सिद्धान्तो ऽध्यात्मशास्त्राणां सर्वापह्नव एव च । नाविद्यास्तीह नो माया शान्तं ब्रह्मेदम् अक्रमम्
The settled conclusion of all spiritual teachings is complete negation; here, there is neither ignorance nor illusion—this Brahman is peaceful and without sequence.
शान्त एव चिदाभासे स्वच्छे समसमात्मनि । समग्रशक्तिकचिते ब्रह्मेति कलिताभिधे
It is peaceful, appearing as consciousness, clear, equal in the Self, filled with all powers, and is conventionally called 'Brahman.'
निर्णीय केचिच् छून्यत्वं केचिद् विज्ञानमात्रताम् । केचिद् ईश्वररूपत्वं विवदन्ते परस्परम्
Some, having deliberated, assert emptiness; others, pure consciousness alone; others, the form of God—they dispute with one another.
सङ्कल्प्य जगद् उच्छूनं नीत्वा च शतशाखताम् । चालयन्ति विचारेण केचित् साङ्ख्यमतादिकम्
Some, imagining the world to be destroyed and then branching into hundreds of divisions, move about with their reasoning, following the Sāṅkhya and other doctrines.
केचित् सर्वम् इदं शान्तं ब्रह्मेति घननिश्चयाः । शुद्धचिद्व्योमताम् एत्य सन्तो ऽसन्त इव स्थिताः
Some, firmly convinced that all this is peaceful Brahman, having attained the state of pure consciousness-space, remain as if existent or non-existent.
न ब्रह्म न जगन् नान्यद् इति निश्चित्य केचन । आकाशविशदास् स्वच्छास् संस्थितास् सौगतादयः
Some, having ascertained that there is neither Brahman, nor world, nor anything else, abide clear and pure as space, like the Buddhists and others.
केचिद् अप्य् अन्यथा कृत्वा नानासङ्कल्पकल्पनम् । स्थिताश् शाम्यन्ति जायन्ते संसरन्ति च वा न वा
Some, having formed various imaginations in different ways, remain, subside, are born, wander in transmigration, or perhaps do not.
समस्तकलनाहीनम् इति निर्णीय चिद्घनम् । समग्रशक्तिकचितं विवदन्ते हि वादिनः
Having determined that pure consciousness is devoid of all modifications, yet endowed with all powers, the disputants indeed debate.
एकत्र वस्तुनि समस्तकलाविमुक्ते सङ्कल्प्य सङ्कलनया विविधाभिधास् स्वाः । स्वं वासनाविलसितं समुदाहरन्तो विद्याविवादविभवैर् विवदन्ति वैद्याः
On the one reality, which is free from all modifications, by conceptualization and aggregation, they assign various names; expressing their own tendencies, the learned debate with the wealth of doctrinal disputes.
शरीरेन्द्रियबुद्ध्यादिचेतसां स्पन्दनस्य च । किं कस्मात् सारम् उदितं व्यापकं श्रेयसे भवेत्
What is the essence, for what reason, and how does it arise, of the body, senses, intellect, mind, and their movements, and what is the all-pervading good?
यद् इदं दृश्यते किञ्चिज् जगत् त्वमहमादिमत् । चित्तमात्रं हि तत् सर्वं जलमात्रं यथार्णवः
Whatever is seen here—the world, with its notions of 'I' and 'you'—all that is only mind, just as all water is but the ocean.
देहेन्द्रियादिभावेन चित्तं जगद् इति स्थितम् । षड्भिर् वा पञ्चभिर् द्वारैश् चेत्यं पतति देहिनाम्
It is established that the world is mind in the form of body, senses, and so on; through six or five gates, the knowable enters into embodied beings.
यतẖ कुतश्चित् सम्पन्नं चित्तं द्वीन्दुविलासवत् । यथा नानेव सम्पन्नं तद् उक्तं बहुशस् तव
The mind, arising from wherever, is like the play of the sun and moon; though it appears as if manifold, it is not truly so—this has been told to you many times.
जीवादिसञ्ज्ञावलितं धृतसंसृतिविभ्रमम् । यथा तत् क्षीयते चित्तं श्रेयसे तद् इदं शृणु
The mind, marked by the designations of 'individual soul' and so on, and holding the confusion of transmigration—how this mind is dissolved for the sake of the highest good, listen to this.
चेतो भावविकाराढ्यं पश्यतीदं शरीरकम् । अविद्यमानं प्रोच्छूनं मृगतृष्णाम्ब्व् इवैणकः
The mind, filled with modifications of thought, perceives this body, which does not truly exist and is cut off, just as a deer sees water in a mirage.
तथा पश्यति वै चेतश् शरीरं स्पन्दचञ्चलम् । अभिन्नम् एव स्वात्मत्वाद् दधिरूपं यथा पयः
In the same way, the mind perceives the body, restless with movement, as not different from itself, just as curd is not different from milk.
उत्पत्तिस्थितिनाशान्तं यथानुभवति स्वयम् । पयो दधित्वम् एवं हि चेतḫ पश्यति देहकम्
As curd experiences for itself arising, remaining, and ceasing, so too does the mind perceive the body in this manner.
तथा हि भार्गवोदन्तो लवणैन्दवविभ्रमः । श्रुतस् त्वया महाबाहो चित्तरूपनिरूपणे
Thus, the story of Bhargava, with the illusion of salt and moon, has been heard by you, O mighty-armed one, in the context of the analysis of the nature of mind.
प्रतिभां जडम् अप्य् एति चित्तं सर्वगचिच्च्युतम् । अनिच्छायोमणिप्राप्तम् अयḫ प्रस्पन्दनं यथा
The mind, when deprived of all consciousness, becomes inert, just as iron ceases to move when it no longer receives the willful influence of a magnet.
नित्योदितामलानन्तचिदादित्यांशुरञ्जनात् । चित्तपद्मो विकसति पुर्यष्टकदलावलिः
By the coloring of the rays of the sun of infinite, pure, ever-rising consciousness, the lotus of the mind blossoms, with its eightfold sheath of petals.
यथा मुक्तावली दृष्टा शून्ये खे सदसन्मयी । स्फुरत्य् एवं हि चित्तत्त्वे चेतस् स्फुरति चञ्चलम्
Just as a string of pearls appears in empty space, being both existent and nonexistent, so too, in the essence of consciousness, the restless mind appears.
यथा चित्रोदयश् शून्ये भ्रान्तिमात्रम् उपप्लवः । तथा चेतसि देहो ऽयं गन्धर्वपुरवत् स्थितः
Just as a painted image arises in empty space as nothing but an illusion, so this body exists in the mind like a city of the Gandharvas.
यथा चेतसि देहो ऽयं मिथ्या द्वीन्दुविलासवत् । इन्द्रियाणि तथा देहे मैवम्मात्रपरो भव
Just as this body in the mind is false, like the play of two moons, so too are the senses in the body; do not consider them as truly real.
यथेन्द्रियाणि देहस्य बालकल्पितयक्षवत् । स्पन्दस् तथैवेन्द्रियाणां जडो मैतत्परो भव
Just as the senses of the body are like a demon imagined by a child, so too is the movement of the senses insentient; do not regard it as truly real.
यथेन्द्रियाणां वातानाम् इव स्पन्दो जडात्मकः । स्पन्दबोद्धृ तथैवासत् स्फुरत्य् एतच् चलं मनः
Just as the movement of the senses is inert, like the motion of winds, so too the perceiver of movement is unreal; this restless mind merely flickers.
यथा स्पन्दस्य तु मनो भ्रमाकृति चलं जडम् । मनसो ऽस्य तथा बुद्धिर् मृगतृष्णा विजृम्भते
Just as the mind is the form of delusion—restless and inert—so too, from the mind, intellect arises and expands like a mirage.
यथैव बुद्धिस् स्वान्तस्य तथा बुद्धेर् अहङ्कृतिः । असद्रूपा मुधोद्भूता मैवम्मात्रपरो भव
Just as intellect arises from the inner mind, so too does the sense of 'I' arise from intellect; it is unreal, born of delusion—do not consider it as truly real.
यथा बुद्धेर् अहङ्कारो वल्ल्याḫ पुष्पम् इव स्थितः । तथैवाहङ्कृतेर् जीवो मैवम्मात्रपरो भव
Just as the sense of 'I' stands in intellect like a flower on a vine, so too does the individual soul arise from the sense of 'I'; do not consider it as truly real.
यथैवाहङ्कृतेर् जीवश् शून्येहावासनात्मकः । तथा जीवस्य कलया युक्ता चित् सचमत्कृतिः
Just as the living being, arising from ego, is essentially a residue of impressions in emptiness, so too, the consciousness of the living being, endowed with its faculties, is pure awareness and wonder.
तद् अप्य् अनघ सङ्कल्पवशान् नो वस्तुनापि सत् । मैतद् भावय किञ्चित् त्वं नैतत् तेनास्य वा भवान्
Even so, O sinless one, this is governed by imagination, not by any real substance; reflect on this somewhat, for neither you nor this arises from that.