वेद्यवेदनवेत्तृत्वरूपत्रयम् इदं पुनः । यत्रोदेत्य् अस्तम् आयाति तत् तत् परमम् उत्तमम्
This triad—of the known, the knowing, and the knower—wherever it arises and wherever it subsides, that alone is the supreme and highest.
वेद्यवेदनवेत्तृत्वं यत्रेदं प्रतिबिम्बति । अबुद्ध्यादौ महादर्शे तद् रूपं परमं स्मृतम्
That in which the known, the knowing, and the knower are reflected, in the great mirror of non-mind and the like, that form is called supreme.
मनष्षष्ठेन्द्रियोन्मुक्तं यद् रूपं स्यान् महाचितेः । जङ्गमे स्थावरे वापि तत् सर्गान्ते ऽवशिष्यते
Whatever form of the great consciousness is free from mind, the six senses, and their tendencies, whether in the moving or the unmoving, that alone remains at the end of creation.
स्थावराणां हि यद् रूपं तच् चेद् बोधमयं भवेत् । मनोबुद्ध्यादिनिर्मुक्तं तत् परेण समं भवेत्
If the form of the unmoving beings is indeed made of consciousness, free from mind, intellect, and the rest, then it is equal to the supreme.
ब्रह्मार्कविष्णुहरशक्रसदाशिवादिशान्तौ शिवं परमम् एतद् इहैकम् आस्ते । शिष्टं प्रदिष्टम् अविनष्टम् अकष्टम् इष्टं मिश्रं न मिश्रम् अणुनाश्रितम् आश्रितेन
In the peace of Brahma, the sun, Vishnu, Hara, Indra, Sadashiva, and others, this one supreme Shiva alone abides here; the rest is designated, indestructible, untroubled, desired, mixed or unmixed, subtle, the support of the supported.
इत्थंरूपम् इदं दृश्यं जगन् नामास्ति भासुरम् । महाप्रलयसम्पत्तौ भो ब्रह्मन् क्व नु गच्छति
This visible world, so radiant, with such a form and name—O Brahman, where does it go when the great dissolution arrives?
कुत आयाति कीदृग् वा वन्ध्यापुत्रः क्व गच्छति । क्व याति कुत आयाति वद वा व्योमकाननम्
From where does it come, and of what kind is it? Where does the son of a barren woman go? Where does the sky-forest go, and from where does it arise? Tell me.
वन्ध्यापुत्रो व्योमवनं नैवास्ति न भविष्यति । कीदृशी दृश्यता तस्य कीदृशी तस्य नास्तिता
The son of a barren woman and the sky-forest never exist, nor will they ever exist; what kind of visibility do they have, and what kind of non-existence is theirs?
वन्ध्यापुत्रव्योमवने यथा न स्तः कदाचन । जगदाद्य् अखिलं दृश्यं तथा नास्ति कदाचन
Just as in the sky of a barren woman's son there are never any forests, so too, the entire visible world never truly exists.
न चोत्पन्नं न च ध्वंसि यत् किलादौ न विद्यते । उत्पत्तिः कीदृशी तस्य नाशशब्दस्य का कथा
That which never existed at the beginning is neither produced nor destroyed; how can there be talk of the origin or destruction of such a thing?
वन्ध्यापुत्रनभोवृक्षकल्पना तावद् अस्ति हि । सा यथा नाशजन्माद्या तथैवेदं न किं भवेत्
The imagined tree in the sky of a barren woman's son exists only as a notion; just as it has no birth or destruction, so too is this world.
फुल्लस्यातुलभुस् सम्यग् आलकैः कुरु कोलनम् । निरन्वया यथैवोक्तिर् जगत्सत्ता तथैव हि
Try to braid the wind with the hair of a blossoming flower—just as such speech is without substance, so too is the existence of the world.
यथा सौवर्णकटके दृश्यमानम् अपि स्फुटम् । कटकत्वं तु नास्त्य् एव जगत्त्वं तु तथा परे
Just as, though a golden bracelet is clearly seen, there is truly no 'bracelet-ness' apart from the gold, so too is 'world-ness' in the Supreme.
आकाशे च यथा नास्ति शून्यत्वं व्यतिरेकवत् । जगत्त्वं ब्रह्मणि तथा नास्त्य् एवाप्य् उपलब्धिमत्
Just as there is no distinct emptiness in space, so too, in Brahman, there is no real 'world-ness,' even for one who perceives it.
कज्जलान् न यथा कार्ष्ण्यं शैत्यं च न यथा हिमात् । पृथग् एव भवेद् बुद्धं जगन् नास्ति परे पदे
Just as blackness does not come from lampblack, nor coldness from snow—so too, when rightly understood, the world does not exist in the Supreme State.
यथा च शैत्यं शशिनो न हिमाद् व्यतिरिच्यते । ब्रह्मणो न तथा सर्गो विद्यते व्यतिरेकवान्
Just as the coolness of the moon is not separate from the moon itself, so too, creation does not exist as something distinct from Brahman.
मरुनद्यां यथा तोयं द्वितीयेन्दौ यथेन्दुता । नास्त्य् एवैवं जगन् नास्ति दृष्टम् अप्य् अमलात्मनि
Just as there is no water in a mirage, or moonlight in a second moon, so too, this world does not truly exist, even when it appears, in the pure Self.
संविद्विलोचनालोको भात्य् अयं संविदम्बरे । जगदाख्ये ऽमले व्योम्नि दृष्टिमुक्तावली यथा
The light of awareness, as the eye of consciousness, shines in the sky of awareness; in the pure space called 'the world,' it appears like a string of pearls released to sight.
चिदाकाशे चिदाकाशश् चित्त्वाद् यः कचति स्वयम् । तद् एव तेन रूपं स्वं जगद् इत्य् अवबुध्यते
In the space of consciousness, that which shines as consciousness itself, by its own nature, is perceived by itself as its own form, and is understood as 'the world.'
आदाव् एव हि यन् नास्ति कारणासम्भवात् स्वयम् । वर्तमाने ऽपि तन् नास्ति नाशस् स्यात् तत्र कीदृशः
That which does not exist at the beginning, due to the absence of a cause, does not exist even in the present; how could destruction occur for something like that?
क्वासम्भवद्भूतजाड्यं पृठ्व्यादेर् जडवस्तुनः । कारणं भवितुं शक्तं छायाया आतपो यथा
How could inertness, arising from non-origination, become the cause of inert objects like earth and so on? It is like sunlight being the cause of a shadow.
कारणाभावतः कार्यं नेदं तत् किञ्चनोदितम् । यत् तत्कारणम् एवास्ति तद् एवेत्थम् अवस्थितम्
Because of the absence of a cause, no effect has ever been declared here; whatever is the cause alone exists, and remains established in that way.
अजातम् एव यद् भाति संविदो भानम् एव तत् । यज् जगद् दृश्यते स्वप्ने संवित्कचनम् एव तत्
Whatever appears as unborn is only the radiance of consciousness; whatever world is seen in a dream is nothing but the shining of consciousness.
संवित्कचनम् एवान्तर् यथा स्वप्नजगद्भ्रमः । सर्गादौ ब्रह्मणि तथा जगत्कचनम् आततम्
The shining of consciousness within is just like the illusion of a dream-world; in the beginning of creation, in Brahman, the shining of the world is spread out in the same way.
यद् इदं दृश्यते किञ्चित् तत् सद् एवात्मनि स्थितम् । नास्तम् एति न चोदेति जगत् किञ्चित् कदाचन
Whatever is seen here is truly established in the Self; the world never sets nor rises at any time.
यथा द्रवत्वं सलिलं स्पन्दत्वं पवनो यथा । यथा प्रकाश आभासो ब्रह्मैव त्रिजगत् तथा
Just as liquidity belongs to water, motion to wind, and radiance to light, so Brahman alone is the essence of the three worlds.
यथा पुरम् इवास्ते ऽन्तर् विद् एव स्वप्नसंविदि । तथा जगद् इवाभाति स्वात्मैव परमात्मनि
As a city appears within, like a deity in the awareness of a dream, so the world seems to shine forth, but it is one's own Self in the Supreme Self.
एवं चेत् तत् कथं ब्रह्मन् सुघनप्रत्ययं वद । इदं दृश्यविषं जातम् असत्स्वप्नानुभूतिवत्
If it is so, then how, O Brahman, can you explain the firm conviction of reality? This visible world has arisen like an unreal experience in a dream.
सति दृश्ये किल द्रष्टा सति द्रष्टरि दृश्यता । एकसत्त्वे द्वयोर् बन्धो मुक्तिर् एकक्षये द्वयोः
When the seen exists, there is a seer; when the seer exists, there is something seen. Bondage arises from the existence of both; liberation comes when either one ceases.
अत्यन्तासम्भवो यावद् बुद्धो दृश्यस्य नाक्षयः । तावद् द्रष्टुर् अद्रष्टृत्वं न सम्भवति मोक्षदम्
As long as the object is not utterly impossible and the mind does not abandon it, the state of non-seership in the seer cannot arise, nor can it grant liberation.