सर्ग एव परं ब्रह्म परं ब्रह्मैव सर्गदृक् । सर्गशब्दार्थरहितो वाक्यार्थस् त्व् एष शाश्वतः
Creation itself is the supreme Brahman, and the supreme Brahman is the perceiver of creation; or, when the meaning of 'creation' is absent, this is the eternal meaning of the statement.
ब्रह्मशब्दार्थसम्पत्तौ सर्गशब्दार्थधीः कुतः । सर्गशब्दार्थसम्पत्तौ ब्रह्मशब्दार्थधीः कुतः
When the meaning of the word 'Brahman' is attained, how can the mind grasp the meaning of 'creation'? When the meaning of 'creation' is attained, how can the mind grasp the meaning of 'Brahman'?
समस्तशब्दशब्दार्थभावनाभावनोदये । शुद्धं किम् अपि चिद्व्योम ब्रह्मशब्देन कथ्यते
When all notions of words and their meanings, and the contemplation of them, have ceased, there remains a pure, indescribable expanse of consciousness, which is referred to by the word 'Brahman'.
सम्यग्दर्शनसंसिद्धाव् उभयोर् अप्य् अवेदने । यच् छिष्टम् अजरं शान्तं ततो वाग् विनिवर्तते
When perfect insight is accomplished and both are not distinguished, what remains is ageless and peaceful; from that, speech withdraws.
संशान्तसर्वात्मकवेदनौघम् अस्तीदम् एकात्मकम् अच्छरूपम् । यथास्थितं सर्वजगत् खरूपं पाषाणरूपं च परं ज्ञरूपम्
The cessation of all waves of knowledge leaves only this single, pure essence; as the whole world stands, it is of the nature of space, stone, and the supreme form of knowledge.
एवं चैतन् महाबुद्धे यादृशं कारणं परम् । तादृशं कार्यम् एवेदं जगद् इत्य् एव वेद्म्य् अहम्
Thus, O great-minded one, whatever is the supreme cause, such is the effect; I know this world to be exactly so.
यत्र कारणता तत्र कार्यं समुपपद्यते । यन् न कारणम् एवादौ तस्मात् कार्यं कुतो भवेत्
Wherever there is causality, there the effect arises; but where there is no cause at the outset, how can an effect come from that?
नेहास्ति कारणं किञ्चिन् न च कार्यं कदाचन । विद्यमानम् इदं सर्वं शिवं शान्तम् अजं जगत्
Here, there is no cause at all, nor is there ever any effect; all that appears is the peaceful, unborn, auspicious world.
जायते कारणात् कार्यं यत् तत् कारणवद् भवेत् । यन् न जायत एवेह तस्मिन् सदृशता कुतः
An effect arises from a cause and resembles that cause; but that which does not arise here—how can it possess similarity to anything?
बीजम् एव न यस्यास्ति तत् कथं वद जायते । अप्रतर्क्यम् अनाख्यं च यन् न तस्येह बीजता
If there is no seed at all, tell me, how can anything arise? That which is inconceivable and indescribable does not have the nature of a seed.
देशकालवशात् सर्वा हेतुमत्यः प्रमोपमाः । अकर्तृ ब्रह्म विषयः प्रमाकारणयोः कथम्
All analogies based on cause are subject to place and time; but how can there be analogy or causality regarding Brahman, which is without agent?
अकर्तृकर्मकरणे नास्ति कारणता शिवे । तस्माद् अकारणं नास्ति जगच्छब्दार्थवेदनम्
Where there is no agent, action, or instrument, there is no causality in the auspicious; therefore, the knowledge of the meaning of the word 'world' does not have a cause.
ब्रह्मैव स्वं स्वरूपं सद् यत् स्थितं धारयत् ततम् । असम्यग्दर्शिविषयं तद् एव जगद् आचितम्
Brahman alone, being existence itself, pervades and sustains its own true nature; that very reality, when perceived imperfectly, is what is accumulated as the world.
चिन्मात्रम् अजरं शान्तं यद् एकं तत् प्रगीयते । तेनैवाजं जगद्ब्रह्म सच् छान्तं बुध्यते वपुः
That which is pure consciousness, ageless, and peaceful, the one alone, is praised; by that unborn Brahman, the world, which is existence and peace, is understood as its own form.
अस्य स्व एव यो भावश् चेतसः पृथिवीपते । स एव नाशः कथितश् चानुभूतश् च पण्डितैः
O lord of the earth, the very nature of the mind itself is said by the wise to be its dissolution, and this has also been directly experienced.
चित्तं नाशस्वभावं त्वं विद्धि नाशात्मकं नृप । क्षणनाशाय सङ्कल्पश् चित्तशब्देन कथ्यते
Know, O king, that the mind is by nature perishable, its essence is dissolution; the intention that perishes in a moment is referred to by the word 'mind.'
असङ्कल्पनमात्रेण सम्यग्ज्ञानोदयं विना । सङ्कल्पः क्षीयते सिद्ध्यै स्वयम् एवासदात्मकः
By mere absence of mental projection, even without the arising of true knowledge, imagination dissolves by itself for the attainment of perfection, for it is inherently unreal.
नाम्नैवाङ्गीकृताभावं यद् अविद्येति कथ्यते । विद्यमानं कथं तत् स्याच् चित्तं तामरसेक्षण
That which is called 'ignorance' is merely the acceptance of nonexistence by name; O lotus-eyed one, how can that which does not exist be present in the mind?
हस्ताव् उत्क्षिप्य यो ब्रूते शूद्रो ऽस्मीति भृशं गिरा । कथं स विप्रो भवति विप्रत्वं तस्य कीदृशम्
If someone raises his hands and loudly declares, 'I am a Śūdra,' how does he become a Brāhmaṇa by that? What kind of Brāhmaṇa-hood would that be for him?
विवृत्तधातुर् अत्युच्चैर् मृतो ऽस्मीति विरौति यः । मृतम् एवाङ्ग तं विद्धि जीवितं तस्य तु भ्रमः
One whose bodily functions have ceased and who cries out loudly, 'I am dead,'—know him indeed to be dead, O dear one; his sense of being alive is merely a delusion.
भ्रमाकृति यद् अस्तीह दृश्यते ऽलातचक्रवत् । मृगतृष्णाद्विचन्द्रादिबालवेतालकादिवत्
Whatever form of delusion is seen here—like the circle of fire from a whirling torch, or like mirages, double moons, or the apparitions seen by children—
तत् कथं किल नाम स्यात् सत्यं भ्रमभरात्मकम् । अज्ञानभ्रान्तिर् एवातश् चित्तम् इत्य् एव कथ्यते
How, then, could it ever be said that something composed of the weight of delusion is real? Therefore, the mind is spoken of as simply a confusion born of ignorance.
अज्ञानम् उच्यते चित्तम् असत् सद् इव संस्थितम् । मिथ्याभ्रमं निराकारं केशोण्डुकम् इवाम्बरे
The mind is called ignorance, established as if the unreal were real—a false, formless illusion, like a tuft of hair imagined in the sky.
एवम् अज्ञानम् एवैतच् चित्तशब्देन कथ्यते । तन्नाशश् चेतसो नाशश् चित्तत्यागस् स एव च
Thus, this ignorance is what is referred to by the word 'mind'; the destruction of that is the destruction of the mind, and the abandonment of the mind is just that.
अज्ञानं कीदृशं देव कथं चैतद् विनश्यति । समासेनेति भगवन् वद मे वदतां वर
O Lord, what is ignorance like, and how does it come to an end? Please tell me this concisely, O best of speakers.
यद् असंवेदनं सम्यग् वस्तुनो राजसत्तम । दृष्टादृष्टस्य कुम्भादेस् तद् अज्ञानम् इति स्मृतम्
O best of kings, that complete unawareness of a thing—whether seen or unseen, like a pot—is called ignorance.
असंवेदनम् अज्ञानं ज्ञानं संवेदनं भवेत् । अज्ञानस्य त्व् असंवित्तेर् ज्ञानात् संवेदनात् क्षयः
Unawareness is ignorance; awareness is knowledge. Ignorance, which is unawareness, is destroyed by knowledge and awareness.
जलज्ञानं मुधाभ्रान्तिस् साधो मरुमरीचिषु । नैतज् जलम् इति ज्ञानात् संवित्तिः प्रविलीयते
The notion of water in a mirage is a mistaken perception, O noble one; when the knowledge arises that 'this is not water,' that perception dissolves.
इदं चित्तम् इति प्रौढं यद् अज्ञानम् अलं हृदि । नास्ति चित्तम् इति ज्ञानात् तत् समूलं विनश्यति
The firm belief in the heart that 'this is the mind' is ignorance; when knowledge arises that 'the mind does not exist,' it is utterly destroyed.
यथा रज्ज्वां भुजङ्गत्वम् अज्ञानभ्रमसम्भवम् । न सर्पो ऽयम् इति ज्ञानाद् धृदि रूढात् प्रणश्यति
Just as the idea of a snake in a rope, born of ignorance and confusion, is destroyed by the firm knowledge that 'this is not a snake,'