शीर्णपत्त्रं भ्रष्टनष्टं ग्रीष्मे वनम् इवारसम् । मरणव्यग्रनृत्ताभं शिलास्त्रीहास्यहासदम्
Like a forest in summer, stripped of leaves, fallen and lost, devoid of flavor; like a dance of death, eager for its end; like the laughter of a stone woman, hollow and empty.
अन्धकारगृहैकैकनृत्तम् उन्मत्तचेष्टितम् । प्रशान्ताज्ञाननीहारं विज्ञानशरदम्बरम्
Like a solitary dance in a house of darkness, the gestures of a madman; the mist of ignorance calmed, the sky of knowledge clear as autumn.
समुत्कीर्णम् इव स्तम्भे चित्रभित्ताव् इवेहितम् । पङ्काद् इवाभिरचितं सचेतनम् अचेतनम्
As if carved upon a pillar, or painted upon a decorated wall; as if shaped from mud, the insentient appears as if sentient.
ततस् स्थितिप्रकरणं चतुर्थं परिकल्पितम् । त्रीणि ग्रन्थसहस्राणि स्वाख्यानाख्यायिकामयम्
Then, the fourth section, concerning stability, is composed; it contains three thousand verses, filled with explanations and stories.
इत्थं जगद् अहम्भावरूपं स्थितिम् उपागतम् । द्रष्टृदृश्यक्रमप्रौढम् इत्य् अत्र परिवर्णितम्
Thus, the world, having assumed the form of 'I'-ness, has come into existence; its maturity in the sequence of seer and seen is described here.
दशदिङ्मण्डलाभोगभासुरो ऽयं जगद्भ्रमः । इत्थम् अभ्यागतो वृद्धिम् इति तत्रोच्यते चिरम्
This delusion of the world, shining in the expanse of the ten directions, has thus grown; this is stated here at length.
उपशान्तिप्रकरणं ततः पञ्चसहस्रिकम् । पञ्चमं पावनं प्रोक्तं मुनिसन्ततिसुन्दरम्
Next, the section on quiescence, consisting of five thousand verses, is declared as the fifth, pure and beautiful among the lineages of sages.
इदं जगद् अहं त्वं च स इति भ्रान्तिर् उत्थिता । इत्य् असौ शाम्यतीत्य् अस्मिन् कथ्यते श्लोकसङ्ग्रहे
This delusion has arisen: 'This world, I, you, and he'; its cessation is explained in this collection of verses.
उपशान्तिप्रकरणे श्रुते शाम्यति संसृतिः । प्रस्पष्टा विभ्रमेणैव किञ्चिल्लभ्योपलम्भना
When the section on tranquility is heard, the cycle of worldly existence subsides; it becomes clear, through the very dissolution of delusion, that only a trace of perception remains.
शतांशशिष्टा भवति संशान्तभ्रान्तिरूपिणी । अन्यसङ्कल्पचित्तस्था नगरश्रीर् इवासती
What remains is but a hundredth part, taking the form of a pacified illusion; it abides in the mind of another's imagination, like the splendor of a city that does not truly exist.
अलभ्यैव स्वपार्श्वस्थस्वप्नयुद्धविराववत् । शान्तसङ्कल्पमत्ताभ्रभीषणाशनिशब्दवत्
It is unattainable, though seemingly near, like the clamor of a battle in a dream; like the terrifying sound of thunder to one whose mind is absorbed in tranquility, it cannot be grasped.
विस्मृतस्वप्नसङ्कल्पनिर्माणनगरोपमा । भविष्यन्नगरोद्यानसोत्सवश्यामलाङ्गिका
It is like a city constructed by the imagination in a forgotten dream, or like the darkened limbs of a festival garden in a city yet to be built.
नश्यज्जिह्वोच्यमानोग्रकथार्थानुभवोपमा । अनुल्लिखितचित्तस्थचित्रव्याप्तेव भित्तिभूः
It is like the experience of intense stories spoken by a vanishing tongue, or like a wall that appears filled with pictures not actually drawn upon it, existing only in the mind.
परिविस्मर्यमाणाच्छकल्पनानगरीनिभा । सर्वर्तुमदनुत्पन्नवरमर्दास्फुटाकृतिः
It resembles a city of imagination gradually being forgotten, or the clear form of a beloved who has not arisen in any season.
भाविपुष्पवराकारवसन्तरसरञ्जना । अन्तर्लीनतरङ्गौघसौम्यवारिसरित्समा
It is like the delight of spring coloring the form of future flowers, or like a gentle river whose waves have merged within.
निर्वाणाख्यं प्रकरणं ततष् षष्ठम् उदाहृतम् । शिष्टो ग्रन्थः परीमाणं तस्य ज्ञेयं महार्थदम्
The section called 'Liberation' is then presented as the sixth; the remaining text should be understood as imparting great meaning.
बुद्धे तस्मिन् भवेच् छ्रोता निर्वाणश् शान्तकल्पनः । अचेत्यचित्प्रकाशात्मा विज्ञानात्मा निरामयः
In that intellect abides the listener, whose nature is peace and the conception of nirvana; whose essence is the illumination of both the sentient and the insentient, who is knowledge itself, free from affliction.
परमाकाशकोशाच्छश् शान्तसर्वभवभ्रमः । निर्वाहितजगद्यात्रः कृतकर्तव्यसुस्थितः
He is freed from all delusion regarding the existence of things, having emerged from the supreme space-like sheath; the journey of the world has been brought to cessation, and he stands firm, having fulfilled all duties.
समस्तविततारम्भवज्रस्तम्भो नभोनिभः । विनिगीर्णयथासंस्थजगज्जालातितृप्तिमान्
He is like the sky, a pillar of adamant that withstands all the expansions and beginnings; having swallowed the entire network of the world as it stands, he is fully satisfied.
आकाशीभूतनिश्शेषरूपालोकमनस्कृतिः । कार्यकारणकर्तृत्वहेयादेयदशोज्झितः
His mind and disposition have become entirely sky-like, devoid of all forms; he has abandoned the ten states of agency, effect, cause, and the rest.
सदेह एव निर्देहस् ससंसारो ऽप्य् असंसृतिः । चिन्मयो घनपाषाणजठराजठरोपमः
Though still embodied, he is as if disembodied; though in samsara, he is untouched by transmigration; he is made of consciousness, like the interior of a solid rock.
चिदादित्यस् तपंल् लोके ऽप्य् अन्धकारोदरोपमः । परप्रकाशरूपो ऽपि परम् आन्ध्यम् इवागतः
Though his consciousness is like the sun, shining in the world, he appears as if in the darkness of a cave; though his form is supreme illumination, he seems to have attained utter blindness.
रुद्धसंसृतिदुर्लीलः प्रक्षीणाशाविषूचिकः । नष्टाहङ्कारवेतालो देहवान् अकलेवरः
His play in the world is restrained, the fever of desire has been exhausted; the goblin of ego is destroyed—he has a body, yet is as if bodiless.
कस्मिंश्चिद् रोमकोट्यग्रे तस्येयम् अवतिष्ठते । जगल्लक्ष्मीर् महामेरोः पुष्पे क्वचिद् इवालिनी
In some pore at the tip of his hair, this glory of the world abides, just as a bee might dwell in a flower of the great Meru mountain.
परमाणौ परमाणौ चिदाकाशस्य कोटरे । जगल्लक्ष्मीसहस्राणि धत्ते कृत्वा च पश्यति
Within the recess of the consciousness-space, in each atom, countless worlds of creation are held and observed.
प्रवितता हृदयस्य महामते हरिहराब्जजलक्षशतैर् अपि । तुलनम् एति न मुक्तिमतो बत प्रविततास्ति न नूनम् अवस्तुनः
O wise one, even if the heart is expanded by hundreds of waters from the lotus of Hari and Hara, it cannot be compared to the expansion of one who is liberated; indeed, there is no true expansion in what is unreal.
अस्यां वा चितिमात्रायां परो बोधः प्रवर्तते । बीजाद् इव यतो व्युप्ताद् अवश्यम्भावि सत्फलम्
In this pure awareness alone, supreme knowledge arises, just as a good fruit inevitably comes forth from a seed that has been sown.
अपि पौरुषम् आदेयं शास्त्रं चेद् युक्तिबोधकम् । अन्यत्रार्षम् अपि त्याज्यं भाव्यं न्यायैकसेविना
Even if it is authored by a human, a scripture should be accepted if it conveys reasoning; otherwise, even if it is from a sage, it should be rejected by one devoted solely to logic.
युक्तियुक्तम् उपादेयं वचनं बालकाद् अपि । अन्यत् तृणम् इव त्याज्यम् अप्य् उक्तं पद्मजन्मना
A statement grounded in reasoning should be accepted, even if spoken by a child; anything else, even if uttered by the lotus-born, should be discarded like straw.
यो ऽम्भस् तातस्य कूपो ऽयम् इति कौपं पिबेत् कटु । त्यक्त्वा गाङ्गं पुरस्स्थं तं को ऽनुशासति रागिणम्
Who can instruct the one attached, who drinks from a bitter well saying, 'This is my father's well,' while rejecting the Ganges flowing before him?