इच्छामात्रं हि संसारो निर्वाणं तदवेदनम् । इच्छानुत्पादने यत्नẖ क्रियतां किं वृथाभ्रमैः
Indeed, the world-cycle is nothing but mere desire; liberation is simply the absence of that awareness. Make effort to prevent the arising of desire—why wander about in vain?
शास्त्रोपदेशगुरवḫ प्रेक्ष्यन्ते किम् अनर्थकम् । किम् इच्छाननुसन्धानसमाधिर् नाधिगम्यते
Why observe scriptures, teachings, and teachers if they are useless? Why is the meditation of tracing desire not attained?
यस्येच्छाननुसन्धानमात्रे दुस्साधतामतेः । गुरूपदेशशास्त्रादि तस्य नूनम् अनर्थकम्
For one whose mind is difficult to subdue even by merely tracing desire, surely the teachings of the guru, scriptures, and the like are fruitless.
इच्छाविषविकारिण्या सत्तयैव नृणाम् अलम् । दुẖखप्रसवकारिण्या हारिण्या जन्मजङ्गले
Desire, with its poisonous transformations, alone is enough to bring suffering to people, to steal away peace in the jungle of birth.
न वालीक्रियते ऽन्येषाम् आत्मज्ञानाय चेद् असौ । इच्छोपशान्तिẖ क्रियतां तयालं तद् अवाप्यते
If, for others, it does not even amount to a grain of sand for self-knowledge, then let the pacification of desire be accomplished; by that alone it is attained.
निरिच्छतैव निर्वाणं सेच्छतैव हि बन्धनम् । यथाशक्ति जयेद् इच्छां किम् एतावति दुष्करम्
Desirelessness itself is liberation, and with desire there is indeed bondage. Conquer desire to the best of your ability—what is so difficult in this?
जरामरणजन्मादिकरञ्जखदिरावलेः । बीजम् इच्छाशु सैवान्तर् दह्यतां शमवह्निना
Desire is the seed of the acacia grove of birth, old age, death, and the rest; let it quickly be burned within by the fire of tranquility.
यतो यतो निरिच्छत्वं मुक्ततैव ततस् ततः । यावद्गति यथाप्राणं हन्याद् इच्छां समुत्थिताम्
Wherever there is desirelessness, there is freedom; as far as you go, as long as you live, destroy the desire that arises.
यतो यतश् च सेच्छत्वं बन्धपाशास् ततस् ततः । पुण्यपापमया दुẖखराशयो विततार्तयः
Wherever and in whatever manner desire arises, from there the bonds of attachment, made of virtue and vice, and intentions filled with suffering, spread forth.
इच्छानिरासरहिते गते साधोẖ क्षणे ऽपि च । दस्युभिर् मुषितस्येव युक्तम् आक्रन्दितं चिरम्
When, even for a moment, desire is not removed from the mind of the good person, it is fitting that he laments for a long time, as one robbed by thieves.
यथा यथास्य पुंसो ऽन्तर् इच्छा समुपशाम्यति । तथा तथास्य कल्याणं मोक्षाय परिवर्धते
To the extent that a person's inner desire subsides, to that extent his well-being for liberation increases.
आत्मनो निर्विवेकस्य यद् इच्छापरिपूरणम् । संसारविषवृक्षस्य तद् एव परिषेचनम्
For one lacking discernment of the Self, the fulfillment of desire is just the watering of the poisonous tree of worldly existence.
हृद्वृक्षजास् स्वसुखदुẖखकुबीजकोश्यो वैराद् इवाशयकृताद् अशुभाच् छुभाच् च । आसाद्य दुष्कृतकृशानुशिखाश् शितान्ता इच्छाश् छमच्छमिति पुंस्पशुम् आदहन्ति
Desires, born from the tree of the heart, whose seeds are the duality of pleasure and pain, arising from good and evil intentions, having touched the sharp flames of bad actions, burn the embodied person again and again.
इच्छाविषविकारस्य प्रयोगं योगनामकम् । शान्तये शृणु भूयो ऽपि पूर्वम् उक्तम् अपि स्फुटम्
Now listen again, clearly, to the method called yoga for the pacification of the transformation of the poison of desire, though it has been stated before.
आत्मनो व्यतिरिक्तं चेद् विद्यते तद् इहेच्छया । इष्यताम् असति त्व् एवं स्वात्मान्यत्वे किम् इष्यते
If anything exists apart from oneself, let it be desired here by desire; but if there is no such otherness, what is there to desire in one's own Self?
निर्भागावयवा सूक्ष्मा व्योम्नश् शून्यतरैव चित् । सैवाहं जगद् आशाश् च सती किं तत् तयेष्यते
Consciousness, indivisible, partless, and subtler than space, is indeed I, the world, and all aspirations; when this truly is so, what remains to be desired by whom?
सा व्योमरूपा व्योम्न्य् एव वेत्तीवावेद्यवेदना । व्योमात्म जगदाभासम् अत्रेच्छाविषयो ऽस्ति कः
That which is of the nature of space, in space itself, is the knower, the known, and the knowing; when the self is space, what object of desire remains here, and what appearance of the world?
ग्राह्यग्राहकसम्बन्धẖ कुतश् चेद् इति तन् न नः । विद्यते ऽसौ प्रसक्तानां येषाम् अस्ति न वेद्मि तान्
If you ask, 'From where does the relation of the perceiver and the perceived arise?'—for us, it does not exist; it is found only among those who are entangled in it, but I do not know such people.
ग्राह्यग्राहकसम्बन्धस् स्वनिष्ठो ऽपि न लभ्यते । असतस् तु कथं लाभẖ केन लब्धो ऽसितश् शशी
Even the relation of perceiver and perceived, if sought within oneself, is not found; and how can the unreal be obtained? Who has ever grasped a black moon?
एषैव ग्राहकादीनां सत्ता यन् नाम निष्ठता । स्वभावप्रेक्षयासत्या न जाने क्व प्रयान्ति ते
This so-called existence of perceiver and the rest is merely a name for a supposed foundation; by observing its true nature, it is unreal—I do not know where they go.
एष एव स्वभावो यद् द्रष्टृदृश्यदृशो ऽखिलाः । ज्ञात्वासत्या विनिर्वाणम् अहन्तात्मनि गच्छति
This alone is the nature of all—the seer, the seen, and the seeing; knowing their unreality, one attains liberation in the Self, free from the sense of 'I'.
निर्वाणे नास्ति दृश्यादि दृश्यादौ नास्ति निर्वृतिः । मिथो ऽनयोर् अनुभवो न च्छायातपयोर् इव
In liberation, there is no seen or seer; in the seen, there is no liberation; the experience of the two is not mutual, just as shadow and sunlight do not coexist.
उभे एते मिथो ऽसत्यम् असत्यैवात्र निर्वृतिः । यतो निर्वाणम् अजरम् अदुẖखम् अनुभूयते
Both of these are mutually unreal; even liberation here is unreal, for liberation is experienced as ageless and free from sorrow.
भ्रमभूतं तु दृश्यादि नित्यानन्तसुखप्रदम् । असच् च तद् भाव्यतां मा निर्वाणे स्थीयताम् अजे
But the seen and the rest are delusion-born, though they seem to give eternal, infinite happiness; yet they are unreal—let them be considered as such, and abide in the unborn liberation.
शुक्तिकारुप्यसदृशं प्रेक्षितं यन् न लभ्यते । अर्थकार्य् अपि तन् नास्ति किम् अत्रापह्नवेन वः
Just as silver seen in a shell is not actually obtained, so too, even if desired, that thing does not exist; what need is there for denial from you?
तत्सद्भावान् महद् दुẖखम् असद्भावान् महत् सुखम् । अभावस् सोपपत्तिस् तु दृढतां याति भावनात्
From the existence of that, great sorrow arises; from its non-existence, great happiness. Non-existence, accompanied by reasoning, becomes firm through contemplation.
तत् किम् आत्मनि बन्धाय विदधध्वं नराधमाः । स्पष्ट एवोपचयदे वस्तुन्य् अस्तमितापदि
Why do you, lowest of men, impose bondage upon the self? It is clear that increase occurs only in what persists, not in what has ceased.
कार्यकारणताद्य् अस्मिन् संविन्मात्रात्मके तते । मार्गयन्त्य् अप्रबोधाद्य् एतैर् मृगैर् अलम् अस्तु नः
Let those who lack awakening search for causality and the like in this reality composed solely of consciousness; for us, let such pursuits be abandoned.
व्योमरूपे किलैकस्मिन् सर्वात्मनि तते सति । कार्यकारणताद्यानाम् उक्तीनाम् एव कẖ क्रमः
When, indeed, everything abides in the one universal self, which is like space, what order can there be in statements about causality and the like?
यो हेतुस् स्पन्दने वायोर् द्रवत्वे सलिलस्य च । शून्यत्वे नभसस् सो ऽस्य सर्गादित्वे चिदात्मनः
The cause for the movement of air, the liquidity of water, the emptiness of space—so too, for the origination of the consciousness-self, is that cause.