कर्मबीजतरोर् अस्य सुखदुẖखफलावलेः । जाग्रद्वसन्तकालस्य सुषुप्तशिशिरस्थितेः
Of this tree, the seeds are actions, the fruits are pleasure and pain; waking is its springtime, and deep sleep is its winter.
पावनाचारकलिकागुच्छकोत्करकारिणः । क्षणतारुण्यकान्तस्य जराकुसुमहासिनः
The clusters of buds are pure conduct, the brief beauty of youth is its blossoming, and the great sword of old age is its withering.
मुहूर्तं प्रति कल्लोलमर्कटध्वंसिताकृतेः । निद्राहेमन्तजठरलीनस्वप्नदलोद्गतेः
Each moment, its waves are shattered by the monkey of restlessness; in the winter of sleep, its shoots are hidden, and in dreams, they emerge again.
स्ववार्द्धकशरच्छान्तिशीर्णेहापर्णसन्ततेः । जगज्जङ्गलजातस्य कलत्रोपतृणावलेः
In the autumn of one’s own old age, its desires fall like withered leaves; the world is a thicket, and family is the grass that covers its base.
पेलवावयवा हस्तपादगुल्फादयो ऽरुणाः । पत्त्राणि तनुवृन्तानि सुरेखानि चलानि च
The tender limbs—hands, feet, ankles, and so on—are the reddish leaves, slender and delicate, finely lined and ever moving.
अरुणाḫ पवनालोला मृद्व्यो मसृणमूर्तयः । स्नाय्वस्थिदिग्धास् सरसा अङ्गुल्यो बालपल्लवाः
Reddish, swayed by the wind, soft and smooth in form, moistened with sinews and bones, the fingers are like fresh young shoots.
मृद्व्यो मसृणतीक्ष्णाग्रा वृन्तरूढाḫ पुनḫ पुनः । द्वितीयेन्दुकराकाराẖ कलिका नखशुक्तयः
Soft, smooth, and sharp-tipped, repeatedly growing from the stem, the buds and fingernails are shaped like a second moon.
कर्मणḫ परिफुल्लस्य देहरूपतयेति हि । कर्मेन्द्रियाणि मूलानि दृढानि ग्रन्थिमन्ति च
When action fully blossoms as the form of the body, the organs of action are its firm and knotted roots.
सिरास्थिग्रन्थिनद्धानि पङ्कमग्नात्मकानि च । वासनारसपीनानि निजरक्तरसानि च
Bound by veins and bones, sunk in mire, nourished by the sap of tendencies, and filled with their own vital fluid.
गुल्फवन्ति दृढाङ्गानि सुत्वञ्चि मसृणानि च । तेषाम् अपि च मूलानि विद्धि बुद्धीन्द्रियाणि हि
With strong limbs ending in ankles, well-formed and smooth, know that their roots are indeed the sense organs of knowledge.
सुदूरम् अपि यातानि पञ्चस्तम्भानि तानि तु । वासनापङ्कमग्नानि रसवन्ति महान्ति च
Those five pillars, though extending far, are immersed in the mire of tendencies, substantial and full of sap.
तेषां मूलं बृहत् स्तम्भं मनो व्याप्तजगत्त्रयम् । पञ्चस्रोतस्सिराकृष्टमुक्तानन्तरसद्रवम्
Their root is the great pillar—the mind—which pervades the three worlds, drawn by five streams of veins, containing fluid between pearls.
तस्य मूलं विदुर् जीवं चेत्योन्मुखचिदात्मकम् । जीवस्य चेतनं मूलं सर्वमूलैककारणम्
Its root is known as the jīva, oriented toward consciousness; and the root of the jīva is consciousness, the single cause of all roots.
चितेस् तु ब्रह्म मूलं यत् तस्य मूलं न विद्यते । अनाख्यत्वाद् अनन्तत्वाच् छुद्धत्वात् सत्यरूपिणः
But the root of consciousness is Brahman, whose root is not known, because it is unnameable, infinite, pure, and of the nature of truth.
सर्वेषां कर्मणाम् एवं वेदनं बीजम् उत्तमम् । स्वरूपं चेतयित्वान्तस् ततस् स्पन्दḫ प्रवर्तते
For all actions, thus, the highest seed is awareness; when one's own nature is recognized within, then movement arises.
मुने चेतनम् एवाद्यं कर्मणां बीजम् उच्यते । तस्मिन् सति महाशाखो जायते देहशल्मलिः
O sage, awareness alone is said to be the first seed of actions; when it exists, the great tree—the silk-cotton tree of the body—grows.
एतच् चेतनशब्दार्थं भावनावलितं यदि । तत् कर्मबीजताम् एति नो चेत् साध्यं परं पदम्
If the meaning of the word 'awareness' is accompanied by contemplation, it becomes the seed of action; if not, the supreme state is attained.
चितिश् चेतनशब्दार्थभावनावलिता यदि । तत् कर्मबीजताम् एति नो चेत् साध्यं परं पदम्
If consciousness is accompanied by contemplation on the meaning of 'awareness', it becomes the seed of action; if not, the supreme state is attained.
तस्माद् वेदनम् एवेह कर्म कारणम् आकृतेः । एतत् तत् कर्मणां बीजं त्वयैवोक्तं मुनीश्वर
Therefore, awareness alone here is the cause of action and form; this is the seed of actions, as you yourself have said, O great sage.
अस्य राघव सूक्ष्मस्य कर्मणो वेदनात्मनः । कस् त्यागẖ किम् अनुष्ठानं यावद्देहम् इदं स्थितम्
O Raghava, for this subtle action whose essence is awareness, what renunciation or practice is there as long as this body remains?
यच् चेत्यते तु तेनाशु बहिर् अन्तश् च भूयते । सत्याकारम् असत्यं वा भवत्व् आहितविभ्रमम्
Whatever is cognized, by that, immediately, both outside and inside, it becomes; whether it is real or unreal, let it be established with confusion.
न चेत्यते चेत् तद् अलं भ्रमाद् अस्माद् विमुच्यते । भ्रमस् सत्यो ऽस्त्व् असत्यो वा किं विचारणयानया
If it is not cognized, then enough of delusion—one is freed from this; whether the delusion is real or unreal, what is the use of such inquiry?
एतच् चेतनम् एवान्तर् विकसत्य् उद्भवभ्रमैः । वासनेच्छामनẖकर्मसङ्कल्पाद्यभिधात्मभिः
This consciousness alone unfolds within, through the whirls of arising and dissolution, by means of tendencies, desires, mind, actions, intentions, and other names attributed to the self.
प्रबुद्धस्याप्रबुद्धस्य देहिनो देहगेहके । आदेहं विद्यते वित्त्वं त्यागस् त्व् अस्य न विद्यते । जीवतां तस्य सन्त्यागẖ कथं नामोपपद्यते
For the awakened and unawakened embodied one dwelling in the body, possession exists up to the body; renunciation does not exist for him. How can renunciation arise for one who is alive?
केवलं कर्मशब्दार्थभावनाभावने सति । कर्म कर्मत्वम् उत्सृज्य स्वयम् एव भवत्य् अजम्
When there is absence of the thought and imagination of the meaning of the word 'action', action, abandoning its nature as action, itself becomes unborn.
असम्भवति सन्त्यागे कर्मणो यẖ करोति हि । इदंकर्तव्यतात्यागं न किञ्चित् तेन तत् कृतम्
He who performs action when renunciation of action is impossible, by abandoning the sense of 'I must do this', accomplishes nothing thereby.
बोधाद् इदन्तासंवित्तेस् स्वयं विलयनं तु यत् । जगतस् तं विदुस् त्यागम् असङ्गं मोक्षम् एव च
That which is the self-dissolution of the 'this-ness' awareness through knowledge, is known by the wise as renunciation, non-attachment, and indeed liberation.
वेदनं सति संवेद्ये सर्गादाव् एव वेद्यदृक् । नोत्पन्ना विद्यते नैव तस्मात् किं क्वेव वेदनम्
Perception exists only when there is something to be perceived, at the beginning of creation, as the perceiver of the perceived; it neither arises nor exists otherwise, so what and where is perception?
वेद्योन्मुखत्वं सन्त्यज्य रूपं यद् वेदनस्य वै । न वेदनं तन् नो कर्म तच् छान्तं ब्रह्म कथ्यते
When the tendency toward perceiving is abandoned, and the form of perception itself is given up, that is not perception, nor is it action; that is called the tranquil Brahman.
चेतनं प्रोच्यते कर्म संसृत्या प्रविकासितम् । अचेतनं विदुर् मोक्षं ज्ञं चेत्य् एवोपदेशधीः
Consciousness is called action, expanded through transmigration; the wise know liberation as non-consciousness, and the teaching intellect calls it knowledge.