या कर्मस्व् इह संसृतौ व्यवहृतिस् स स्वप्नजाग्रद्भ्रमो यन् मौर्ख्यं घनम् एव मोहवलितं सासौ सुषुप्तस्थितिः । जीवन्मुक्तपदं विवासनतया यत् तुर्यम् आर्येह तत् तुर्यातीतम् अदेहमोक्ष इह नो वक्तुं गिरा पार्यते
That which is called action in this world of transmigration, and the practical dealings therein, is a delusion of waking and dream states; that dense ignorance, enveloped in delusion, is the state of deep sleep. The state of the liberated while living is the fourth, marked by the fading of impressions; and the state beyond the fourth, bodiless liberation, cannot be described here in words.
अकर्तृकर्मकरणम् असि चित्तत्त्वम् अक्षयम् । जाग्रत्स्वप्नसुषुप्ताख्यो भ्रमस् सङ्कल्पितस् त्व् असन्
You are the essence of consciousness, which acts without doership or instruments, and is imperishable; the delusion known as waking, dream, and deep sleep is merely imagined and unreal.
अत्रेमं शृणु वृत्तान्तं कथ्यमानं मयाधुना । प्रबुद्धो ऽपि यथा बोधम् उपैषि विबुधोपमः
Now listen as I recount this story: how, even when awakened, you may attain knowledge like the wise.
कस्मिंश्चित् कानने काष्ठमौनस्थितम् अरिन्दम । दृष्टद्रुतमृगं कञ्चिन् मुनिं पप्रच्छ लुब्धकः
In a certain forest, O subduer of enemies, a hunter saw a sage who was observing strict silence, seated like a log of wood, and approached him.
पश्चाद् उपगतो बाणभिन्नं मृगम् अभिद्रुतः । क्व प्रयातो मृग इति प्रत्युवाच स तं मुनिः
Having followed and caught up, the hunter, chasing a deer wounded by his arrow, asked the sage, 'Where did the deer go?'
शमशीला वयं साधो मुनयो वनवासिनः । नास्माकम् अस्त्य् अहङ्कारो व्यवहारेषु यẖ क्षमः
The sage replied to him, 'We, O good man, are ascetics dwelling in the forest, devoted to tranquility; we have no sense of ego that would function in such dealings.'
सर्वाणीन्द्रियकर्माणि करोति हि सखे मनः । अहङ्कारमयं तन् मे नूनं प्रगलितं चिरम्
For, friend, it is the mind that performs all actions of the senses; as for me, that ego-sense has certainly long since dissolved.
मणिचन्द्रार्कदहनप्रकाशाẖ कारुकं यथा । औदासीन्येन तिष्ठन्तो योजयन्ति क्रियाक्रमे
Just as jewels, the moon, the sun, and fire shine by their own nature, so too, remaining indifferent, they engage in the sequence of actions.
अहङ्कारो मनोनामा स चेन्द्रियगणं नृणाम् । नियोजयति कार्येषु स्वेषु साक्षिवद् आस्थितः
The sense of 'I', called the mind, assigns the group of senses in people to their respective activities, as if it were a witness established within.
स एवाभ्युपशान्तो नश् शरदीव पयोधरः । कस् तिष्ठत्व् इन्द्रियार्थेषु मृतẖ क इव वल्गति
When that very mind is calmed, it perishes like a raincloud in autumn; who then remains engaged with sense-objects, just as the dead do not move about?
चित्तं शान्तिम् उपायातम् अस्माकं वननायक । मृतचित्ता वयम् इह स्थिता दारुमया इव
Our mind, O lord of the forest, has attained tranquility; we remain here with minds as if dead, like figures made of wood.
अस्माकं नास्त्य् अहङ्कारो रसो वा शुष्कभूरुहाम् । अहङ्कारो हि सर्वेषां कर्मणां मूलकारणम्
For us, there is no ego-sense nor any taste, like dried-up trees; for ego is indeed the root cause of all actions.
तन्तौ मुक्ताफलानीव प्रयान्ति समवायिताम् । अहङ्कृताव् इन्द्रियाणि सामन्ता इव राजनि
Just as pearls are strung together on a thread, so the senses are united in the ego, like courtiers around a king.
अहङ्कारमहातन्तौ छिन्ने त्व् इन्द्रियबालकाः । इतश् चेतश् च गच्छन्ति सामन्ता विनृपा इव
But when the great thread of ego is cut, the senses, like young courtiers without a king, wander here and there.
निरहङ्कृतिचित्तानि विशरारूणि लुब्धक । ममेन्द्रियाणि कार्येषु न लगन्त्य् अप्स्व् इवाम्बुजम्
Hunter, my senses, with minds devoid of ego, are scattered and do not attach to their activities, like lotuses in water that do not cling.
मिथस् संश्लेषम् आयान्ति न ममेन्द्रियबालकाः । विनाहङ्कारजतुना शीतलायẖकणा इव
My senses do not come together in union, for without the glue of ego, they are like cold particles that do not cohere.
न मे बुद्धीन्द्रियं कञ्चिद् वेत्ति कर्मेन्द्रियक्रमम् । चित्रस्था इव तिष्ठन्ति स्वेष्व् अर्थेष्व् ईक्षणादयः
None of my senses of knowledge perceive the sequence of actions of the organs of action; perception and the like remain fixed in their own objects, just as images remain in a painting.
साधो यद् इन्द्रियं वक्ति तेन दृष्टो न ते मृगः । यस्य वा दर्शने शक्तिर् वक्तुं जानाति तन् न नः
O noble one, whatever sense speaks, by that the deer is seen by you; or whichever has the power of seeing or speaking, that is not ours.
न कानिचिन् ममैतानि गलिताहङ्कृतेẖ किल । तद् व्याध कस् त्वां कथयत्व् आर्तिमन्मृगदर्शनम्
None of these belong to me, for the sense of 'I' has truly fallen away; therefore, O hunter, let whoever is afflicted tell you about the sighting of the deer.
सर्वेषाम् इन्द्रियाणां हि पशूनाम् इव पालकम् । चित्तं तच् च विलीनं नस् सर्वार्थरहिते पदे
For, as with animals, the mind is the keeper of all the senses; and that mind of ours has dissolved into the state devoid of all objects.
इतश् चेतश् च विक्षिप्तरूपाण्य् एतानि तत् कथम् । किं वा त्वा कथयन्त्व् अङ्ग गतानीहैव पञ्चताम्
These senses are scattered here and there in various forms—so how, or what, O dear one, could tell you, when they have already merged into dissolution here itself?
निर्मातृपितृको यद्वद् विशरारुश् शिशुव्रजः । तथाक्षवृन्दम् अधृति निरहम्भाववासनम्
Just as a herd of children without mother or father is restless and disordered, so too is the group of senses, lacking support and dwelling in the state of egolessness.
जाग्रत्स्वप्नसुषुप्ताख्या दशा वेद्मि न काश्चन । तुर्य एवावतिष्ठे ऽहं तत्र दृश्यं न विद्यते
I do not experience any of the states called waking, dreaming, or deep sleep; I abide only in the fourth state, where no object of perception exists.
इति निर्वचनीभावं यथार्थकथनेन सः । लुब्धको मुनिना नीतो जगामाभिमतां दिशम्
Thus, by speaking truthfully of his state beyond words, the hunter was led by the sage and went in the direction he desired.
अतो वच्मि महाबाहो नास्ति तुर्येतरा दशा । निर्विकल्पा हि चित् तुर्यं तद् एवास्तीह नेतरत्
Therefore, O mighty-armed one, I declare: there is no state other than the fourth; for the fourth is pure consciousness without conceptualization, and only that exists here, nothing else.
सत्यं दृष्ट्वा ब्रह्मभावं गते जीवे निरर्थकम् । देहे भवन्तीन्द्रियाणि चित्रभित्ताव् इवानघ
When the truth of the state of Brahman is seen and the individual soul has departed, O sinless one, the senses in the body become meaningless, like images on a painted wall.
यत्रेष्टानिष्टसम्बन्धे नोदयस् सुखदुẖखयोः । न तच् चित्तं भवेद् राम तत् सत्त्वं तुर्यगं विदुः
Where there is no arising of pleasure or pain in relation to what is desired or undesired, O Rama, that mind is not; know that state as the fourth, transcendent.
स्वप्नकाले स्वप्न एव जाग्रद् व्यग्रापरिग्रहात् । जाग्रच् च स्वप्नताम् एति स्मरणीयतया तया
In the dream state, only the dream exists; in waking, due to engagement with objects, waking prevails; and waking itself turns into dream by the power of memory.
असत्यं जाग्रति स्वप्नस् स्वप्ने जाग्रद् असन्मयम् । जाग्रत्स्वप्नविकारान्ता घनमोहा सुषुप्तभूः
In waking, the dream is unreal; in the dream, waking is unsubstantial; at the end of the modifications of waking and dream, dense delusion becomes the state of deep sleep.
जाग्रत्स्वप्नसुषुप्ताख्यं त्रयम् अङ्ग भ्रमोद्भवम् । वरत्रायाम् इवाहित्वं विज्ञाने प्रस्फुरत् स्थितम्
The triad called waking, dream, and deep sleep, O friend, arises from error; it shines forth and remains established in consciousness, like the placement of a cord in a contest.