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.
यन् मिथ्या तद् भ्रमायाल्पं कालं स्फुरति नो चिरम् । मोहात्मशुक्तिरुप्यादिमृगतृष्णाद्विचन्द्रवत्
That which is false appears only briefly due to delusion, like the illusion of silver in mother-of-pearl, a mirage, or a double moon.
यन् मिथ्या तत् क्षयं याति यत् सत्यं तन् न नश्यति । आबालम् एतज् जगति प्रसिद्धम् अशनादिवत्
Whatever is false comes to an end; what is true does not perish. This is well known in the world, even to children, as with food and the like.
नासतो विद्यते भावस् स्निग्धत्वं सिकतास्व् इव । सतश् च दृष्टो नाभावो भेकचूर्णाद् अणोर् अपि
There is no real existence in what is unreal, just as there is no moisture in sand; and nonexistence is not seen in what is real, not even as much as in the powder of a frog.
यथा भेकरजो ऽलक्ष्यं याति प्रावृषि भेकताम् । यत्र यत्र स्थितो जीवस् तथोदेति न नश्यति
Just as the dust of a frog becomes unnoticeable when it turns into a frog in the rainy season, wherever the living being abides, it arises there and does not perish.
केवलं भावनामात्रं बुद्ध्यैवास्य प्रमार्जय । आत्मत्वायाङ्ग ताम्रस्य हेमत्वायेव कालताम्
Merely by understanding, remove this notion, which is only imagination; for, O dear one, just as copper appears as gold by the effect of time, so too is the idea of selfhood.
जगद्भावास्थया मुक्तḫ प्रयाति परमात्मताम् । जीवो विमुक्तं कालिम्ना ताम्रं कनकताम् इव
When freed from the state of worldly existence, the individual attains the Supreme Self, just as copper, freed from blackness, becomes gold.
सर्वेषाम् एव जीवानां भावना भवबन्धनी । वागुरेव विहङ्गानाम् एकावष्टम्भकारिणी
For all living beings, imagination alone is the bondage to worldly existence, just as a net is for birds—the single cause of their captivity.
आत्मतत्त्वाद् ऋते नास्ति मदीयम् अहम् इत्य् अलम् । युक्तितो निश्चये रूढे नूनं गलति भावना
Apart from the reality of the Self, there is truly no such thing as 'I' or 'mine'; when certainty is firmly established through reasoning, imagination surely dissolves.
मांसास्थ्योघश् शवो देहẖ खं खम् अद्रिगणो जगत् । बुद्ध्यादयो विकल्पांशाẖ को ऽहं मम कथं च किम्
A corpse is but a mass of flesh and bones; the body is space, space, and a heap of mountains is the world; intellect and the rest are but modifications—who am I, what is mine, how, and what indeed?
संविदो ऽनन्तशुद्धायाẖ किलाकलितचेतसः । इयत्तोपशमं याति भावनाप्रलये सति
For one whose mind is untouched, whose awareness is infinite and pure, all these notions come to rest when imagination dissolves.
सम्यग्दर्शनम् एवास्या भावनाया विशाम्पते । विनाशं विद्ध्य् अनन्ताभं यामिन्या दिवसं यथा
O lord of men, know that the true vision alone brings about the dissolution of these notions, just as the day brings about the end of night.
प्रशान्तवासनो जीव एकतां याति चिद्घने । घृते घृतं जले तोयं क्षीरे क्षीरम् इवार्पितम्
When the tendencies are pacified, the individual merges into the mass of consciousness, like ghee into ghee, water into water, or milk poured into milk.
अतदात्मा तदात्मा च जीवḫ प्रस्फुरतीश्वरे । ज्वालायां तु यथालोको यथा गन्धलवẖ क्षितौ
The individual, both not identical and yet identical with That, shines forth in the Supreme, like light in a flame or fragrance in the earth.
येनैकतां भावयति जीवस् तद् भवति क्षणात् । यच्चित्तस् तन्मयो जन्तुẖ केनैतन् नानुभूयते
Whatever the individual contemplates as unity, he becomes that instantly; whatever is in the mind, the creature becomes that—who does not experience this?
ब्रह्मभावनया जीवो ब्रह्मताम् एति शाश्वतीम् । अमृतं भाव्यते येन सो ऽमृतीभवति स्वयम्
By contemplating Brahman, the individual attains the eternal state of Brahman; by contemplating immortality, he himself becomes immortal.
अब्रह्मभावनाज् जीवो दीनताम् एत्य नश्यति । विषभावनयैवाङ्ग विषीभवति मानवः
By contemplating what is not Brahman, the individual falls into misery and perishes; by contemplating poison, O dear one, a person becomes poisoned.
आत्मनस् संविदो ऽच्छस्य संवेद्यकलनामलम् । सम्प्रमार्ज्योदितस् संविदात्मा व्यवहरानघ
The pure awareness of the Self, free from the stains of conceptualization, is revealed when all notions of the knowable are thoroughly cleansed; this awareness is the essence of action, O sinless one.
स्वेदोत्थदंशयौकान्तं भूतजातं सुराद्य् अपि । किं सर्वम् एव कर्मोत्थम् उत किञ्चिद् वदेति मे
Whether it is sweat, the bite of insects, the body born of elements, or even the gods—tell me, is all this indeed the result of action, or only some of it?
चतुर्दशविधस्यास्य भूतजातस्य राघव । किञ्चित् सकारणं जातं प्राक्तनैर् आत्मकर्मभिः
O Raghava, among the fourteenfold categories of beings, some are born with causes, arising from their own past actions.
किञ्चिन् निष्कारणं जातं कचनं सुमणेर् इव । स्वभावतो ऽधुना कर्म कारणात्तं भविष्यति
Some are born without cause, just as certain gems arise naturally; now, by their inherent nature, action will become the cause for them in the future.