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.
ततो रन्ध्रद्वयेनाहम् अपश्यं यत् तद् अस्ति खम् । याभ्याम् अपश्यं रन्ध्राभ्यां त इमे लोचने स्थिते
Then, through the two apertures, I perceived that which exists as space; by means of those two apertures, I saw, and these are the eyes that remain.
ततẖ किञ्चिच् छृणोमीति संविद् अभ्युदिता मम । ततẖ किञ्चिन् मनाङ्मात्रझाङ्कारं श्रुतवान् अहम्
Then I heard something; awareness arose within me. Then I heard a faint resonance, merely a subtle sound.
आध्मातस्येव शङ्खस्य शब्दं व्योम्नस् स्वभावजम् । याभ्याम् अहम् अथाश्रौषं त इमे श्रवणव्रणे
Like the sound of a blown conch, natural to space, I then heard through those two openings, which are the ears.
प्रदेशाभ्यां विचरता मरुताविरतस्वनम् । स्पर्शसंवेदनं किञ्चिद् अहम् अत्रानुभूतवान्
As the wind moved between the regions, its continuous sound was present; I experienced a certain sensation of touch there.
तत्संवेदनमात्रात्म सो ऽयं वायुर् इति स्मृतः । स्पर्शनेन्द्रियतन्मात्रम् असद् एवेति सत् स्थितम्
From the mere awareness of that sensation, this is called 'air'; the subtle element of touch is considered unreal, yet its existence is established.
आस्वादसंविद् याभून् मे तद् आस्वाद्यरसेन्द्रियम् । घ्राणान् मे घ्राणतन्मात्रम् उदितं व्योमरूपिणः । इत्थं न किञ्चित् सम्पन्नं सर्वं सम्पन्नम् अत्र मे
The awareness of taste arose in me, and that became the sense organ for savoring flavors; from my nose, the subtle element of smell emerged, having the nature of space. Thus, nothing was truly accomplished, yet everything was accomplished for me here.
एवम् इन्द्रियतन्मात्रजालं चेतन्न् अहं स्थितः । यावत् तावद् विदḫ पञ्च बलाद् इव ममोदिताः
Thus, I remained established in the web of subtle sensory elements; as long as I was so, the five senses arose in me with force.
शब्दरूपरसस्पर्शगन्धमात्रशरीरिकाः । अनाकारास् तथानाम्न्यẖ खरूपिण्यो भ्रमात्मिकाः
Those bodies made of the mere essence of sound, form, taste, touch, and smell are formless, nameless, having the nature of space, and are rooted in illusion.
एवंरूपम् अहं जालं भावयन् यत् तदा स्थितः । तद् अहङ्कार इत्य् अद्य कथ्यते त्वादृशैर् जनैः
When one contemplates this net of 'I'-ness and abides in that state, that is what people like you now call ego.
एष एव घनीभूतो बुद्धिर् इत्य् अभिधीयते । साथ बुद्धिर् घनीभूता मन इत्य् अभिधीयते
This very thing, when it becomes condensed, is called intellect; and when that intellect becomes further condensed, it is called mind.