यदि सर्वगता देव चिद् अस्त्य् एका ततात्मिका । तद् अयं चेतति स्फारम् अयं चैव न चेतति
If consciousness, O Lord, is all-pervading and of a single essence, then why does one being appear conscious and another not?
अयं चिद्वान् पुरा भूत्वा चिद्धीनस् सम्प्रति स्थितः । इतीयं कल्पना लोके प्रत्यक्षानुभवा कथम्
This one was conscious before and now stands devoid of consciousness—how can such notions in the world be based on direct experience?
शृण्व् एतद् अखिलं ब्रह्मन् यथापृष्टम् वदामि ते । महान् अयं कृतः प्रश्नस् त्वया ब्रह्मविदां वर
Hear this entire matter, O Brahman, as you have asked; I shall tell you. You have made a great inquiry, O best among knowers of Brahman.
चिद् अस्ति द्विशरीरेह सर्वभूतमयात्मिका । चेत्योन्मुखात्मिकैका तु निर्विकल्पा परा स्मृता
Here, consciousness exists in two bodies, encompassing all beings; but the one whose nature is directed toward objects is called the supreme, undivided, and beyond conceptualization.
सङ्कल्पबद्धात्मैवान्तस् स्वयम् अन्येव संस्थिता । सङ्कल्पितेतरवरा दौश्शील्यं स्त्री यथा गता
The self, bound within by imagination, remains as it is, just as a woman who has lost her virtue through imagined desires for others.
स एव हि पुमान् कोपाद् यथेहान्य इव क्षणात् । भवत्य् एवं विकल्पाङ्का चित् स्वरूपान्यतां गता
Indeed, that very man, out of anger, appears to become another in an instant; thus, when marked by imagination, consciousness assumes a different nature.
विकल्पकलिता ब्रह्मंश् चित् स्वरूपपरिच्युता । जाड्यं क्रमाद् भावयन्ती प्रयाति कलनापदम्
O Brahman, when consciousness is filled with imagination and departs from its own nature, it gradually becomes inert and enters the state of conceptualization.
चित् स्वयं चेत्यताम् एति साकाशपरमाणुताम् । शब्दबीजात्मिकां पश्चाद् वाततन्मात्रभावनीम्
Consciousness itself becomes the object of cognition, attains the subtlety of an atom, and then, being of the nature of the seed of sound, conceives the subtle element of air.
देशकालविभागा तु तन्मात्रवलिता क्रमात् । जीवो भूत्वा भवत्य् आशु बुद्धिः पश्चाद् अहं मनः
Through the successive divisions of space and time, shaped by the subtle elements, the individual soul quickly arises, followed by intellect, then ego, and then mind.
मनस्त्वं समुपायाता संसारम् अवलम्बते । चण्डालो ऽस्मीति मननाच् चण्डालत्वम् इव द्विजः
When you become the mind, you take hold of worldly existence; and just as a twice-born man, by thinking 'I am an outcaste,' becomes like an outcaste, so it is here.
सङ्कल्पिताप्रबोधेन जाड्याच् चित् स्वप्रबोधिनी । शबलं रूपम् आसाद्य सङ्कल्पान् यात्य् अनारतम्
Through imagined ignorance, consciousness, though inherently self-luminous, assumes a variegated form and continually enters into various imaginations.
अनन्तसङ्कल्पमयी जाड्यसङ्कल्पपीवरी । चिज् जाड्याद् देहम् आयाति पयः पाषाणताम् इव
Consciousness, made of endless imaginations and swollen with the imagination of dullness, takes on a body from dullness, just as water becomes stone.
ततश् चित्तमनोमोहमायेति विहिताभिधा । जाड्यं निपुणम् आश्रित्य संसारे जायते मुने
Then, O sage, what is called the delusion of mind and consciousness arises, taking support in dullness, and is born in the cycle of worldly existence.
मोहसात्म्यम् उपायाता तृष्णानिगडपीडिता । कामकोपभयोपेता भावाभावातिपातिनी
Having attained the essence of delusion, bound by the chains of craving, accompanied by desire, anger, and fear, it rushes through the extremes of being and non-being.
त्यक्तानन्तनिजाभोगा व्यवच्छेदविकारिणी । दुःखदावानलातप्ता शोकाशनिकृशाशया
Having abandoned countless natural enjoyments, subject to interruptions and changes, scorched by the wildfire of sorrow, and with a mind emaciated by the thunderbolt of grief.
इयम् अस्मीति भावेन शून्येन विकलीकृता । भेदमात्रगृहीतास्था परं दैन्यम् उपागता
With the empty notion, 'This is me,' it is rendered unstable, holding to nothing but mere difference, and has come to utter wretchedness.
मग्ना मोहमहापङ्के पङ्के जीर्णेव दन्तिनी । भावाभावलतादोलापरिलोलशरीरका
Sunk in the great mire of delusion, like an old elephant in mud, its body is tossed by the swinging creeper of being and non-being.
असारावरसंसारविकारव्यवहारिणी । तापोपतप्तहृदया रागरोगानुसारिणी
Engaged in the worthless and tasteless transformations of worldly life, its heart scorched by affliction, following the disease of passion.
निजयूथपरिभ्रष्टा मृगीवावशतां गता । आविर्भावोदिताकारा तिरोभावे ऽस्तम् आगता
Separated from its own herd, like a deer fallen into helplessness, it appears with the rise of manifestation and disappears at dissolution.
स्वसङ्कल्पोपयातासु भीता सम्भ्रमदृष्टिषु । पलायते ऽप्य् असत्यासु वेतालीष्व् इव बालिका
Arriving through its own imagination, frightened among confused sights, it flees even from the unreal, like a little girl from goblins.
उष्ट्रीव मधुनो बिन्दुं वाञ्छते भावितं सुखम् । अवान्तरपरिभ्रष्टा दोषाद् दोषं पतत्य् अधः
Like a she-camel longing for a drop of water, she desires imagined pleasure; having fallen from inner balance due to fault, she descends from one fault to another.
परं वैवश्यम् आयाति सङ्कटात् सङ्कटं गता । दुःखाद् दुःखे निपतिता विपदो विपदि स्थिता
She comes to utter helplessness, passing from one distress to another; falling from sorrow into sorrow, she stands amid calamity after calamity.
नानानर्थगणोपेता चेष्टापरवशाशया । कष्टात् कष्टम् अनुप्राप्ता परितापानुतापिनी
Endowed with countless misfortunes, her intentions subject to restless action, she moves from hardship to hardship, tormented and full of regret.
क्रमान् नवे नवे बन्धे ऽवैदग्ध्यं समुपागता । विचित्रबन्धनिर्माणपरा क्रिमिपदं गता
Gradually entering ever-new bonds, she loses her discernment; intent on creating strange new fetters, she reaches the state of a worm.
सर्वतश्शङ्करे भीता प्राणात्ययम् उपागता । क्षीणतोयेव शफरी विवर्तनपरायणा
Frightened on every side by danger, she comes near to the end of life; like a fish in drying water, she is given over to constant agitation.
बाल्ये विवशसर्वार्था यौवने चिन्तयाहृता । वार्द्धके मृतिदुःखात्ता मृता कर्मवशीकृता
In childhood, helpless in all things; in youth, seized by anxiety; in old age, struck by the pain of death; and in death, subject to the force of karma.
जायते दुःखशबला म्रियते जननोन्मुखी । करोत्य् आवेशविवशा निगिरत्य् आर्तिधारिणी
She is born marked by suffering, dies facing birth again; acting under compulsion, she devours and bears affliction.
गच्छति श्रमसन्तप्ता भवत्य् अम्बुदभङ्गुरा । रोदित्य् आक्रान्तहृदया पराक्रन्दति तापिता
She goes on, scorched by toil, and is as fragile as a water bubble; she weeps with a heart overcome, and cries out in distress.
अप्सरास् स्वर्गनगरे नागी पातालकोटरे । असुरी दैत्यविवरे नरस्त्री वसुधातले
An apsaras dwells in the city of heaven, a nāgī in the depths of the underworld, an asurī in the cavern of demons, and a human woman upon the surface of the earth.
राक्षसी राक्षसाधारे वानरी वनकोटरे । सिंही गिरीन्द्रशिखरे किन्नरी कुलपर्वते
A rākṣasī abides in the abode of rākṣasas, a she-monkey in the hollow of the forest, a lioness on the summit of the king of mountains, and a kinnari on a noble mountain.