सूर्यो भूत्वा प्रतपति विष्णुः पाति जगत्त्रयम् । रुद्रस् सर्वान् संहरति सर्वान् सृजति पद्मभूः
Becoming the sun, it shines; as Vishnu, it protects the three worlds; as Rudra, it dissolves all; as Padmabhū (Brahma), it creates all.
खं भूत्वा पवनस्कन्धान् धत्ते सर्क्षसुरासुरान् । कुलाचलगणो भूत्वा लोकपालपुरास्पदम्
Becoming space, it sustains the currents of wind along with the stars, gods, and demons; becoming the mass of mountain ranges, it serves as the abode of the guardians of the worlds.
भूमिर् भूत्वा बिभर्तीमां लोकस्थितिम् अखण्डिताम् । तृणगुल्मलता भूत्वा ददाति फलसन्ततिम्
Becoming earth, it upholds the unbroken existence of these worlds; becoming grass, shrubs, and creepers, it produces a succession of fruits.
बिभ्रज् जलानलाकारञ् ज्वलति द्रवति द्रुतः । चन्द्रो ऽमृतं प्रसवति मृतिं हालाहलं विषम्
It shines in the forms of water and fire, blazing, melting, and flowing; as the moon, it generates nectar, as death, it produces poison and calamity.
तेजः प्रकटयत्य् आशास् तनोत्य् आन्ध्यं तमो भवन् । शून्यं सन् व्योमताम् एति गिरिस् सन् रोधयत्य् अलम्
Light reveals hope, darkness spreads blindness; being void, it becomes the nature of space; being a mountain, it obstructs abundantly.
करोति जङ्गमं चित्त्वे स्थावरं स्थावराक्र्टिः । भूत्वार्णवो वलयति भूस्त्रियं वलयो यथा
It makes the moving as mind, the unmoving as the form of the unmoving; becoming the ocean, it encircles the earth as a bracelet encircles a woman's arm.
परमार्कवपुर् भूत्वा प्रकाशे ऽन्तर् विसारयन् । त्रिजगत्त्रसरेण्वोघं शान्तम् एवावतिष्ठति
Becoming the very form of the supreme sun, spreading radiance within, he remains tranquil, even as the flood of the world's fears surges.
यत् किञ्चिद् इदम् आभाति भातं वा भाम् उपैष्यति । कालत्रयगतं दृश्यं तद् असौ सर्वम् एव वा
Whatever appears here, or will appear, or has appeared—whatever is seen in the three times—all that is truly only that.
कथम् एवं वद ब्रह्मन् भूयते विषमा हि मे । दृष्टिर् एषा तु दुष्प्रापा दुराक्रम्येति निश्चयः
How, O Brahman, does it become so? For my understanding is troubled; this vision is difficult to attain and hard to grasp—this is certain.
मुक्तिर् एषोच्यते राम ब्रह्मैतत् समुदाहृतम् । निर्वाणम् एतत् कथितं शृणु सम्प्राप्यते कथम्
This is called liberation, O Rama; this is declared to be Brahman. This is described as nirvana; listen to how it is attained.
यद् इदं दृश्यते दृश्यम् अहन्त्वत्तादिसंयुतम् । सतो ऽप्य् अस्याप्य् अनुत्पत्त्या बुद्धयैतद् अवाप्यते
Whatever is seen as an object, endowed with the sense of 'I' and 'mine,' is realized by the intellect as non-arising, even though it appears to exist.
विदेहमुक्तास् त्रैलोक्यं सम्पद्यन्ते यदा तदा । मन्ये ते सर्गताम् एव गता वेद्यविदां वर
When the disembodied liberated ones attain the three worlds, O best of the wise, I consider that they have reached the state of creation itself.
विद्यते चेत् त्रिभुवनं तत् तत्तां सम्प्रयान्तु ते । यत्र त्रैलोक्यशब्दार्थो न सम्भवति कश्चन
If the three worlds exist, let them proceed to their own reality; but where the very meaning of 'three worlds' does not arise at all—
तत्र त्रिलोकतां यातं ब्रह्मेत्य् उक्त्यर्थधीः कुतः । तस्मान् नो सम्भवत्य् अन्या जगच्छब्दार्थकल्पना
There, where the state of 'three worlds' is reached, how can the notion of 'Brahman' even arise? Therefore, no other conception of the world is possible there.
अनन्यच् छान्तम् आभासमात्रम् आकाशनिर्मलम् । ब्रह्मैव जगद् इत्य् एव सत्यं सत्यावबोधिनः
For one who truly knows reality, it is a fact that the world is nothing but Brahman alone—undivided, peaceful, mere appearance, pure as the sky.
यथा हि हेमकटके विचार्यापि न दृश्यते । कटकत्वं क्वचिन् नाम ऋते निर्मलहाटकम्
Just as, when examining a golden bracelet, one never perceives anything called 'bracelet-ness' apart from the pure gold itself,
जलाद् ऋते पयोवीचौ नाहं पश्यामि किञ्चन । वीचित्वं त्वादृशैर् दृष्टं यत् तु नास्त्य् एव तत्र हि
So too, apart from water, I see nothing in a wave; what you call 'wave-ness' is seen by people like you, but in truth, it does not exist there.
स्पन्दत्वं पवनाद् अन्यन् न कदाचन कुत्रचित् । स्पन्द एव सदा वायुर् जगत् तस्मान् न विद्यते
Apart from air, there is never any such thing as 'movement' anywhere; air is always just movement, and therefore the world does not exist.
यथा शून्यत्वम् आकाशस् ताप एव मरौ जलम् । तेज एव यथालोको ब्रह्मैव त्रिजगत् तथा
Just as emptiness is the nature of space, heat is the nature of a desert, and light is the nature of fire—so too, Brahman is the very nature of the three worlds.
अत्यन्ताभावसम्पत्त्या जगद्दृश्यस्य मुक्तता । ययोदेति मुने युक्त्या तां ममोपदिशोत्तमाम्
O sage, by what reasoning does the utter absence of the perceived world bring about liberation? Please instruct me in that supreme method.
मिथस् सम्पन्नयोर् द्रष्टृदृश्ययोर् एकसङ्क्षये । द्वयाभावे स्थितिं याते निर्वाणम् अवशिष्यते
When, through mutual dissolution, both the seer and the seen are resolved, and duality ceases, what remains is nirvana.
दृश्यस्य जगतस् तस्माद् अत्यन्तानुद्भवो यथा । ब्रह्म चेत्थं स्वभावस्थं बुध्यते वद मे तथा
Therefore, tell me how it is that the world, as the seen, never truly arises, and how Brahman abides in its own nature.
कयैतज् ज्ञायते युक्त्या कथम् एतत् प्रसिध्यति । एतस्मिंस् तु मुने सिद्धे न साध्यम् अवशिष्यते
By what means is this known through reasoning, and how does this become established? O sage, when this is realized, nothing else remains to be accomplished.
बहुकालम् इयं रूढा मिथ्याज्ञानविषूचिका । नूनं विचारमन्त्रेण निर्मूलम् उपशाम्यति
For a long time, this epidemic of false knowledge has taken root; surely, by the mantra of inquiry, it is completely uprooted and pacified.
न शक्यते झगित्य् एव समुच्छेदयितुं क्षणात् । समप्रयतने ह्य् अद्रौ समारोहावरोहणे
It cannot be instantly and completely cut off in a moment; just as with equal effort, one ascends and descends a mountain.
तस्माद् अभ्यासयोगेन युक्त्या न्यायोपपत्तिभिः । जगद्भ्रान्तिर् यथा शाम्येत् तथेदं कथ्यते शृणु
Therefore, by the discipline of practice, by reasoning, and by logical analysis, the delusion regarding the world is pacified; listen as I explain how this is so.
वदाम्य् आख्यायिकां राम याम् इमां बोधसिद्धये । तां चेच् छृणोषि तत् साधो मुक्त एवासि बुद्धिमान्
I will tell you a story, O Rāma, for the sake of awakening knowledge; if you listen to it, O noble one, you will indeed be liberated and wise.
अथोत्पत्तिप्रकरणं मयेदं तव कथ्यते । यः किलोत्पद्यते राम तेन मुक्तेन भूयते
Now, I shall explain to you the section on origination; whatever arises, O Rāma, is transcended by one who is liberated.
इयम् इत्थं जगद्भ्रान्तिर् भात्य् अजातैव खात्मिका । इत्य् उत्पत्तिप्रकरणे कथ्यते ऽस्मिन् मयाधुना
Thus, this world-delusion appears as if it has arisen, though its nature is truly unborn; this will now be explained by me in the section on origination.
यद् इदं दृश्यते किञ्चिज् जगत् स्थावरजङ्गमम् । सर्वं सर्वप्रकाराढ्यं ससुरासुरकिन्नरम्
Whatever is seen here—this world, whether moving or unmoving, all in every form, with gods, demons, and kinnaras—