विचारयेत् तदुक्त्यर्थं बुद्ध्या बुद्धिविवृद्धये । सर्वसङ्कल्पमुक्तं यत् तत् सत् तन्मयतां व्रजेत्
One should reflect with intelligence on the meaning of what has been said, for the growth of discernment; that which is free from all mental constructions is the real, and one should become absorbed in that.
विपश्चित्सङ्गमे बुद्धिं नीत्वा परमतीक्ष्णताम् । अज्ञानलतिका सैका कणशẖ क्रियताम् अलम्
Having brought the intellect to its utmost sharpness through association with the wise, let the single creeper of ignorance be completely destroyed, bit by bit.
एषो ऽर्थस् सम्भवत्य् एव तेनेदं कथयाम्य् अहम् । अनुभूतं वयं बाला नासमञ्जसवेदिनः
This meaning truly arises, and thus I speak of it; we have experienced it as children, not as those lacking proper understanding.
व्योम्नो ऽम्बुवाहादिविजृम्भयेव तरङ्गभङ्ग्येव महार्णवस्य । न युज्यते नापि च नश्यतीह नाशोदये निर्मननस्य किञ्चित्
Just as clouds expand in the sky, or waves break upon the vast ocean, nothing here is fitting, nor does anything perish or arise in the dissolution or emergence of the mindless.
इदं हि सर्वं मृगतृष्णिकाम्बुवन् निरामये ब्रह्मणि शान्त आतते । विचारिते नाहम् इतीव विद्यते कुतẖ क्व कस्मान् मननादिविभ्रमः
All this is like water in a mirage; in the pure, peaceful expanse of Brahman, upon inquiry, there is no 'I am'—from where, to whom, and why would there be confusion such as thought and the like?
स्वपौरुषेण स्वधिया सत्सङ्गमविकासया । यदि नानीयते ज्ञत्वं तद् उपायो ऽस्ति नेतरः
If, by one's own effort, by one's own intellect, and by the expansion that comes from association with the wise, knowledge is not attained, then there is no other means.
अकल्पितं कल्पितं च प्रतिकल्पनया स्वया । तद् एवान्यत्वम् आदत्ते विषत्वम् अमृतं यथा
The imagined and the unimagined, through one's own counter-imagination, take on otherness, just as poison becomes nectar.
कल्पना चाकल्पनान्ता मुक्तता त्यक्तकल्पनम् । एतच् च भोगसन्त्यागपूर्वं सिध्यति नान्यथा
Imagination ends in non-imagination; liberation is the abandonment of imagination, and this is accomplished only after renouncing enjoyment, not otherwise.
वचसा मनसा चान्तश् शब्दार्थाव् अविभावयन् । य आस्ते वर्धते तस्य कल्पनोपशमश् शनैः
He who, by speech and mind, inwardly does not distinguish between word and meaning, who abides thus, for him the cessation of imagination gradually increases.
वर्जयित्वाहम् इत्य् एव नाविद्यास्तीतरात्मिका । शान्ते त्व् अभावनाद् अस्मिन् नान्यो मोक्षो ऽस्ति कश्चन
Except for the notion 'I am,' there is no ignorance of any other kind; in this peace, through absence of conceptualization, there is no other liberation at all.
अहम्भावम् अथादेहं किञ्चिच् छ्रयसि नश्यसि । जगदादौ चिरं तस्मिंस् त्यक्ते शाम्यसि सिध्यसि
When you relinquish the sense of 'I' and the body, you dissolve; at the beginning of the world, in that state, having abandoned it, you become peaceful and fulfilled.
अचेतनाद् इदं सर्वं सद् एवासद् इव स्थितम् । शान्तं यस्योपलस्येव नमस् तस्मै महात्मने
All this, arising from the insentient, exists as if real or unreal; it is tranquil, like a stone, and I bow to that great soul.
अचेतनाद् इदं सर्वम् उपलस्येव शाम्यति । शून्याख्यान्तḫ परालीनचित्तस्याचित्तभावनात्
All this, arising from the insentient, becomes tranquil like a stone; through the cultivation of non-mind, the mind of one absorbed in the void is dissolved.
इदम् अस्त्व् अथ वा मास्तु चेतितं दुẖखवृद्धये । अचेतितं सुखायान्तर् अचेतनम् अचेतनात्
Let this exist or not exist; consciousness increases suffering, while non-consciousness brings inner happiness—insentience arises from the insentient.
द्वौ व्याधी देहिनो घोराव् अयं लोकस् तथा परः । याभ्यां घोराणि दुẖखानि भुङ्क्ते सर्वत्र पीडितः
There are two terrible diseases for the embodied: this world and the next; afflicted by both, one experiences dreadful pains everywhere.
इहलोके यतन्ते ऽज्ञा व्याधौ भोगदुरौषधैः । आजीवितं यथाशक्ति चिकित्सा नापरामये
In this world, the ignorant strive to treat disease with enjoyments and medicines; as long as life lasts, they attempt remedies, but not for the ultimate illness.
परलोकमहाव्याधौ प्रयतन्ते चिकित्सितुम् । शमसत्सङ्गबोधाद्यैर् अमृतैḫ पुरुषोत्तमाः
For the great disease of the next world, the best among men strive to treat it with the nectar of tranquility, noble company, and awakening.
परलोकचिकित्सायां सावधाना भवन्ति ये । मोक्षमार्गमहेच्छायां शमयुक्त्या जयन्ति ते
Those who are attentive in the treatment of the next world, in the great desire for the path of liberation, conquer it by the method of tranquility.
इहैव नरकव्याधेश् चिकित्सां न करोति यः । गत्वा निरौषधं स्थानं स रोगी किं करिष्यति
If someone does not seek treatment for the torment of hell while still here, what will that sick person do after reaching a place where no medicine is available?
इहलोकचिकित्साभिर् जीवितं यातु मा क्षयम् । आत्मज्ञतौषधैर् अज्ञाḫ परलोकश् चिकित्स्यताम्
Let life not come to ruin through remedies in this world; let ignorance of the Self be treated with the medicine of self-knowledge for the sake of the next world.
आयुर् वायुचलत्पत्त्रलम्बाम्बुकणभङ्गुरम् । परलोकमहाव्याधिर् यत्नेनाशु चिकित्स्यताम्
Life is as fragile as a leaf moved by the wind or a drop of water hanging and ready to fall; the great disease of the next world must be treated swiftly and with effort.
परलोकमहाव्याधौ यत्नेनाशु चिकित्सिते । दृष्टलोकमयो व्याधिस् स्वयम् आशूपशाम्यति
When the great disease of the next world is treated quickly and with effort, the disease arising from the visible world subsides on its own.
संविन्मात्रं विदुर् जन्तुं तस्य प्रसरणं जगत् । परमाणूदरे ऽप्य् अस्ति तच् छैलशतविस्तरम्
The wise know that a living being is nothing but pure consciousness; its expansion is the world, and even within an atom it exists, yet it can extend as far as a hundred mountains.
यत् संविदḫ प्रसरणं रूपालोकमनांसि तत् । व्योमन्य् एवानुभूयन्ते नातस् सत्यो जगद्भ्रमः
Whatever expansion of consciousness there is—forms, sights, thoughts—all these are experienced only in space; therefore, the illusion of the world is not real.
प्रलयेष्व् अपि दृष्टेषु जगद्दृश्याभ्रविभ्रमाः । न नश्यन्ति न जायन्ते भ्रान्तिमात्रैकरूपिणः
Even when dissolutions are seen, the illusions of the world—like visions and clouds—do not perish or arise; they are of the nature of mere delusion.
भोगपङ्कार्णवे मग्न आत्मा नोत्तार्यते यदि । स्वपौरुषचमत्कृत्या तद् उपायो ऽस्ति नेतरः
If the self, immersed in the ocean of the mire of enjoyments, is not lifted out by its own extraordinary effort, then there is no other means.
अजितात्मा जनो मूढो रूढो भोगैककर्दमे । आपदां पात्रताम् एति पयसाम् इव सागरः
A person who has not mastered himself, who is deluded and deeply entrenched in the mire of enjoyment, becomes a vessel for misfortune, just as the ocean is for waters.
जीवितस्य यथा बाल्यं दृष्टं प्रथमकल्पितम् । निर्वाणस्य तथा भोगसन्त्यागो रागशान्तिदः
Just as childhood is seen as the initial phase of life, so too the renunciation of pleasures, which brings the calming of attachment, is the beginning of liberation.
तज्ज्ञस्य जीवितनदी सकल्लोलाप्य् असम्भ्रमा । समं वहति सोम्यैव चित्रसंस्थेव नीरसा
For one who knows this, the river of life, though full of waves, flows on undisturbed—gentle and serene, like a painted scene, yet devoid of real substance.
अज्ञजीवितनद्यस् तु रसेनात्यन्तभीषणाः । आवर्तावृत्तिविक्षोभकल्लोलास् सहवाहिनः
But the rivers of the ignorant's life, filled with the taste of worldly experience, are extremely fearsome, carrying along with them eddies, whirlpools, and tumultuous waves.