विराड्जीवाच् चन्द्रमसो जीवभूतानि देहिनाम् । प्रसरन्त्य् अन्नजातानि प्रालेयविसरात्मना
From the cosmic individual, like the moon, the living beings of embodied creatures arise; those born of food spread forth, having the nature of snow's essence.
तान्य् एव देहिदेहेषु जीवा जीवन्ति जीविषु । मनोभूता विचेष्टन्ते कर्म जन्मसु कारणम्
These very souls live within bodies of the embodied; arising from mind, they act, and action is the cause of births.
एवं विराट् सहस्राणि महाकल्पशतानि च । गतान्य् अथ भविष्यन्ति नानाचाराणि सन्ति च
Thus, thousands of cosmic beings and hundreds of great aeons have passed, will come, and exist with diverse ways.
सर्वतो ऽनुभवरूपयानया सत्तयोत्तमपदाद् अभिन्नया । अन्तवर्जितमहाङ्गसङ्गया तिष्ठतीति पुरुषḫ परं विराट्
The supreme cosmic person, the great Virat, abides everywhere as the form of experience, undivided from the highest state, with limitless, vast limbs, and free from end.
सङ्कल्पपुरुषस् त्व् एष यद् यत् कल्पयति स्वयम् । तत् तथा तादृशं पञ्चभूतात्म भवतीव खम्
This person of imagination, whatever he conceives on his own, that indeed appears to be so, as if composed of the five elements, like space.
सर्वं नाम जगज्जातं तत्सङ्कल्पं विदुर् बुधाः । तादृग्रूपं पञ्चकात्मविषयोन्मुखम् आगतम्
Wise people know that all this world, called by various names, is the projection of that imagination; it comes forth with the nature of the fivefold elements, ready for experience.
जगत्पदार्थसार्थस्य विराट् सर्वस्य कारणम् । कारणस्य समान्य् एव कार्याणि च भवन्त्य् अतः
The Virāt, the cosmic form, is the cause of all the objects and beings in the world; from the general cause, the effects also arise accordingly.
यथैष स विराड् एवं विराट् प्रत्येकम् आत्मनि । स्वसंविदि प्रसरति बोधवान् न त्व् अबोधवान्
Just as this Virāt exists, so too the Virāt expands individually within each self; it unfolds in one's own awareness if there is knowledge, not if there is ignorance.
आसरीसृपम् आरुद्रम् एवम् अभ्युत्थितो भ्रमः । अणाव् अप्य् अद्रिविस्तारो बीजकोश इव द्रुमः
This delusion arises in a serpentine and fierce manner; even in the atom it spreads as widely as a mountain, like a tree emerging from a seed-pod.
आसरीसृपम् आरुद्रं विराट् प्रत्येकम् आत्मनि । पराणाव् अप्य् अनन्तात्मा बोधतो न त्व् अबोधतः
The serpentine and fierce Virāt expands individually within each self; even in the smallest atom, the infinite self manifests through awareness, not through ignorance.
यादृग् एव विराडात्मन्य् एष विस्तार आगतः । तादृग् एवेह सर्वस्मिन्न् अणुमात्रे ऽपि भूतके
Whatever expansion has occurred in the Virāt-self, that same expansion is present here in every being, even in the smallest particle.
परमार्थेन न स्थूलं न सूक्ष्मं किञ्चन क्वचित् । यद् यथा भावितं यत्र तत् तथाश्व् अनुभूयते
In ultimate reality, nothing is gross or subtle anywhere; whatever is conceived in any place, that is immediately experienced as such.
मनश् चन्द्रमसो जातं मनसश् चन्द्र उत्थितः । जीवाज् जीवो ऽथ वैकैषा सत्ता द्रवजलाङ्गवत्
The mind is born from the moon, and the moon arises from the mind; the living being comes from the living being, just as fluidity exists in water.
शुक्रसारं विदुर् जीवं प्रालेयकणसन्निभम् । आनन्दो बलसन्दोहस् तत एव प्रवर्तते
They say the essence of semen is the living being, resembling a particle of frost; from that, the collection of strength and joy arises.
तं चेतति चिदाभासं पूर्वम् आत्मा स्वम् आत्मना । तत्र तन्मयतां धत्ते तेन तन्मयरूपिणीम्
The self first perceives that reflection of consciousness by itself; in that, it assumes identification, and thus takes on its form.
जीवसंविद् अथैषान्तर् यद् उपायाति पञ्चताम् । न तत्र कारणं किञ्चिद् विद्यते न च कार्यता
When this inner awareness of the living being comes to dissolution, there is neither any cause nor effect to be found there.
प्रतियोगिव्यवच्छित्तेर् अभावात् स्वत्वभावयोः । स्वभावोक्तिर् न चैवात्र भवत्य् अर्थानुसारिणी
Because of the absence of any opposing distinction between self and non-self, even the statement of inherent nature here does not follow the meaning.
जीवो जीवत्वम् एव स्वं जीवत्वाद् एव च स्वतः । अन्तस्त्वेन बहिष्ट्वेन दृश्यत्वेन च भावयन्
The living being experiences its own livingness solely from its own livingness, contemplating itself as inner, outer, and as the visible.
नीहारेणेव संवीतश् चेत्यवस्तुपरायणः । जात्यन्ध इव पन्थानम् आवृतात्मा न पश्यति
Enveloped as if by mist, devoted to objective things, the self, its vision obstructed like one born blind, does not see the path.
जगज्जृम्भिकया जीवस् त्व् अनैक्यद्वित्वया स्थितः । स्पन्दशक्त्येव पवनस् स्वात्मनो ऽभिन्नयानया
The living being, by the expansion of the world, remains in the duality of non-unity, just as the power of vibration is in the wind, undivided from its own nature.
शुद्धं बुद्धम् अनाद्यन्तं जीवो जनितवासनः । आद्यं क्षीव इवात्मानम् आवृतात्मा न पश्यति
The pure, awakened, beginningless and endless self, the individual soul, is veiled by the impressions of birth; just as a mirror covered with dust does not see its own reflection.
अज्ञानस्य महाग्रन्थेर् मिथ्यावेद्यात्मनो ऽसतः । अहमित्यर्थरूपस्य भेदो मोक्ष इति स्मृतः
The severance of the great knot of ignorance, which is the false, knowable, unreal self in the form of 'I', is called liberation.
व्यपगतघनचेतनस् समन्ताद् अहम् इति नूनम् अबुध्यमान आस्स्व । अनभिधपरचेतनैकरूपस् सदसदसन् न सदा सदोदितश् च
When the dense sense of individuality has vanished completely, abide as one who does not at all conceive 'I'; being of the nature of pure, unspoken consciousness, neither existent nor non-existent, but ever manifest as the real.
ज्ञानिनैव सदा भाव्यं राम न ज्ञानबन्धुना । अज्ञतैव वरं मन्ये न पुनर् ज्ञानबन्धुता
O Rama, one should always be a knower, not merely a companion of knowledge; I consider ignorance itself preferable to being merely a companion of knowledge.
किम् उच्यते ज्ञानबन्धुर् ज्ञानी चैव किम् उच्यते । किं फलं ज्ञानबन्धुत्वे ज्ञानित्वे ऽपि च किं फलं
What is meant by 'companion of knowledge', and what is meant by 'knower'? What is the fruit of being a companion of knowledge, and even in being a knower, what is the fruit?
व्याचष्टे यḫ पठति च शास्त्रं भोगाय शिल्पिवत् । यतते न त्व् अनुष्ठाने ज्ञानबन्धुस् स उच्यते
He who explains and recites scripture for enjoyment, like an artisan, but does not strive for practice, is called a companion of knowledge.
कर्मस्पन्देषु नो बोधḫ फलितो यस्य दृश्यते । बोधशिल्पोपजीवित्वाज् ज्ञानबन्धुस् स उच्यते
He in whom knowledge does not bear fruit in the movement of actions, who lives by the craft of knowledge, is called a companion of knowledge.
वसनाशनमात्रेण तुष्टाश् शास्त्रफलेन ये । अज्ञाञ् ज्ञानांशबन्धूंस् तान् विद्याच् छास्त्रार्थशिल्पिनः
Those who are satisfied merely with the destruction of desires and with the fruit of scripture, know them to be ignorant, companions of knowledge, artisans of the meaning of scripture.
प्रवृत्तिलक्षणे धर्मे वर्तते यश् श्रुतोचितम् । अदूरवर्तिज्ञानत्वाज् ज्ञानबन्धुस् स उच्यते
He who acts in accordance with the dharma characterized by activity, as prescribed by the scriptures, is called a 'friend of knowledge' because his understanding is not far from true knowledge.
आत्मज्ञानं विदुर् ज्ञानं ज्ञानान्य् अन्यानि यानि तु । तानि ज्ञानावभासानि सारस्यानवबोधनात्
Self-knowledge is regarded as true knowledge; all other forms of knowledge are merely reflections of knowledge, since they do not grasp its essence.