आयान्ति यान्त्य् अनन्तानि भूतानीह भवभ्रमैः । तान्य् एवान्यानि चान्यानि समानि विषमाणि च
Countless beings come and go here, driven by the wanderings of existence; they are the same, or different, or both, some equal and some unequal.
आवृत्तिमन्ति तान्य् एव तथैवान्यानि चाभितः । विद्धि शीकरजालानि भूतानि जगदम्बुधेः
Those very same ones return, and likewise others all around; know beings to be like clusters of droplets in the ocean of the world.
वित्तबन्धुवयẖकर्मविद्याविज्ञानचेष्टितैः । तैर् एव केचिज् जायन्ते भूयो भूयश् शरीरिणः
Through wealth, kin, offspring, actions, learning, knowledge, and activities—by these alone, some embodied beings are born again and again.
अर्धैस् तैस् सदृशाẖ केचित् केचित् पादेन तैस् समाः । तज्जीवास् तैर् विसदृशा भवन्त्य् अन्ये शरीरिणः
Some are similar by half to those, some are equal by a portion; other embodied beings, their vitalities, become dissimilar from them.
सर्वैर् एभिस् समाẖ केचित् कालेनैव विलक्षणाः । कालेन सदृशाẖ केचित् तैर् एव च विलक्षणाः
Some are entirely similar to all these, and by time alone some are distinct; some are similar by time, and by these very factors, some are distinct.
कालेनाकुलचेष्टितान्य् अध इतो गच्छन्त्य् अथोर्ध्वं पुनर् देहालेखनखेदितान्य् अगणितान्य् अन्यानि चान्ये न च । भूताम्बूनि वहन्ति संसृतिमये यान्य् अम्बुधौ चञ्चले चक्रावृत्तिमयानि सङ्कलयितुं शक्नोति कस् तान्य् अलम्
Driven by the restless movements of time, some go downward from here, others upward again, and countless others are worn out by the imprinting of bodies; the waters of beings carry on in the ocean of transmigration—who indeed can fully grasp those, which are like whirling eddies in the unsteady sea?
ततश् चिदाकाशवपुर् व्याप्य् अनन्तो निरामयः । दत्तावधानो वपुषि तदापश्यम् अहं क्वचित्
Then, with my attention fixed, I beheld at some place the infinite, stainless one, whose form is the space of consciousness, pervading all.
यावद् अन्तर्गतस् सर्गस् संस्थितो ऽङ्कुरितो मम । कुसूलस्थस्य बीजस्य सिक्तस्येवाङ्कुरो हृदि
As long as the creation remained latent within me, it was like a sprout in the heart, as if from a seed lying in straw, moistened and about to sprout.
उद्बुभूषुर् इवास्ते ऽन्तस् सेकाद् बीजे यथाङ्कुरः । आकारवत्य् अनाकारश् चित्त्वाच् चित्ते तथा जगत्
Just as a sprout is about to emerge from a seed when watered, so too, within, the world arises in consciousness—having form, yet formless, because it is of the nature of consciousness.
यथोन्मिषति दृश्यश्रीस् सुषुप्ताद् बोधम् एयुषः । जाग्रद् वा विगते स्वप्ने चिन्मात्रस्य स्वचेतनात्
As the splendor of what is seen arises when one awakes from deep sleep, or in the waking state when dream has ceased, so too does the world arise from pure consciousness, by its own awareness.
तथैवात्मनि सर्गादाव् अनुभूतẖ खरूपिणि । हृदि सर्गोदयो ऽनन्यरूपस् स्वाकाररूपतः
In the same way, at the beginning of creation, the arising of the world is experienced in the heart, within the self of space-like nature, appearing with its own form, yet not other than oneself.
आकाशरूप आकाशे परमाकाश कथ्यताम् । भूयो निपुणबोधाय कथं सर्गḫ प्रवर्तते
O form of space, in space, tell me of the supreme space: for deeper understanding, explain again how creation proceeds.
शृणु राम यथा तत्र स्वयम्भूत्वं मया तदा । अनुभूतम् असत् सद्वद् इदं स्वप्ननरोपमम्
Listen, O Rama, to how, at that time, I experienced self-origination there—how this, though unreal, appeared as real, like a dream-man.
तम् आलोक्य महाकल्पसंरम्भं व्योमरूपिणा । भागे ऽन्यत्र शरीरस्य संविद् उन्मेषिता मया
Beholding that vast endeavor of a great cycle, in the form of space, my awareness was awakened elsewhere, apart from the body.
यदैव सामला संवित् किञ्चिद् उन्मेषिता स्थिता । तदैवाहं क्वचित् तत्र पश्याम्य् आश्यानताम् इव
Whenever that awareness, tinged with impurity, is stirred even a little and remains, at that very moment I seem to perceive myself lying somewhere within it.
गतस् स्वभावं चिद्व्योम यथा त्वं राम निद्रया । जाग्रद् वा स्वप्नलोकं वा विशन् वेत्सि मनाग् घनम्
Just as you, O Rama, enter the world of waking or dream, knowing only faintly the dense expanse of consciousness-space that has lost its own nature through sleep.
चिन्मात्राकाशम् एवादौ ततो ऽस्मीत्य् एव वेदनम् । तद् घनं कथ्यते बुद्धिः सा घना मन उच्यते
At first, there is only the sky of pure consciousness; then arises the mere notion 'I am'; that dense mass is called intellect, and that condensed form is called mind.
तद् वेत्ति शब्दतन्मात्रं तन्मात्राणीतराण्य् अथ । पञ्चेन्द्रियाणि तत्स्थौल्याद् इतीन्द्रियगणोदयः
That mind perceives the subtle essence of sound, and then the other subtle elements; from the coarsening of those, the five senses arise, and thus the group of senses comes into being.
सुषुप्ताद् विशतस् स्वप्नं जगद्दृश्यवनोदयः । यथा तथैव सर्गादौ दृश्यं भाति निमेषतः
As one enters dream from deep sleep, the vision of the world arises; in the same way, at the beginning of creation, the visible world appears in an instant.
तुल्यकालम् अनन्ते ऽस्मिन् दृश्यजालावभासने । कथयन्ति क्रमं केचित् केचिन् न कथयन्ति च
In this infinite, simultaneous display of the web of appearances, some describe a sequence, while others do not describe any order at all.
परमाणुकणं कान्तं सम्पन्नम् अनुभूतवान् । अहं चेतनम् आत्मानं वस्तुतो ऽमलम् एव खम्
I have directly experienced my own consciousness, the self, as truly pure space—subtle, radiant, and complete, like the finest atom.
यथा स्वभावतो व्योम्नि चलत्य् एवानिशं मरुत् । तथा स्वभावात् सर्वत्र पश्यत्य् एवं वपुश् चितिः
Just as the wind moves ceaselessly by its own nature in space, so too, by its own nature, consciousness perceives this body everywhere.
यादृशं चेतितं रूपं शक्त्या परमयानया । तच् छक्नोत्य् अन्यथा कर्तुं नैषा यत्नेन भूयसा
Whatever form is conceived by this supreme power, it is able to alter that; it cannot be changed further by any amount of effort.
ततḫ पश्याम्य् अहं यावत् सम्पन्नो ऽस्म्य् अणुरूपकः । चित्त्वाच् चेतंस् तद् एवाशु तथाभूतो ऽस्मि संस्थितः
Then, as long as I observe, I become endowed with a subtle form; by the mind, I instantly become established just as I have conceived.
ततो ऽहं बुद्धवान् रूपं तनु तेजẖकणाकृति । तद् एव भावयन् पश्चाद् गतो ऽहं स्थूलताम् इव
Afterwards, I became aware of a form—fine, like a particle of light; by contemplating that, I later seemed to attain grossness.
प्रेक्षे तावद् अहं किञ्चिद् इति बोधाल् लघोस् ततः । मनाग् आलोकनायेव सम्प्रवृत्तो ऽनुभूतवान् । यन् नाम तत्र तत् किञ्चित् तस्येहाद्य रघूद्वह
Then, with a slight awareness, I observe something; from that awareness, I begin to perceive, and whatever is there, O descendant of Raghu, I experience just that.
शृणु नामानि मुख्यानि कल्पितानि भवादृशैः । द्रष्टुं प्रवृत्तो रन्ध्रेण येन तच् चक्षुर् उच्यते
Hear now the principal names, imagined by people like you; the opening through which one sets out to see is called the eye.
यच् च पश्यामि तद् दृश्यं दर्शनं तु फलं ततः । यदा पश्यामि कालो ऽसौ यथा पश्यामि स क्रमः
What I see is the seen; the act of seeing is its result. The time when I see is the moment, and the manner in which I see is the sequence.
प्रौढा नियतिर् इत्य् अद्य यत्र पश्यामि तन् नभः । स्थितो ऽस्मि यत्र देशो ऽसाव् इत्य् आद्यैषा प्रकल्पना
Today, the firm determination is: 'Where I see, that is space; where I am situated, that is the place'—this is the primary conception.
तदा त्व् अहं विदुन्मेषमात्रम् एतस्य कारणम् । पश्यामीति ततस् तत्र मनाग् बोधो ममोदभूत्
At that time, I understood that merely the opening and closing of awareness is the cause of this; thus, a slight cognition arose in me there.