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?
तत् किमर्थम् अनर्थाय निरर्थकम् अपार्थकाः । कस्माद् अभ्युदिता ब्रूहि रागद्वेषभयादयः
Then for what reason, and to what purpose, have these meaningless and purposeless things—such as desire, aversion, and fear—arisen? Tell me why.
वस्तुतो ऽङ्ग न सर्गादिर् न सर्गो नाप्य् असर्गता । विद्यते सकृदाभातम् इदम् इत्थं सद् एव तत्
In truth, my friend, there is neither creation nor non-creation; this has appeared only once, and thus, it is ever-existent.
अशून्ये विपुलाभोगे स्वच्छचिज्जलपूरिते । कलनापङ्ककलिले भविष्यच्चित्तदर्दुरे
In the non-empty, filled with abundant enjoyment, pervaded by the clear waters of consciousness, muddied by the stains of thought, and in the frog of the future mind—
अन्तरिक्षाक्षयक्षेत्रे खात्मनो गगनात्मिका । तस्माद् बीजाद् इयं जाता भूरिभूतशिलावलिः
In the field of the imperishable sky, in the self that is space, of the nature of the firmament, from that seed has arisen this multitude of earth, stones, and elements.
नास्ति किञ्चिद् इह क्षेत्रं व्युप्तं च न च किञ्चन । न बीजम् अस्ति नो जातं किञ्चित् सर्वं च संस्थितम्
Here, there is no field, nor is anything sown; there is no seed, nor has anything arisen; yet all remains established.
याश् शिलावलयस् त्व् अत्र पुष्टास् ता विबुधादयः । यास् तु वर्णोज्ज्वला एतास् तास् स्थिता बुद्धबुद्धयः
Those stone-like formations here that are well-formed are the gods and others; those that are radiant in color are the awakened intellects.
यास् त्व् अर्धपक्वास् ता एता नरनागादिजातयः । यास् त्व् आश्याना रजोनष्टास् ताẖ क्रिमिस्थावरादयः
Those that are half-cooked are the lineages of humans, serpents, and others; those that are inert, with their dust gone, are the worms, immobile beings, and the like.
यास् त्व् अगुर्व्यḫ फलैर् हीनाश् शून्याकाराẖ क्षयं गताः । अशरीराश् शरीरिण्यस् ताḫ पिशाचादिकास् स्मृताः
Those that are light, lacking fruit, void in form, and perished—those bodiless beings who once had bodies are known as piśācas and the like.
न हि सङ्कल्पिनस् स्वेच्छा क्वचित् पर्यनुयुज्यते । तास् तथेच्छा विरिञ्चस्य तथा राम तदोदिताः
Indeed, the willful ones are never constrained by their own wish anywhere; these, according to the will of the Creator, O Rāma, are thus described.
सर्वा एव चिदाकाशरूपिण्यो भूतजातयः । आतिवाहिकदेहिन्यḫ पृथ्व्यादिरहितात्मिकाः
All these classes of beings are forms of the space of consciousness, possessing subtle bodies, whose nature is devoid of earth and the other elements.