इत्थं निर्मोक्षदोषस् स्यान् न च तस्यांशसम्भवः । यस्माद् देवर्षिमुनयो दृश्यन्ते मुक्तिभाजनम्
Thus, the fault of non-liberation persists, and there is no trace of its absence; for this reason, divine sages and seers are seen as vessels of liberation.
यदि स्याज् जगदादीदं तत् स्यान् मोक्षो न कस्यचित् । बाह्यस्थम् अस्तु हृत्स्थं वा दृश्यं नाशाय केवलम्
If this world and its beginning truly existed, then liberation would be impossible for anyone; whether the seen is external or internal, it is only for destruction.
तस्माद् इमां प्रतिज्ञां त्वं शृणु रामातिभीषणाम् । याम् उत्तरेण ग्रन्थेन नूनं त्वम् अवबुध्यसे
Therefore, O Rama, listen to this most formidable assertion, by which, through the following discourse, you will surely come to understand.
अयम् आकाशभूतादिरूपो ऽहं चेति लक्षितः । जगच्छब्दस्य नामार्थो ननु नास्त्य् एव कश्चन
This so-called 'I', marked as having the form of space and the elements, and the word 'world'—in truth, neither has any real referent at all.
यद् इदं दृश्यते किञ्चिद् दृश्यजालं पुरोगतम् । एकं ब्रह्मैव तत् सर्वम् अजरामरम् अव्ययम्
Whatever is seen here, any array of appearances before you, all that is truly the one Brahman alone—ageless, immortal, and unchanging.
पूर्णे पूर्णं प्रसरति शान्ते शान्तं परं स्थितम् । व्योमन्य् एवोदितं व्योम ब्रह्म ब्रह्मणि तिष्ठति
From fullness, fullness arises; in peace, supreme peace abides; in space alone, space appears; Brahman stands established in Brahman.
न दृश्यम् अस्ति नो दृक् च न द्रष्टा न च दर्शनम् । न शून्यं नो जडं नो चिच् छान्तम् एवेदम् आततम्
There is no object seen, nor seer, nor act of seeing; neither void, nor inert, nor conscious—only this peace is spread everywhere.
वन्ध्यापुत्रेण पिष्टो ऽद्रिश् शशशृङ्गं प्रमायते । प्रसार्य भुजसङ्घातं शिला नृत्यति ताण्डवम्
A mountain is ground by the son of a barren woman; a rabbit’s horn is measured; a rock, stretching out its arms, dances the Tāṇḍava.
स्रवन्ति सिकतास् तैलं पठन्त्य् उपलपुत्रिकाः । गर्जन्ति चित्रजलदा इतीवेदं वचः प्रभो
Grains of sand flow with oil; stones’ daughters recite scriptures; painted clouds thunder—such, O Lord, are these words.
जरामरणदुःखादिशैलाकाशमयं जगत् । नास्तीति किम् इदं नाम भवतापि ममोच्यते
This world, said to be made of the sky of old age, death, and suffering—why do you and I even speak of it as existent?
यथेदं न स्थितं विश्वं नोत्पन्नं न च विद्यते । तथा कथय मे ब्रह्मन् येनैतन् निश्चितं भवेत्
Just as this universe is neither established, nor arisen, nor existent, so, O Brahman, tell me in such a way that this may be determined.
नासमन्वितवाग् अस्मि शृणु राघव कथ्यते । यथेदम् असद् आभाति वन्ध्यापुत्र इवारवी
I am not endowed with speech; listen, O Raghava, it is being explained: just as this appears unreal, like the son of a barren woman in a desert.
इदम् आदाव् अनुत्पन्नं सर्गादौ तेन नास्त्य् अलम् । इदं हि मनसा भाति स्वप्नादौ पत्तनं यथा
In the beginning, this was not produced; therefore, there is nothing at all. This appears in the mind, like a city in a dream.
मन एव च सर्गादाव् अनुत्पन्नम् असद्वपुः । तथैतच् छृणु वक्ष्यामि यथैतद् अनुभूयते
Indeed, the mind at the beginning of creation is unproduced, with an unreal form. Thus, listen, I will explain how this is experienced.
मनो दृश्यमयं दोषं तनोतीमं क्षयात्मकम् । असद् एवासदाकारं स्वप्नस् स्वप्नान्तरं यथा
The mind, composed of perceptions, generates this fault which is of the nature of decay; it is unreal, with the appearance of unreality, like one dream within another.
तत् स्वयं स्वैरम् एवाशु सङ्कल्पयति देहकम् । तेनेयम् इन्द्रजालश्रीर् विततेन वितन्यते
That mind, by its own freedom, swiftly imagines the body; by this, the splendor of this magic is spread out and extended.
स्फुरति गच्छति वल्गति याचते भवति मज्जति संहरति स्वयम् । अमरताम् उपयात्य् अपि केवलं चलति चञ्चलशक्तितया मनः
It flashes, moves, dances, begs, becomes, sinks, withdraws by itself; it even attains immortality, yet only fluctuates by its restless power—the mind.
भगवन् मुनिशार्दूल किम् इवेह मनो भ्रमे । विद्यते कथम् उत्पन्नं मनो मायामयं कुतः
O Lord, tiger among sages, what is this confusion of the mind here? How does it exist, how is the mind produced, and from where does this mind made of illusion arise?
उत्पत्तिम् आदाव् इति मे समासेन वद प्रभो । प्रवक्ष्यसि ततश् शिष्टं वक्तव्यं वदतां वर
O Lord, please briefly tell me about the origin at the beginning; afterwards, you will explain the rest, O best among those who speak.
महाप्रलयसम्पत्ताव् असत्तां समुपागते । अशेषदृश्ये सर्गादौ शान्तम् एवावशिष्यते
When the great dissolution arrives and non-being prevails, at the start of creation, only peacefulness remains, with all appearances gone.
आस्ते ऽनस्तमितो भास्वान् अजो देवो निरामयः । सर्वदा सर्वकृत् सर्वः परमात्मा महेश्वरः
The radiant, unborn, divine, and flawless Lord abides, never setting; always, everywhere, the supreme Self, the great Lord, the source of all.
यतो वाचो निवर्तन्ते यो मुक्तैर् अवगम्यते । यस्य चात्मादिकास् सञ्ज्ञाः कल्पिता न स्वभावजाः
From whom words return, who is realized by the liberated; whose names such as 'self' are imagined, not arising from his own nature.
यः पुमान् साङ्ख्यदृष्टीनां ब्रह्म वेदान्तवादिनाम् । विज्ञानमात्रं विज्ञानविदाम् एकान्तनिर्मलम्
He is the person seen by the Sāṅkhya philosophers as Brahman, by the Vedāntins as pure consciousness, and by the knowers of knowledge as utterly pure awareness.
यश् शून्यवादिनां शून्यं भासको यो ऽर्कतेजसाम् । वक्ता स्मर्ता ऋतं भोक्ता द्रष्टा कर्ता सदैव यः
He is emptiness for the proponents of emptiness, the illuminator for those who praise the sun's brilliance; always the speaker, the rememberer, the true enjoyer, the seer, the doer.
सद् अप्य् असद् यो जगति यो देहस्थो ऽपि दूरगः । चित्प्रकाशो ह्य् अयं यस्माद् आलोक इव भास्वतः
He is both existent and non-existent in the world; though dwelling in the body, he is far away; this is the light of consciousness, just as radiance comes from the sun.
यस्माद् विष्ण्वादयो देवास् सूर्याद् इव मरीचयः । यस्माज् जगन्त्य् अनन्तानि बुद्बुदा जलधेर् इव
From whom gods like Viṣṇu arise, as rays from the sun; from whom countless worlds emerge, like bubbles from the ocean.
यं यान्ति दृश्यवृन्दानि पयांसीव महाम्बुधिम् । य आत्मानं पदार्थं च प्रकाशयति दीपवत्
That into which all objects of perception merge, like streams into the great ocean; that which illumines itself and all things, like a lamp.
आकाशे यश् शरीरे च दृषत्स्व् अप्सु लतासु च । पांसुष्व् अद्रिषु वातेषु पातालेषु च संस्थितः
That which abides in space, in bodies, in stones, in waters, in vines, in dust, in mountains, in winds, and in the netherworlds.
यः प्लावयति संरब्धं पुर्यष्टकम् इतस् ततः । येन मूकीकृता मूढाश् शिला ध्यानम् इवास्थिताः
That which swiftly floods the eightfold city (the body) here and there; by which the deluded are rendered mute, like stones absorbed in meditation.
व्योम येन कृतं शून्यं शैला येन घनीकृताः । आपो द्रुताः कृता येन दीप्तो यस्य वशाद् रविः
By which the sky is made empty, mountains are made solid, waters are made to flow swiftly, and by whose power the sun shines brightly.