केचित् स्वप्ननरप्रख्याẖ केचित् पवनदेहकाः । केचिद् भ्रमात्मका एव सर्वे बुद्धिमनोमयाः
Some are like dream-people, some have bodies of wind; some are of the nature of delusion, yet all are made of intellect and mind.
ग्रहीतुं नैव युज्यन्ते ग्रहीतुं शक्नुवन्ति नो । आकाशशून्यवपुषḫ पश्यन्त्य् आकृतिम् आत्मनः
They are not suited to grasp, nor are they able to grasp; with bodies empty as space, they perceive their own form.
शीतातपादिविहितं सुखं दुẖखं विदन्ति च । पातुम् अत्तुम् अवष्टब्धुम् ईहन्ते शक्नुवन्ति नो
They experience pleasure and pain caused by cold, heat, and the like; they desire to drink, eat, and grasp, but are unable to do so.
इच्छाद्वेषभयक्रोधलोभमोहसमन्विताः । मन्त्रौषधतपोदानधैर्यधर्मवशीकृताः
Filled with desire, aversion, fear, anger, greed, and delusion, they are subdued by mantra, medicine, austerity, charity, patience, and righteousness.
सत्त्वावष्टम्भयन्त्रेण मन्त्रेणाराधितेन वा । दृश्यन्ते ऽपि च गृह्यन्ते कदाचित् केनचित् क्वचित्
By the mechanism of vital force or by propitiated mantra, they are sometimes seen and occasionally captured by someone, somewhere.
देवयोनिर् हि सा तेन केचिद् देवोपमर्द्धयः । केचिन् नरसमश्रीकाẖ केचिन् नागसमर्द्धयः
That is a divine birth; some possess the splendor of gods, some have the prosperity of humans, and some the grandeur of serpents.
श्वसृगालोपमाẖ केचिद् ग्रामजङ्गलवासिनः । कुल्यावकररथ्यासु वसन्ति निरयेषु च
Some resemble dogs or jackals, dwelling in villages and forests; they live in streams, pits, alleys, and even in hells.
एतद् आस्पदम् एतेषाम् इत्याकाराḫ प्रकीर्तिताः । पिशाचा एवमाचारा जन्मैषां श्रूयताम् इदम्
These are their abodes, as described in these forms; such are the ways of the pisachas. Now listen to the account of their birth.
अचेत्यचिन्मयं ब्रह्म सर्वशक्तिस्वभावतः । यत् स्थितं बुद्धम् एवान्तश् चेत्यं सङ्कल्पयत् त्व् इव
Brahman is both conscious and unconscious, inherently possessing all powers; established as pure awareness within, it imagines the perceived as you do.
तज् जीवं विद्धि स प्रौढस् त्व् अहङ्कार इति स्मृतः । सो ऽहङ्कारस् स्मृतḫ पुष्टो मन इत्य् उदितात्मभिः
Know that as the individual soul; when it matures, it is called ego. That ego, when strengthened, is referred to as mind by those who know the self.
स एष कथ्यते ब्रह्मा सङ्कल्पाकाशरूपवान् । असद् एवासतो बीजं जगतो विगताकृति
He is called Brahma, whose nature is the space of thought; the seed of the unreal is itself unreal, and the world is without form.
एवं मनस् स्थितो ब्रह्मा सदेहो ऽप्य् अमलं नभः । तत् स्वप्नपुरुषाकारस् सन्न् एवासद्वपुस् सदा
Thus, Brahma abides in the mind, even with a body, pure as the sky; he, having the form of the dream-person, always possesses an unreal body.
पृथ्व्यादिमूर्तिरहितस् त्व् आतिवाहिकदेहवान् । पृथ्व्यादयẖ किल कुतस् सङ्कल्पपुरुषस्य खे
Though devoid of the forms of earth and the rest, he has a subtle body; indeed, from where do earth and the others arise for the person of thought in the sky?
भवन्मनो यथाकाशपुरं पश्यति कल्पितम् । तथा मनो विरिञ्चत्वं पश्यत्य् आत्मनि कल्पितम्
Just as the mind perceives a city in the sky, imagined, so the mind perceives the state of being Brahma, imagined within itself.
यद् वेत्ति कल्पितं तत् स पश्यत्य् अनुभवत्य् अपि । यो यावन्मात्रकस् तत् स कस्मात् किल न पश्यति
Whatever is imagined, that he sees and even experiences; whatever extent he is, that he perceives—why should he not see it?
स यत् पश्यति तत् तादृक् शून्यात्मा शून्यम् अम्बरे । ब्रह्म ब्रह्मणि वा ब्रह्मा तद् इदं जगद् उच्यते
Whatever he sees is of that kind: the void-nature, void in the sky; Brahma in Brahman, or Brahma itself—this is what is called the world.
तथा स प्रतिभासो ऽस्य चिरकालैकभावनात् । घनीभूतस् स्थितḫ पुष्टस् सुदीर्घस्वप्नसुन्दरः
Thus, this appearance, from long and single contemplation, becomes dense, established, nourished—a beautiful, prolonged dream.
आतिवाहिकदेहस्य तस्य तच् चिरभावनात् । सर्गानुभवनं भूरि ब्रह्मणो ब्रह्मरूप्य् अपि
For that subtle body, due to prolonged contemplation, there is abundant experience of creation, even for Brahma, in the form of Brahma.
गतं प्रकटतोत्कर्षाद् आधिभौतिकदेहताम् । तेनैव सर्ग इत्य् उक्तो भेदसन्ततिभासुरः
Having attained the manifest state of the gross physical body, this is called creation, shining with the continuity of distinctions.
स ब्रह्मा ब्रह्ममात्रात्मा ब्रह्ममात्रात्मनोस् तयोः । अजातयोर् एव सदा तद् आत्मजगतोर् द्वयोः
That Brahma is of the nature of pure consciousness alone, and always so are the two—of pure consciousness—who are unborn, namely, himself and his world.
अभिन्नयोर् एव भृशं शून्यत्वाम्बरयोर् इव । ऐकात्म्येनैव लसतोḫ पवनस्पन्दयोर् इव
Just as space and emptiness are truly undivided, so too, these two shine in oneness, like the pulsations of wind.
वेत्ति भूतमयत्वं तन् मिथ्यैव न तु वास्तवम् । तथा यथा त्वं सङ्कल्पपुरुषस्य सतो ऽसतः
He knows that embodiment as composed of elements is false, not real—just as you know the existence or non-existence of a person created by imagination.
ततश् शरीरधातूनां तेन पृथ्व्यादिकाẖ कृताः । अभिधाḫ पञ्च चित्षष्ठा जगद् इत्य् एव तास् स्थिताः
From that, the bodily constituents—earth and the rest—were made; they are called the five, with consciousness as the sixth, and these remain as the world.
यथा त्व् असत्य एवायं सङ्कल्पस् सत्य एव ते । तथासाव् आत्मसङ्कल्पं सत्यम् एवानुभूतवान्
Just as this imagination is unreal for you, but real for that imagined person, so he experienced his own mental creation as truly real.
स स्वयं चिन्मयाकाशस् तत्सङ्कल्पश् चिदम्बरम् । अतस् स्वप्नो जगत् सर्वं क्व तौ नाशोद्भवौ स्थितौ
He himself is the space of consciousness, his intention is the sky of awareness; thus, the entire world is a dream—where, then, is creation or destruction or abiding for them?
यथैव तन्मनस् सत्यं तदंशास् सत्यम् एव ते । तथैव तत्कृताश् चन्द्ररुद्रार्केन्द्रमरीचयः
Just as that mind is real for him, so its parts are real for him; in the same way, the rays of the moon, Rudra, Indra, and the Sun, created by that mind, are real for him.
एवंस्थिते जगज्जालं तन् मनोराज्यम् उच्यते । तच् च शून्यं निरालम्बम् आकाशम् अघनं चिति
In this way, the web of the world is called the kingdom of the mind; and that, indeed, is empty, without support, like space, without substance, pure consciousness.
यथा स्वप्नपुरं व्योम सङ्कल्पाद्रिर् यथा नभः । तथा ब्रह्म जगच् चैव खम् एवाच्छम् अनाकृति
Just as a dream-city is like the sky, and a mountain of imagination is like the ether, so too are Brahman and the world, clear as space, without form.
एवम् आभासमात्रस्य कचतो ऽनिशम् अव्ययम् । सर्गादिमध्यान्तदृशो मुधैवात्रोदितास् स्थिताः
Thus, for that which is mere appearance, the notions of creation, beginning, middle, and end, are spoken of here in vain, but in reality, it is unchanging, day and night.
किं चिदाकाशकोशस्य तव वा मम वानघ । जगतो वापि जायेत किं वा नश्यति मे वद
Tell me, O sinless one, can anything arise or perish in the space-like expanse of your consciousness, or mine, or in the world itself?