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,'
चित्तं मनो ऽहम् इत्य् अन्तर् यावद् अज्ञानसम्भवः । तावच् चित्तं मनो माया भवत्य् एव न संशयः
As long as there is the inner notion 'mind,' 'intellect,' or 'I,' arising from ignorance, so long the mind, intellect, and illusion persist—of this there is no doubt.
चित्तं नास्त्य् अहम् इत्य् अन्तर् यावज् ज्ञानोदयो भवेत् । तावच् चित्तं मनो माया नास्त्य् एवात्र न संशयः
When the inner realization arises that 'the mind does not exist' or 'I do not exist,' then the mind, intellect, and illusion no longer exist—of this there is no doubt.
मिथ्यायक्षभ्रमो यावत् तावद् यक्षो हि दृश्यते । मिथ्यायक्षभ्रमे शान्ते कुतो यक्षस्य सम्भवः
As long as the false notion of a demon persists, the demon is indeed seen; when that false notion is pacified, how can the demon possibly arise?
न चित्तम् अस्ति नो चैत्तम् अहङ्कारादिसंयुतम् । किञ्चिद् एव जगत्य् अस्मिन् संविद् एकास्ति निर्मला
There is no mind, nor any mental modifications such as ego and the rest; in this world, there is only one pure consciousness.
तया सङ्कल्पचित्तादि कृतम् आसीद् विमूढया । यद् यत् सङ्कल्प्य तत् सर्वं परित्यक्तं प्रबुद्धया
By that deluded consciousness, imagination, mind, and so on were produced; whatever was imagined, all of it is abandoned by the awakened one.
सङ्कल्पेन यद् आयाति तत् सङ्कल्पेन गच्छति । पवनेन महाबाहो ज्वालाजालम् इवानले
Whatever arises through imagination departs through imagination, just as, O mighty-armed one, a mass of flames is dispersed by the wind in a fire.
आत्मतत्त्वैकघनया तत् तया ब्रह्मसत्तया । जगत् सर्वम् अभिव्याप्तं समुद्र इव वारिणा
By that reality of Brahman, which is the one, dense essence of the Self, the entire world is pervaded, like the ocean by water.
नाहम् अस्मि न चान्यो ऽस्ति न त्वं नैते न चित्तकम् । नेन्द्रियाणि न चाकाशम् आत्मैवैको ऽस्ति निर्मलः
I do not exist, nor does another, nor you, nor these, nor the mind; neither the senses nor space—only the pure Self exists.
घटाद्याकाररूपेण स एवायं विलोक्यते । इदं चित्तम् अयं चाहम् इति केव कुकल्पना
It is that very Self which is perceived in the forms of pot and so on; the notions 'this is the mind' and 'this is I' are mere vain imaginations.
न जायते न म्रियते किञ्चिद् अस्मिञ् जगत्त्रये । केवलं विलसत्य् आत्मा सदसद्भावनात्मना
Nothing is born nor does anything die in these three worlds; only the Self shines forth, as the essence of existence and non-existence.