मुहूर्तम् एव निर्वाणं यदि चेतः परे पदे । तत् तत्परिणतं विद्धि तत्रैवास्वादम् आगतम्
If for even a moment the mind attains dissolution in the supreme state, know that it has been transformed, and there itself it experiences the highest taste.
यदि साङ्ख्येन विश्रान्तं चेतो योगेन वा पदे । क्षणं तत् सत्त्वतां यातं न भूयः परिजायते
If the mind finds rest in that state through Sāṅkhya or through Yoga, then for that instant it attains purity and does not arise again.
चेतो विगलिताविद्यं सत्त्वशब्देन कथ्यते । दग्धं संसारबीजं तन् न दद्याद् अङ्कुरं पुनः
The mind, freed from ignorance, is described by the word 'sattva'; its seed of worldly existence is burned and will not sprout again.
ज्ञश् चिद्विगलिताविद्यस् सत्त्वस्थश् शान्तवासनः । समं शून्योपमं शान्तं ज्योतिः पश्यति शाम्यति
The knower whose consciousness is freed from ignorance, established in sattva and with peaceful tendencies, sees the tranquil light, equal and like space, and becomes still.
विगलिताज्ञपदं विमलं मनस् सुभग सत्त्वम् इतीह हि कथ्यते । न पुनर् एति कलामलिनं पदं कनकताम् इव ताम्रम् उपागतम्
Here, the pure mind, free from the state of ignorance and beautiful, is called sattva; it does not return again to the impure state, just as gold does not become copper once it has been refined.
जीवो ऽजीवीभवत्य् आशु याति चित्तम् अचित्तताम् । विचाराद् इत्य् अविद्यान्तो मोक्ष इत्य् अभिधीयते
The individual soul quickly becomes non-individual, and the mind attains no-mind; through inquiry, ignorance ends—this is called liberation.
मृगतृष्णाजलम् इव सर्गो ऽहन्तादि दृश्यते । असद् एव मनाग् एव तद् विचारात् प्रलीयते
The creation, beginning with the sense of 'I', appears like the mirage-water; it is truly unreal and, even slightly examined, dissolves through inquiry.
संसृतिस्वप्नविश्रान्तौ वेतालोदाहृतान् इमान् । प्रश्नान् आकर्णय शुभान् प्रसङ्गात् स्मृतिम् आगतान्
While resting in the dream of worldly existence, listen to these auspicious questions, cited in the tales of the spirits, which have arisen in memory by way of context.
अस्ति विन्ध्यमहाटव्यां वेतालो विपुलाकृतिः । स किञ्चिन् मण्डलं गर्धाद् आजगाम जिघत्सया
In the great forest of the Vindhya mountains, there was a vetāla of immense form; driven by hunger, he approached a certain area.
स वेतालो ऽवसत् पूर्वं कस्मिंश्चित् सज्जनास्पदे । बहुबल्युपहारेण नित्यतृप्ततया सुखी
That vetāla had previously dwelled in a place frequented by virtuous people, content and happy due to abundant offerings of strength, always satisfied.
निर्निमित्तं निरागस्कं न तेनासौ पुरोगतम् । क्षुधितो ऽपि नरं हन्ति सङ्गो हि न्यायदैशिकः
He did not act without cause or attachment; even when hungry, he would not kill a man, for association is guided by the law of justice.
स कालेनाटवीगेहो जगाम नगरान्तरम् । न्याययुक्त्या जनं भोक्तुं क्षुधा समभिचोदितः
In time, the forest-dwelling vetāla entered another city, prompted by hunger to consume people according to the rule of justice.
तत्र प्राप स भूपालं रात्रिचर्याविनिर्गतम् । तम् आह घनघोरेण शब्देनोग्रनिशाचरः
There, he encountered a king who had gone out for nocturnal activity; the fierce night-dweller addressed him with a thunderous and terrifying voice.
राजंल् लब्धो ऽसि भीमेन वेतालेन मयाधुना । क्व गच्छसि विनष्टो ऽसि भवान् भोजनम् अद्य मे
O king, you have now been seized by me, the mighty vetāla; where are you going? You are lost—today you shall be my food.
भो रात्रिचर निर्न्यायं मां चेद् अत्सि बलाद् इह । तत् ते सहस्रधा मूर्धा स्फुटिष्यति न संशयः
O night-dweller, if you eat me here unjustly by force, then your head will shatter into a thousand pieces—there is no doubt.
न त्वाम् अद्म्य् अहम् अन्यायं न्यायो ऽयं तु मयोच्यते । राजासि सकलाशाश् च पूरणीयास् त्वयार्थिनाम्
I will not eat you unjustly; I am stating the law: you are a king, and you must fulfill the wishes of all those who seek from you.
ममेमाम् अर्थितां राजन् सम्भवार्थं प्रपूरय । प्रश्नान् इमान् मयोक्तांस् त्वं सम्यग् व्याख्यातुम् अर्हसि
O King, fulfill this request of mine, made for the sake of inquiry; you ought to explain properly these questions I have posed.
कस्य सूर्यस्य रश्मीनां ब्रह्माण्डान्य् अणवः कृशाः । कस्मिन् स्फुरन्ति पवने महागगनरेणवः
Whose are the rays of the sun, the subtle atoms of the universe? In what do the great cosmic dust motes shimmer, in what wind do they move?
स्वप्नात् स्वप्नान्तरं गच्छञ् शतशो ऽथ सहस्रशः । त्यजन् न त्यजति स्वच्छं कस् स्वरूपं प्रभासुरम्
Passing from one dream into another by the hundreds and thousands, who is it that, abandoning yet not abandoning, remains pure—whose radiant true nature is this?
रम्भास्तम्भो यथा पत्त्रमात्रम् एव पुनः पुनः । अन्तर् अन्तस् तथान्तश् च तथा को ऽणुस् स एव हि
Just as the plantain trunk is nothing but layers of sheaths again and again, so too, within and within, and within again—who is that subtle essence, the very same one?
ब्रह्माण्डाकाशभूतौघसूर्यमण्डलमेरवः । अपरित्यजतो ऽणुत्वं कस्याणोः परमाणवः
The space of the universe, the multitude of elements, the sun’s orb, the mountains—without abandoning these, whose is the subtlety, whose is the atomic minuteness?
कस्यानवयवस्यैव परमाणुमहागिरेः । शिलान्तर् निबिडैकान्तरूपो मज्जा जगत्त्रयी
Of whose indivisible subtlety, of the atomic or the great mountain, is the world-triad like marrow hidden within a solid rock?
इति कथयसि चेन् न मे दुरात्मंस् तद् इह निगीर्य भवन्तम् आत्मघातिन् । फलम् इव तव मण्डलं ग्रसेयं प्रसभम् उपेत्य जगद् यथा कृतान्तः
If you do not answer thus, wicked one, then here and now, swallowing you, self-destroyer, I shall forcibly devour your circle like Death devours the world.
इत्य् उक्तवति वेताले वक्तुं प्रश्नान् विहस्य सः । उवाच वचनं राजा दन्तांशुधवलाननः
When the Vetāla had spoken thus, the king, smiling at the questions, replied with words, his face shining like the rays of his teeth.
अस्ति चित्तिक्ततात्मेदं ब्रह्माण्डमरिचं फलम् । उत्तरोत्तरसंवृत्तभूतत्वक्परिवेष्टितम्
This universe, which is like a mirage, is the fruit of consciousness, enveloped by successive layers of elemental essence.
तादृशानां सहस्राणि फलानां यत्र सन्ति हि । अस्त्य् उच्चैस् तादृशी शाखा विपुला चलपल्लवा
There are thousands of such fruits present here; and there exists a lofty branch of this kind, broad and adorned with trembling leaves.
तादृशीनां सहस्राणि शाखानां यत्र सन्त्य् अथ । तादृशो ऽस्ति महावृक्षो दुर्लक्ष्यो विपुलाकृतिः
There are thousands of such branches present here; and there exists a great tree of this kind, vast in form and difficult to perceive.
यत्र सन्ति सहस्राणि तादृशानां महीरुहाम् । तादृशं वनम् अस्त्य् उच्चैर् अनन्ततरुगुल्मकम्
There are thousands of such great trees present here; and there exists a forest of this kind, towering and filled with countless trees and shrubs.
तादृशानां सहस्राणि वनानां यत्र सन्त्य् अथ । तादृग् अस्ति बृहच् छृङ्गम् अत्युच्चैर् भरिताकृति
There are thousands of such forests present here; and there exists a great mountain peak of this kind, exceedingly high and massive in form.
तादृशानां सहस्राणि शृङ्गाणां यत्र सन्त्य् अथ । तादृशो ऽस्ति महाशैलः पूरिताखिलदिक्तटः
There are thousands of such peaks present here; and there exists a great mountain of this kind, filling all directions and horizons.