उपशान्तश् च कान्तश् च दीप्तो ऽप्य् आलोकसुन्दरः । चन्द्रबिम्बाद् इवोत्कीर्णस् सोम्य आह्लादकारकः
He is peaceful and lovely, radiant yet beautiful in his illumination; as if carved from the moon's disk, he is gentle and brings delight.
अन्तश्शून्यो बहिश्शून्यश् शून्यकुम्भ इवाम्बरे । अन्तḫपूर्णो बहिḫपूर्णḫ पूर्णकुम्भ इवार्णवे
Empty within and empty without, like a hollow jar in the sky; full within and full without, like a filled jar in the ocean.
विक्रियादिविनिर्मुक्तस् सन्त्यक्तो मरणाद् इव । महाव्याधेर् इवोत्तीर्णस् तीर्णापूर्णभवार्णवः
Freed from all change and transformation, as if death itself has been abandoned; as one who has crossed a great disease, he has crossed and fulfilled the ocean of worldly existence.
दीर्घाध्वश्रमखिन्नात्मा सुखसुप्त इवाक्षयम् । प्रबुद्ध इति निद्रालुर् इव दृश्ये प्रसुप्तधीः
His mind, weary from a long journey, is like one happily asleep, inexhaustible; though awake, he appears as if still drowsy, his intellect at rest even while perceiving.
सबाह्याभ्यन्तरं शीतस् तुषाराद् इव निर्मितः । सबाह्याभ्यन्तरं पूर्ण आलोकेनामलाम्ब्व् इव
Entirely, both outwardly and inwardly, he is cool, as if made of frost; entirely, both outwardly and inwardly, he is filled with pure light, like clear water.
सबाह्याभ्यन्तरं स्वच्छẖ कचन् मणिर् इवात्मनि । सबाह्याभ्यन्तरं शून्यो नभसेव विनिर्मितः
Entirely, both outwardly and inwardly, he is transparent, like a flawless crystal within himself; entirely, both outwardly and inwardly, he is empty, as if fashioned from the sky.
निर्मनस्कतया जित्वा संस्थितस् सालभञ्जिकाम् । यन्त्राकृतिर् इव स्वैरं स्पन्दिकर्मेन्द्रियव्रजः
Having conquered by absence of mind, he stands like a statue of a dancing girl; his senses and organs of action move freely, like the workings of a machine.
स्याम् इत्य् अन्तर् अहन्तात्मसत्तास्नेहपरिक्षयात् । जीवदीपो विनिर्वाण आत्मन्य् एव स लीयते
With the exhaustion of the attachment to the sense of 'I am' and the essence of self, the lamp of life is extinguished and merges into the Self itself.
नित्यतृप्तो निरानन्दो निर्दुẖखो निरुपाश्रयः । निस्सङ्गो निरभिप्रायो ज्ञो ऽनीहो नावबध्यते
Ever content, without pleasure, without pain, without dependence, unattached, without intention, wise, unmoved—he is not bound.
नास्य देहो न कर्मादि न दृश्यद्रष्टृदर्शनम् । न जीवितं न मरणं नासन् न सदसन् न सत्
For him, there is no body, no action or the like, no perception, perceiver, or perception itself; no living, no dying, no non-being, no being, no existence.
किञ्चिद् एवैष सम्पन्नẖ को ऽपि वा वा न किञ्चन । शुद्धं वेदनमात्रं वा किञ्चिद् वा ज्ञप्तिर् एव वा
He is just something accomplished, or perhaps not even that; pure awareness alone, or perhaps only a trace of knowing.
सबाह्याभ्यन्तरं नान्यद् एकम् एव पदार्थवत् । स्थितो दूरे ऽप्य् अदूरे च प्रसृतानन्ततन्तुवत्
Entirely, both outwardly and inwardly, there is nothing else—only the one, like a single substance; established far away and yet not far, like an endless, spreading thread.
स बह्वीष्व् अप्य् अवस्थासु नित्यैकात्मा समो ऽमलः । संशान्तगुणभेदश्रीर् महाकाल इवाकलः
He, though present in many states, remains ever one, equal, pure; his glory is the cessation of all distinctions of qualities, like the great Time, yet timeless.
अजम् अमरम् अनाद्यं बुद्धम् आद्यन्तशुद्धं शिवम् अमलम् अजल्पं सर्वगं शान्तम् एकम् । बहिर् अबहिर् अपीशं ज्ञं विनिर्माणम् अग्र्यं कम् अपि तम् उपगम्यं सारम् आभासम् आहुः
Unborn, immortal, without beginning, awakened, pure from beginning to end, auspicious, stainless, silent, all-pervading, peaceful, one; both outside and inside, lord, knower, without construction, supreme—some call him the essence, the appearance, approachable by none.
अहन्तादेहताद्यर्थश् चिरम् एव लयं गतः । जीवन्मुक्तस्य तेनासौ ज्ञो ऽपि व्योम्नैकतां गतः
The sense of 'I' and the sense of body and other objects have long dissolved; thus, for the liberated while living, even the knower attains unity with space.
अगम्या वचसां सा तु सा सीमा भवभूमिषु । संसारसरसḫ पारम् अपारस्येह सा परम्
That limit is inaccessible to words; it is the boundary among realms of existence; it is the far shore of the ocean of samsara, the highest here, yet beyond.
कैश्चित् सा शिव इत्य् उक्ता कैश्चिद् ब्रह्मेत्य् उदाहृता । कैश्चिज् ज्ञप्तिर् इति प्रोक्ता कैश्चिच् छून्यम् इति स्मृता
Some call it Shiva, some declare it Brahman; some say it is pure knowledge, some remember it as emptiness.
अर्थ इत्य् ऊहिता कैश्चित् कैश्चित् काल इति श्रिता । कैश्चित् प्रकृतिपुंभावविभाग इति भाविता
Some imagine it as meaning, some rely on it as time; some conceive it as the distinction between nature and person.
अन्यैर् अप्य् अन्यथा नानाभेदैर् आत्मविकल्पितैः । नित्यम् अव्यपदेश्यापि किलान्यैवोपदिश्यते
Others, too, describe it differently, with various distinctions shaped by their own minds; though ever indescribable, it is nevertheless taught as something else.
विदेहमुक्तैर् एवैषा विदेहैकान्तमुक्तता । बुध्यते तादृशैर् एव समनस्कैस् तु नेतरैः
Only those liberated beyond the body know this absolute freedom from embodiment; it is understood only by such minds, not by others.
न सत्त्वस्थैर् न चित्तस्थैẖ कैश्चिद् एवावगम्यते । विदेहमुक्तत्वम् ऋते विदेहा मुक्ततेति हि
Except for the state of bodiless liberation, it is not known by any who abide in sattva or in mind; for it is called bodiless liberation.
असंसक्तधियो ये हि ज्ञत्वात् प्रक्षीणवासनाः । तृतीयां भूमिकां प्राप्तास् तेषां चित्तं न विद्यते
Those whose minds are unattached and whose latent impressions are exhausted by knowledge, having reached the third stage, for them the mind does not exist.
अज्ञत्वे घनभावत्वं चित्तम् आहुर् मनीषिणः । पुनर्जन्मान्तरकरं कारणं भवभूरुहाम्
The wise say that when there is ignorance, the mind is dense and substantial; it is the cause that produces further births for those rooted in becoming.
ज्ञत्वात् क्षीणरसं चित्तम् अजन्ममयवासनम् । सत्त्वम् इत्य् उच्यते तज्ज्ञैस् तत्स्थास् सत्त्वपदे स्थिताः
When, through knowledge, the mind's taste is exhausted and its latent impressions are unborn and illusory, it is called sattva by the knowers; those established in that remain in the state of sattva.
सत्त्वस्था ज्ञानदहनैर् दग्धवासनतां गताः । जीवाẖ क्षीणाḫ प्रयच्छन्ति न संसाराङ्कुरं पुनः
Those established in sattva, whose latent impressions have been burned by the fires of knowledge, having become diminished, do not produce the sprout of worldly existence again.
चित्तस्थैर् अथ सत्त्वस्थैर् एतैर् या नावबुध्यते । सप्तमीभूमिका सैषा विदेहा मुक्ततोच्यते
That which is not known by those established in mind or in sattva—this is called the seventh stage, the state of bodiless liberation.
एतास् ता भूमिकाḫ प्रोक्ता मया तव रघूद्वह । आसाम् अभ्यासयोगेन न दुẖखम् अनुभूयते
O best of Raghu's line, these stages have been described to you by me; by the practice of these, suffering is not experienced.
एतासु भूमिषु पदं कुरु कारणज्ञ कार्यान्तराण्य् अविकलानि निजानि कुर्वन् । जीवन् विमुक्त इह तिष्ठ चिरं ततो ऽन्ते भूत्वा विदेह उदितं पदम् एकम् आस्स्व
On these stages, take your stand, O knower of causes, while performing your own various duties without disturbance; live here as a liberated one, and at the end, having become bodiless, abide in the one supreme state.
अस्त्य् अनन्ता सदा मत्ता मृदुमन्थरचारिणी । करिणी विग्रहव्यग्रा महादशनशालिनी
There is an endless, ever-intoxicated elephant, moving gently and sluggishly, preoccupied with its own form, possessing great tusks.
सा चेन् निहन्यते नूनम् अनर्थानर्थकारिणी । तद् एतासु समग्रासु भूमिकासु नरो जयी
If this one, which brings about endless misfortune, is truly slain, then in all these fields, a person is victorious.