राप्य स्वात्मैवाश्व् अवलम्ब्यताम्
Abandoning the company of ego with an expanded understanding, and having attained the death of ego, let one rely solely on one’s own true Self.
अहङ्कारपिशाचेन ग्रस्ता ये निरयैषिणः । तेषां मोहामयान्धानां न मित्राणि न बन्धवः
Those who are seized by the demon of ego and seek hell, being blinded by delusion, have neither friends nor relatives.
अहङ्कारोपहतया बुद्ध्या या क्रियते क्रिया । विषवल्ल्या इव फलं तस्यास् स्यान् मरणात्मकम्
Any action performed with an intellect afflicted by ego yields a result that is deadly, like the fruit of a poisonous vine.
विवेकधैर्यहीनेन स्वाहङ्कारमहाशवम् । मूर्खेणालम्बितं येन नष्टम् एवाशु विद्धि तम्
Know that whatever is grasped by a fool lacking discernment and courage, who clings to the great corpse of his own ego, is quickly lost.
अहङ्कारपिशाचेन वराका ये वशीकृताः । त एते नरकाग्नीनां राघवेन्धनतां गताः
Those wretches who are subdued by the demon of ego, O Raghava, become the very fuel for the fires of hell.
अहङ्कारोरगो यस्य परिस्फुरति कोटरे । स देहपादपो धीरैर् अचिरेण निपात्यते
When the serpent of ego stirs within the hollow of someone, that tree of the body is soon felled by the wise.
अहङ्कारपिशाचो ऽस्मिन् देहे तिष्ठतु यातु वा । त्वम् एनम् आलोकय मा मनसा महतां वर
Let the demon of ego remain in this body or depart; you simply observe it, do not engage with it in your mind, O best among the great.
अवधूतो ह्य् अवज्ञातश् चेतसैव तिरस्कृतः । अहङ्कारपिशाचस् ते नेह किञ्चित् करिष्यति
When disregarded, despised, and dismissed by the mind, the demon of ego will not be able to do anything to you here.
देहालये स्फुरत्य् अस्मिन् राम चित्तपिशाचके । अस्यानन्तविलासस्य किम् इवागतम् आत्मनः
In this abode of the body, O Rama, the demon of mind stirs; but what can possibly come to the Self, which has infinite manifestations?
चित्तयक्षाभिभूतानां याः पुंसां विततापदः । शक्यन्ते परिसङ्ख्यातुं न ता वर्षशतैर् अपि
The widespread sufferings of people overpowered by the goblins of mind cannot be counted, not even in a hundred years.
हतो मृतो ऽस्मि दग्धो ऽस्मीत्य् एता दुर्भगवृत्तयः । अहङ्कारपिशाचस्य शक्तयो ऽन्यस्य नानघ
The miserable states—'I am slain, I am dead, I am burned'—are only powers of the demon of ego, O sinless one, not of anyone else.
सर्वगो ऽपि यथाकाशस् सम्बद्धो नेह केनचित् । सर्वगो ऽपि तथैवात्मा नाहङ्कारेण सङ्गतः
Just as space, though all-pervading, is not bound by anything here, so too the Self, though all-pervading, is not joined with ego.