पुरुषायत्तजननमरणायाम् अखिन्दतः । यथावद् अस्यां बुद्धायां मोक्ष एवावशिष्यते
When birth and death, which depend on the person, are thoroughly understood, then, as is proper, in this awakened understanding, only liberation remains.
अद्रिद्यूर्वीनदीशादिकल्पनामात्रकात्मकाम् । पीत्वाकल्पनमात्रेण निर्वाति निपुणं पुमान्
All things—mountains, earth, rivers, and so on—are made only of imagination; by drinking only from the cup of non-imagination, a wise person attains peace.
यदि शैलादि सत्यं स्यात् तत् केन विनिवार्यते । नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सतः
If mountains and such were real, by what could they be removed? The unreal has no existence, and the real never ceases to be.
यथा प्रसरति स्पन्दाच् चक्रवृन्दम् असज् जले । तथोल्लसति सङ्कल्पाच् चित्खे संसारमण्डलम्
Just as a cluster of ripples spreads on water from a vibration, so too does the circle of worldly existence arise in the sky of consciousness from a thought.
निजस्पन्दवशाद् एकं शतावर्तं पयो यथा । निजस्पन्दवशाद् एकं जगदात्म परं तथा
Just as, by its own motion, a single whirlpool forms in water, so too, by its own vibration, the supreme Self becomes the world.
प्रविचारितम् अन्विष्टं यावच् चक्रादि नाम्भसि । अस्ति नापि च सर्गादि चिद्व्योम्नि न च कल्पना
When examined and investigated, there is no wheel or anything else in water; likewise, in the space of consciousness, there is neither creation nor imagination.
स्वयत्नमात्रसङ्कल्पप्राप्यौ सर्गापवर्गकौ । य एव रोचते यस्मै तयोस् तं सो ऽनुगच्छति
Creation and liberation are attained only by one's own resolve; whichever of the two appeals to someone, that one he follows.
अवित्त्वाद् अपवर्गत्वं वित्त्वाज् जन्मचमत्कृतिः । वेद्यम् अस्ति च नो सत्यं यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु
Liberation comes from not knowing, and the wonder of birth comes from knowing; what is to be known exists, but is not true—do as you wish.
असद् वेद्यं विनिर्माय भुङ्क्ते क इव दुẖखदम् । प्रक्षालनाद् धि पङ्कस्य दूराद् अस्पर्शनं वरम्
Who, after creating what is unreal and to be known, enjoys that which brings suffering? For washing away mud, it is better to avoid touching it from afar.
क ईदृशो ऽस्ति मुक्तात्मा यो विनिर्माय यक्षकम् । तेनैव घट्टयत्य् आर्तं स्वयम् आत्मानम् अक्षतम्
Who is such a liberated soul, who, after creating a phantom, torments himself with it, while remaining unharmed himself?
यस्मै वा सर्गवेतालसमुत्थानं विरोचते । आत्मनाशाय सङ्कल्पाद् उत्थापयतु सो ऽङ्ग तम्
To whomever the arising of creation and its phantoms is pleasing, let him, for the sake of self-annihilation, raise that up by his own intention, O dear one.
दृश्यं निर्माय द्रष्टृत्वम् एत्यात्मानं निबध्य च । य इच्छति सुखं स स्वं विदधातु यथेप्सितम्
Having created the visible and assumed the role of the seer, binding himself as well, whoever desires happiness should arrange his own life as he wishes.
यथाभूतार्थकथने वयं नाम समुद्यताः । श्रुत्वा सत्यम् असत्यं तु गृह्णातु स्वेच्छया जनः
We are engaged in speaking things as they truly are; let people, upon hearing, accept as true or false whatever they wish.
सर्गार्थी सर्गयुक्तीहो मोक्षार्थी मोक्षयुक्तिमान् । भवत्व् अत्र महाबाहो न नẖ कश्चिद् अपि ग्रहः
Let one who seeks creation pursue arguments about creation, and one who seeks liberation pursue reasoning about liberation; O mighty-armed one, here no one is compelled by us.
सर्गाद् व्यावृत्तसंविद् यस् सबाह्याभ्यन्तरात्मनः । सर्गासत्तावबोधात्मा सो ऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते
He whose awareness has turned away from creation, both outwardly and inwardly, and whose knowledge is of the unreality of creation—he is fit for immortality.
सर्गासत्ताप्रत्ययेन सर्गसंविन् निवर्तते । साहन्ता समनस्कारा शिष्यते यद् अनाम तत्
By the conviction of the unreality of creation, the awareness of creation ceases; what remains is the nameless, along with the sense of 'I' and the mind.
सुविचारितम् अन्विष्टं यावत् सर्गो न विद्यते । साहन्तादिमनस्कारẖ किम् अन्यद् भ्रमकारणम्
When, through thorough inquiry and investigation, creation is found not to exist, what else but the sense of 'I' and mind remains as the cause of delusion?
पातालम् आविशसि यासि नभो विलङ्घ्य दिङ्मण्डलं भ्रमसि चेत् तद् अनात्मतात्मा । भ्रान्तीतरो ऽहम् इति नास्ति न सर्गवर्गस् स्पन्देतरो ऽनिल इवाम्ब्वितरेव धारा
If you enter the netherworld, soar through the sky, or wander across the circle of directions, all that is the non-self acting as the self; apart from delusion, there is no 'I', no world, nor any movement, just as wind does not stir within water.
कलनामात्रकार्यत्वाद् इमे मेर्वादयो ऽद्रयः । मृदवो लघवस् साक्षात् कौशेयनिकराद् अपि
Because these mountains, from Meru onward, are merely products of conceptualization, they are in fact softer and lighter than even clusters of silk.
निस्स्पन्दपवनाकारशरीरा भूतजातयः । ब्रह्माद्या अपि विद्यन्ते पिशाचपटलादिवत्
The elements, and even Brahma and the rest, exist with bodies like unmoving air—just like hosts of spirits.
अहोरात्रात्मनी तुच्छे प्रकाशतमसी तते । जन्तोḫ पवनदेहस्य च्छायाविहसने इव
In the self, which is empty of day and night, where light and darkness are side by side, the living being, with a body of breath, seems to play like a shadow.
अन्विष्यमाणम् अप्राप्यं जगत् स्फुरति खे परे । केशपिञ्छलवभ्रान्तिर् इवानिर्मलचक्षुषः
The world appears in the vast sky, sought but never attained, like the illusion of hair-tufts seen by one whose eyes are not clear.
सुरासुरास् स्फुरन्तीमे छिन्नवृक्षपिशाचवत् । परिपश्यन्ति संसारं दग्धदेहकजीववत्
These gods and demons flicker like ghosts around a felled tree; they perceive the cycle of existence like souls arisen from burnt bodies.
निश्श्वसन्ति च भस्त्रावद् विवर्तन्ते खधूमवत् । चिन्वन्त्य् अर्धप्रसुप्ताभं पश्यन्त्य् उद्भ्रान्तम् आबिलम्
They breathe like bellows, revolve like smoke in the sky, search as if half-asleep, and see everything as agitated and clouded.
जडास् स्फुरन्ति जनता नदीरयतरङ्गवत् । बुध्यन्ते ऽन्यात्मकाश् चान्यत् कोकिलाẖ काकताम् इव
The dull-witted people flicker like waves stirred by a river; some awaken with a different sense of self, like cuckoos taking on the nature of crows.
उद्यन्ति स्थावरा भूमौ रयरेखा इवाम्भसि । भावाḫ परिणमन्त्य् अन्तर् जलानीव रयाज् जले
Immovable beings arise on earth like lines of foam on water; inner states transform like water ripples forming from lines in water.
अनुभूतय आत्मस्था इक्षोर् मधुरता इव । क्षोभ्यन्ते विक्रियन्ते च पवनस्पर्शपीडनैः
Experiences, abiding in the self, are like sweetness in sugarcane; they are disturbed and altered by the pressure of the wind's touch.
कलनैकात्मिका लघ्वी सकुलाद्रीन्द्रमण्डला । तुलाम् आरोपिता भूमिर् न भवत्य् अर्धरक्तिका
The earth, which is but a single calculation, light, yet containing mountains, oceans, and the moon, when weighed on a scale, does not even tip the balance by half a mark.
भविष्यद्भूतकोशस्थं द्यौḫ पातालतलं गता । अग्नेश् चित्रकृतस्येव शैत्यम् एवानुभूयते
The sky, resting in the repository of future beings, has reached the realm beneath the earth; only coolness is experienced, as with the artistry of fire.
अधूमात्म निराधारम् अवातादिसमीरितम् । खम् ऊर्ध्वम् अम्बु यात्य् अभ्रैर् बान्धवैर् इव शिक्षितम्
Without smoke, without support, not stirred by wind or other forces, water rises upward into the sky, trained by its kin, the clouds.