परमात्मनि चित्तत्त्वे स्थिते सति निरामये । जीवो जीवति सालोकं दीपे सति गृहं यथा
When the supreme self, the essence of consciousness, abides free from affliction, the living being lives with its world, just as a house exists when there is a lamp.
आधयो व्याधयश् चैव प्रयान्त्य् अस्याः प्रपीनताम् । अपाम् इव तरङ्गत्वं वीचित्वस्येव फेनता
Afflictions and diseases bring about its fullness, just as the wave-nature of water brings about the frothiness of foam.
आधिव्याधिभिर् आकीर्णश् शरीराम्भोजषट्पदः । जीवो वैवश्यम् आयाति तरङ्गत्वं यथा पयः
The living being, the bee of the lotus of the body, surrounded by afflictions and diseases, falls into helplessness, just as water becomes a wave.
चिच्छक्तिस् सर्वशक्तित्वान् नाहं चिद् इति भावनात् । स्ववशैवैति वैवश्यं सूर्यदीप्तिर् इवाम्बुदैः
Because consciousness is all-powerful, and through the notion 'I am not consciousness,' it comes under its own sway and helplessness, just as the brilliance of the sun is obscured by clouds.
वैवश्याशावती मौढ्यान् न विन्दत्य् आत्मसंविदम् । घनजाड्यपराभूतस् स्वाङ्गावदलनं यथा
The mind, overcome by ignorance and bound to hope, does not attain self-awareness, just as a limb, subdued by dense numbness, cannot move.
प्राणवाय्वनुसन्धानम् अस्या मोहाद् विनश्यति । घनमोहवतो जन्तोस् स्वकार्यस्मरणं यथा
Her practice of breath-awareness is lost due to delusion, just as one overwhelmed by deep confusion forgets his own tasks.
अथाङ्गसंविदो वातस् स्पन्दशक्तेश् च मोहतः । न करोत्य् अनुसन्धानं कुष्ठी स्पन्दैषणं यथा
Thus, because of delusion, she does not attend to the awareness of her limbs or the power of movement, just as a leper does not seek the sensation of movement.
असंवित्स्पन्दने देहे पद्मपत्त्रं हृदि स्थितम् । न स्फुरत्य् अपरामृष्टं दारुपत्त्रं यथा बहिः
When there is no awareness or movement in the body, the heart remains unmoved like a lotus leaf inside, untouched, just as a wooden leaf outside does not quiver.
निस्स्पन्दे पद्मपत्त्रे ऽन्तः प्राणाश् शान्तिं प्रयान्त्य् अमी । तालवृन्ते यथास्पन्दे बहिः पवनशक्तयः
When there is no movement in the lotus leaf, the life-forces within come to rest, just as, when there is no wind, the energies outside a palm leaf are still.
प्राणे शान्ते ऽन्तर् अस्पर्शाज् जीवो निपुणमूकताम् । याति शान्ते नभोवायाव् अदृश्यत्वं यथा रजः
When the breath is still and there is no inner contact, the living being attains profound silence, just as dust becomes invisible when the wind and sky are calm.
विरथं विगताधारं मनोमात्रं हि दृश्यते । तिष्ठत्य् आत्मन्य् अलब्धोर्वीजलादितरुबीजवत्
Deprived of support and vehicle, only the mind remains, existing in the self like a seed of a tree that has not obtained earth or water.
इति वैकल्यम् आयाते करणौघे समन्ततः । नाशं पुर्यष्टके याते देहः पतति निश्चलः
Thus, when impairment arises in all the senses and the subtle body is destroyed, the physical body falls, motionless.
चिच्चेत्यचेतनान् मोहात् स्पन्दम् आयाति वासना । उदीरिता स्मरत्य् अन्यद् अन्यद् विस्मरति स्वयम्
Through delusion, the latent impression stirs consciousness, the conscious, and the unconscious; once aroused, it recalls one thing and forgets another by itself.
हृत्पद्मयन्त्रस्फुरणात् स्फुटं पुर्यष्टकं भवेत् । हृत्पद्मयन्त्रे वहनाद् रुद्धे पुर्यष्टकं क्षयि
From the vibration of the heart-lotus mechanism, the subtle body clearly arises; when the heart-lotus mechanism ceases to function, the subtle body is restrained and perishes.
देहे पुर्यष्टकं यावद् अस्ति तावत् स जीवति । शान्ते पुर्यष्टके देहो मृत इत्य् उच्यते द्विज
As long as the subtle body remains in the physical body, so long does one live; when the subtle body is at rest, the body is said to be dead, O twice-born one.
विरुद्धमलसंरोधाच् छेदभेददशावशात् । न प्रस्फुरति हृत्पद्मयन्त्रम् अभ्यन्तरे यदा
When, due to the obstruction of opposing impurities or because of severance and disruption, the heart-lotus mechanism does not function within,
तदा पुर्यष्टकं शान्तिम् उपैति गगने शनैः । संरोधिते वातयन्त्रे यथा पवनसन्ततिः
Then the subtle body gradually attains peace in the ether, just as, when the wind mechanism is blocked, the flow of air comes to a halt.
स्वासंवित्तिवशाज् जीवो वैवश्यम् उपगच्छति । पद्मयन्त्रं शरीरस्थं न वाहयति निस्सहः
Because of the loss of awareness of breath, the living being falls into helplessness; unable, he does not move the lotus mechanism within the body.
वासना विमला येषां हृदयान् नापसर्पति । स्थिरैकरूपजीवास् ते जीवन्मुक्ताश् चिरायुषः
Those whose latent impressions do not depart from a pure heart, whose life-force is steady and of one form—they are the liberated while living, long-lived.
संरुद्धे पद्मयन्त्रे हि प्राणे शान्तिम् उपागते । देहः पतत्य् अधैर्यो ऽयं काष्ठलोष्टसमः क्षितौ
Indeed, when the lotus mechanism is restrained and the life-force has come to rest, this body, lacking support, falls to the ground like a log or a clod of earth.
यथैव व्योममरुति लीनं पुर्यष्टकं भवेत् । तथैव तत्रैव तदा लयम् एति मनो मुने
Just as the eightfold city merges into the wind and sky, so too, O sage, the mind dissolves there at that time.
सुचिराभ्यस्तभावस्थवासनानुचितं मनः । यत्र तत्र भ्रमं स्वर्गनरकादिं प्रपश्यति
The mind, shaped by long-practiced tendencies and habits, perceives wandering illusions of heaven, hell, and the like wherever it goes.
शरीरं शवताम् एति मनोमारुतवर्जितम् । गते गृहजने दूरं गृहं संशून्यताम् इव
The body becomes like a corpse when deprived of the wind of the mind; just as a house becomes empty when its inhabitants have gone far away.
सर्वगा चिच् चेतनतो जीवीभूय मनस्स्थिता । पुर्यष्टकवपुर् भूत्वैवातिवाहिकदेहिनी
The mind, pervading all as consciousness, becomes alive and abides; assuming the form of the eightfold city, it takes on the body of the traveler.
तन्मात्रपञ्चकं चित्त्वं क्रोडीकृत्य व्यवस्थिता । स्वप्नभ्रमवद् आकारं भावात् स्थूलं प्रपश्यति
Having gathered the five subtle elements into consciousness and established itself, it perceives the gross form as if it were a dream illusion.
दृढभावनया पश्चात् तत्रैव रसशालिनी । आतिवाहिकदेहत्वं विस्मरत्य् अखिलं क्षणात्
Then, through firm contemplation, the mind, full of flavor, instantly forgets its entire identity as the traveler’s body.
असत्य् एव शरीरे ऽस्मिन् कृता कृत्रिमभावना । नयत्य् असत्यं सत्यत्वं सत्यं चासत्यताम् अपि
When the body itself is unreal, an artificial notion is created; this leads the unreal to appear real, and the real to seem unreal.
सर्वगा हि चिद् अंशेन जीवीभूय भवेन् मनः । मनः पुर्यष्टकरथम् आक्रामति ततो जगत्
Indeed, the mind, pervading all with a portion of consciousness and becoming alive, enters the eightfold city-chariot and then the world.
पुर्यष्टकं वातमयं देहम् उत्थापयत्य् अलम् । हृत्स्थं हि वेताल इव जीव इत्य् उच्यते तदा
The body, composed of the eightfold city and made of air, is raised up; when the life-force abides in the heart, it is called 'jīva', like a ghost possessing a corpse.
क्षीणे पुर्यष्टके चित्तं यदा व्योमनि लीयते । तदा स्फुरति नो देहो मृत इत्य् उच्यते ऽपि च
When the eightfold city is depleted and the mind dissolves into space, then the body no longer stirs and is said to be dead.