तन्मृतिप्रसरे राम मुहूर्तं जडताभ्रमे । चिराचिरप्रत्ययिनि प्रश्नस् ते नोपपद्यते
When the flow of that memory arises, O Rama, for a moment there is the delusion of inertness; in what is established as both long and short duration, your question does not apply.
प्रतिभात्मनि विस्तारे यद् यथा प्रतिभासते । स एव तत् तथा तेन किम् इवात्र विकल्प्यते
Whatever appears in the expanse of the luminous Self, just as it appears, that alone is so; what indeed is there to be doubted about this?
किं द्रवस्पन्दने वारिमरुतोर् इव नो यथा । तयोस् तदात्मकतया युक्तḫ प्रश्नो भवादृशाम्
Why question about liquidity or vibration, as with water and wind? For those like you, such a question is appropriate only if they are truly distinct.
ब्रह्मात्मनि तथा सर्गे सर्गताप्रत्यये कृते । किं भूẖ किं खं किम् आशेति प्रश्नस् ते राम नोचितः
So too, in the Self that is Brahman, when the notion of creation is established, your question, O Rama—'What is earth? What is space? What is support?'—is not appropriate.
एतस्माच् च पदाच् छुद्धाल् लुठितानां भवार्णवे । भूतानां सुचिराभ्यस्ता वासनैवात्र कारणं
And from this state, for beings who have been tossed about in the ocean of becoming, it is only the deeply ingrained tendencies, practiced over a long time, that are the cause.
यद् यथा संविदाभ्यस्तं शैत्यौष्ण्यादि निजोदयम् । असद् एव द्विचन्द्राभं तत् स्वभावं विदुर् बुधाः
Whatever is repeatedly impressed upon consciousness—such as cold, heat, and so on—arises as its own manifestation; but the wise know that, like the illusion of two moons, this is not real and is only its apparent nature.
स्वभावस्य स्वभावं स्वम् अबुद्ध्वैव भ्रमाकुलाः । अविकल्प्यस् स्वभावो न इति निश्चयिनस् स्थिताः
Those who, without understanding the true nature of nature itself, are bewildered by delusion; but those who are resolute know that nature is not to be imagined as distinct.
असम्भवात् परे तत्त्वे स्वत्वभावदृशोḫ पृथक् । स्वभावो ब्रह्मणीत्य् उक्तिर् अमूला न विराजते
Since, in the supreme reality, the notion of individuality is impossible, the statement 'nature is in Brahman'—when viewed as something separate—has no real foundation and does not shine forth.
एवम् एव प्रवर्तन्ते इति भावा भवा इव । एवम् एव निवर्तन्ते इत्य् अवृत्तियुता इव
Just so, phenomena seem to proceed as if they truly exist; and just so, they seem to cease as if they truly come to an end.
न जायते न म्रियते क्वचित् किञ्चित् कदाचन । सर्वं शान्तम् अनिर्देश्यं शैलोत्कीर्णम् इवाक्षयम्
Nothing is ever born, nor does anything ever die, anywhere or at any time; all is peaceful, indescribable, and imperishable, like a mountain carved from solid rock.
घनवासनयोच्छूने मोहे घनतरात्मनि । मुहूर्त एव कल्पत्वं दुẖखित्वाद् अनुमीयते
When delusion, swollen by dense impressions, arises in the even denser Self, then, for a moment, the sense of time and suffering is inferred.
यथा ब्रह्मणि ब्रह्मत्वं तथैवैतास् तदात्मिकाः । नामशब्दार्थरहितास् संस्थितास् स्वानुभूतयः
Just as Brahman is Brahman in Brahman, so too are these experiences established in their own essence, devoid of name, word, or meaning, abiding as pure self-experience.
वासना दीर्घदुẖखाय प्रेक्षिता सा न विद्यते । नाहम् इत्य् एव संवित्त्या स्वयत्नेन विलीयते
The tendency that brings prolonged suffering, when observed, is found not to exist; through the awareness of 'I am not this,' it dissolves by one's own effort.
अहन्तानुभवो दुẖखम् अनहन्तोदयस् सुखम् । दृषद्धृदयताभावाद् अलम् एतद् उदेति ते
The experience of ego is pain; the arising of non-ego is happiness. Because the hardness of heart is absent, this readily arises for you.
परमं मौनम् आश्रित्य यथास्थितम् अवस्थितः । अखण्डम् एतद् आप्नोति नरो निर्विघ्नम् उत्तमम्
By embracing supreme silence and remaining as one is, a person attains this unbroken, highest state, free from obstacles.
ब्रह्माभिधानास्ति शिलातिविस्तृता तस्यां त्रिलोकीचिरसालभञ्जिका । स्थिता भवाभावरयादिकात्मिका चित्तान्विताचित्तककाष्ठमौनिनी
There is a vast expanse called 'Brahman,' like an immense stone, within which the three worlds long remain unmanifest; established there is the essence of existence and non-existence, the mind-attached, mindless, silent one.
अहन्ताबीजसङ्कल्पमात्रम् एवम् इदं मुने । अविद्यमानम् एवाति विद्यमानम् इव स्थितम्
O sage, this is merely the seed-thought of ego, which, though truly nonexistent, appears as if it exists.
एवं चेत् तद् वद ब्रह्मंल् लोके शास्त्रे श्रुतौ स्मृतौ । देहḫ पिण्डादिनोदेति मृतस्येति किम् उच्यते
If this is so, then tell me, O Brahman, in the world, in scripture, in the Vedas and traditions: how does the body and the like arise, and what is said about the dead?
यथा ब्रह्म तथैवास्ति सर्गो ऽयं नियमान्वितः । अतदन्यस् तदन्यत्वं सर्गताप्रत्ययाद् गतः
Just as Brahman exists, so too does this creation, governed by order; anything other than that is considered otherness, which ceases when the conviction of creation is absent.
अत्र सर्गादिशब्दार्थो भूतादीन्य् उपसंस्थितः । भूतत्वं विद्धि भूतानाम् अहन्तामननात्मकम्
Here, the meaning of words like 'creation' refers to the elements and so forth; know that the nature of the elements is the essence of ego and thought.
रागद्वेषात्मिका चैषा कलना नेतरात्मिका । इदम् एवम् इदं नैवम् इत्य् एकात्मस्वरूपिणी
This conceptualization, consisting of attraction and aversion, is not of another nature; it is of the one essence, thinking, 'This is so, this is not so.'
सोदिता सर्गशब्दार्थकलना मानमानिनी । ब्रह्मादिनादिपुरुषरूपेणाहन्त्वरूपिणी
This conceptualization, which is called by the word 'creation,' is proud of its own measure, and takes the form of 'I-ness' as the original being, from Brahma onward.
इदं कार्यम् इदं नेति नियमेन विना च सा । न भवत्य् आत्मनैतावन्मात्ररूपैकजीविता
Without any fixed rule, it thinks, 'This should be done, this should not be done,' but it does not exist apart from the self, whose only life is this very form.
ब्रह्मादितां गतायास् तु तस्यास् तवममात्मिकाम् । न भवत्य् अन्यता तस्मात् स्वभावात् परमात्मनः
When it attains the state of Brahma and the like, it does not have any other essence apart from its own nature, which is the supreme self.
तेन ब्रह्मादिताम् एत्य स्वरूपस्थैव तिष्ठति । नोपशाम्यति नोदेति निरिच्छत्वात् परात्मिका
Therefore, having reached the state of Brahma and the rest, it remains established in its own nature; it neither subsides nor arises, being of the nature of the supreme self, which is devoid of desire.
भावाभावौ समाव् अस्या निष्कलङ्कात्मकस्थितेः । तेनैषास्ते समं वेत्ति नाभावं भवनं न च
For her, existence and non-existence are equal, because she abides in a stainless state; thus, she remains the same, knowing neither non-being nor being.
यदोत्पन्नैव सा संविद् ब्रह्मादिकलनामयी । आत्मन्य् एव निरिच्छास्ते शान्तानुत्पन्नसन्निभम्
When that awareness arises, composed of the conceptualization of Brahma and the rest, it remains in the self alone, without desire, peaceful, as if it had not arisen.
तद् एवम् अखिलं शान्तं व्योमेवानन्तकं स्थितम् । कम् अप्य् अकलितं कालं नास्माभिस् तद् विचार्यते
Thus, all is peaceful, abiding like infinite space; we do not consider that unmeasured time.
यदा तु सा मनस्सत्ता प्रसरन्ती स्वभावतः । आस्ते तदा तदाकारस् सर्ग इत्य् एव तिष्ठति
When that essence of mind naturally expands, then it remains as the form of creation itself.
प्रसरन्त्या यथा नद्यास् स्वावर्तादिस्वरूपकम् । तथा सङ्कल्पसत्ताया जगदाद्यात्मकं वपुः
Just as, when a river spreads, it takes on forms like eddies and whirlpools, so too the essence of imagination assumes the form of the world and its beginnings.