विधूयानन्तनानात्वं यẖ किलैकतयोदितः । तम् अनाद्यन्तसंवित्तिं को वा तुलयितुं क्षमः
Who is capable of measuring that beginningless and endless awareness, which, having cast off infinite diversity, is declared to be one alone?
तनुं त्यजति तीर्थे वा श्वपचस्य गृहे ऽपि वा । मा कदाचन वा राजन् वर्तमाने ऽपि वा क्षणे
He may leave the body at a sacred place, or in the house of an outcaste, or perhaps never at all, or even in the very next moment, O King.
ज्ञानसम्प्राप्तिसमये मुक्तो ऽसौ विगतामयः । वीतशोकजरायासो यत् करोति करोतु तत्
At the moment of attaining knowledge, he is liberated, free from disease, beyond sorrow, old age, and fatigue; whatever he does, let him do.
अहम्भ्रान्तिर् हि बन्धाय मोक्षो जाते हि तत्क्षये । यथा भवति देहो ऽयं तथा भवतु का क्षतिः
The delusion of 'I' is bondage; when that is destroyed, there is liberation. However this body may be, let it be—what harm is there?
यत् करोति यद् आदत्ते यत्रोपविशति क्षणम् । यत् पश्यति स्पृशति यत् तस्मै स्पृहयति प्रजा
Whatever he does, whatever he takes, wherever he sits for a moment, whatever he sees or touches, to that the people are drawn.
स पूजनीयस् स स्तुत्यो नमस्कार्यस् स यत्नतः । स महात्माभिवाद्यश् च विभूत्यै विभवैषिणा
He is to be worshipped, praised, and saluted with care; he is to be honored by those who seek prosperity, as a great soul.
न यज्ञतीर्थैर् न तपḫप्रदानैर् आसाद्यते तत् परमं पवित्रम् । आसाद्यते क्षीणभवामयानां भक्त्या सताम् आत्मविदां यद् अङ्ग
That supreme purity is not attained by sacrifices, pilgrimages, austerities, or gifts; it is reached only by the devotion of the noble, whose bondage to worldly existence has been dissolved, O friend, by those who know the Self.
एवम् उक्त्वा स भगवान् मनुस् तूष्णीम् अवस्थितः । इक्ष्वाकुना नृपेन्द्रेण मुदितेनाभिपूजितः
Having spoken thus, that venerable Manu remained silent, honored with joy by King Ikshvaku.
जगामाकाशम् आविश्य श्रीमान् पैतामहं गृहम् । एतां दृष्टिम् अवष्टभ्य रामात्मारामतां व्रज
He entered the sky and went to the glorious ancestral abode; holding to this vision, O Rama, attain delight in the Self.
एवं स्थिते हे भगवञ् जीवन्मुक्तस्य सन्मतेः । अपूर्वो ऽतिशयẖ को ऽसौ भवत्य् आत्मविदां वर
Thus situated, O venerable one, what unique excellence belongs to the state of the living liberated, O best of those who know the Self?
ज्ञस्य कस्मिंश्चिद् एवाङ्ग भवत्य् अतिशये न धीः । नित्यतृप्तḫ प्रशान्तात्मा स आत्मन्य् एव तिष्ठति
For the knower, O friend, there is no special excellence in anything; ever content, with a peaceful mind, he abides in his own Self.
अपूर्वो ऽतिशयẖ को वा साधोर् जगति विद्यते । सर्वे ह्य् अतिशया लोके शतशḫ पूर्वतां गताः
What unique excellence, indeed, exists in this world for the virtuous? All excellences in the world have already been attained hundreds of times before.
धूर्तैस् सिद्धैश् च तज्ज्ञैश् च तथान्यैर् मृगपक्षिभिः । कृतम् आकाशयानादि का तस्य स्याद् अपूर्वता
By rogues, accomplished beings, experts in that field, and even by animals and birds, all such feats have been performed since time immemorial; what uniqueness could there be in that?
केवलं शान्तसंरम्भं प्रकृतव्यवहारवान् । तज्ज्ञस् सङ्क्षपयन् देहं स्वस्थ आत्मनि तिष्ठति
Only one who is free from agitation, engaged in natural conduct, and who, knowing that truth, minimizes attention to the body, abides at ease in the Self.
नोत्तमं न च सामान्यं नाश्रुतं न बहुश्रुतम् । न सुवृत्तं न दुर्वृत्तं ज्ञं विदन्ति जना इमे
People do not recognize the knower as superior, ordinary, unlearned, or learned; nor as well-behaved or ill-behaved.
लोकाचारगतस्यापि लोकवत् संस्थितस्य च । ब्रह्मन् विदितवेद्यस्य ब्रूहि चिह्नं मनाग् अपि
O Brahman, even for one who follows worldly customs and lives like others, who knows what is to be known—tell me, is there any mark at all?
न किञ्चिद् अप्य् अपूर्वत्वं जनात् तस्याङ्ग लक्ष्यते । यच् च स्याद् अस्य वा चित्रं तद् अन्यत्रापि लक्ष्यते
No unprecedented trait is ever observed in such a person; and whatever remarkable quality may appear in him is seen elsewhere too.
तत्त्वज्ञस्येह हे राम न लोकालोकनक्षमम् । विद्यते लक्षणं साक्षाद् अणिमाद्य् अपदादि वा
O Rama, there is no direct mark, such as the powers beginning with anima, by which the knower of truth can be distinguished in the world.
व्यवहारी यथैवाज्ञस् तज्ज्ञो लोके तथैव हि । व्यवहारवशप्राप्ते सुखे दुẖखे च तिष्ठति
Just as an ignorant person acts in the world, so does the knower; he remains subject to pleasure and pain as they arise in the course of life.
एक एव विशेषो ऽत्र स चादृश्यो जनस्थितौ । सति वासति वा देहे यद् अन्तẖक्षीणदुẖखता
There is only one distinction here, and it is invisible among people: whether the body exists or not, there is inner freedom from sorrow.
स्वानुभूत्यात्मकाद् अस्मान् निर्दुẖखत्वाद् ऋते परः । शिरश्शृङ्गादि तज्ज्ञस्य चिह्नम् अन्यन् न विद्यते
Apart from this inner, experiential freedom from sorrow, there is no other mark of the knower—such as horns on the head or anything else.
महाकर्ता महाभोक्ता महात्यागी स यद्य् अपि । तज्ज्ञो भवति तद् राम ते ऽपि साधारणा गुणाः
Even if he is a great doer, a great enjoyer, or a great renouncer, O Rama, the knower—these qualities too are common.
प्रायो ऽज्ञस्यापि वै दृष्टं कामलोभादितानवम् । तपोदानं यशश् चैव नैतज् ज्ञत्वस्य लक्षणम्
It is often seen, even in the ignorant, that austerity, charity, and fame arise from desire, greed, and the like; these are not the marks of knowledge.
नित्यम् एवोत्तमानन्दाद् अन्यत् स्वानुभवस्थितात् । क्षयातिशयनिर्मुक्ताच् चिह्नं तज्ज्ञस्य नास्ति वै
There is truly no sign of the knower apart from the highest bliss, which is constant, based in one's own experience, and free from increase or decrease.
महाकर्तृत्वम् अथ वा चिह्नं तज्ज्ञस्य दृश्यते । तत् साधो साधु सामान्यम् उक्तं च बहुधा मया
Great accomplishment, too, is sometimes seen as a mark of the knower; but, O noble one, this is merely common and has been described by me in many ways.
एतावद् एव खलु लिङ्गम् अलिङ्गमूर्तेस् संशान्तसंसृतिचिरभ्रमनिर्वृतस्य । तज्ज्ञस्य यन् मदनकोपविषादमोहलोभापदाम् अनुदिनं निपुणं तनुत्वम्
Indeed, this alone is the sign of the formless one whose long wandering in saṃsāra has come to rest: that, day by day, desire, anger, sorrow, delusion, greed, and the like become ever more subtle.
भूयश् शृणु महाबाहो सङ्ग्रहेण वचो मम । यद् वच्मि तव बोधाय मयूरस्येव वारिदः
Listen again, mighty-armed one, to my words in summary, which I speak for your understanding, like rain to a peacock.
त्वद्बोधनम् उपादेयम् आत्मीयात् तपसो मम । अबुद्धपृच्छका राम के रघूणां हि दैशिकाः
The fruit of my austerity is to bring about your awakening; O Rāma, who among the Raghu dynasty are teachers for those who do not inquire?
जन्मान्तरशताभ्यस्तघनभ्रमणविह्वलः । शृणु जीवन् कथं मायापञ्जरात् प्रविमुच्यते
Having been exhausted by wandering through hundreds of lives, listen to how one, while living, is freed from the cage of illusion.
कृताहम्भावना संविज् जीवाद्यभिधयान्विता । अहम्भावो ऽत्र मिथ्यैव सत्यं संविद् उदाहृता
The sense of 'I' is constructed, along with the notions of jīva and the rest; here, the sense of 'I' is false, but consciousness is said to be real.